Business Skills for

Techpreneurs:The foundations of
entrepreneurship
 Objectives
• Define the role of the entrepreneur in
business
• Define entrepreneurship
• Define Innovation and who an innovator is
• Describe the entrepreneurial profile and
evaluate your potential as an techpreneur
• Describe the benefits and challenges of
entrepreneurship
 Cont
• Explain the forces that are driving the
growth of entrepreneurship in the country
• Describe the role of small businesses in a
country’s economy
• Describe 10 deadly mistakes of
entrepreneurship and how to avoid them
• Explain how an entrepreneur can avoid
becoming failure statistic
 What is entrepreneurship?
• The creation of a new business in the face
of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of
achieving profit and growth by identifying
significant opportunities and assembling the
necessary resources to capitalise on them.
 What is Entrepreneurship?
The meaning of entrepreneurship involves an
entrepreneur who takes action to make a
change in the world. Whether startup
entrepreneurs solve a problem that many
struggle with each day, bring people together
in a way no one has before, or build something
revolutionary that advances society, they all
have one thing in common: action.
 What is Entrepreneurship? cntd
• It’s not some idea that’s stuck in your head. Entrepreneurs
take the idea and execute it. Entrepreneurship is about
execution of ideas.
• Entrepreneurship refers to the concept of developing and
managing a business venture in order to gain profit by
taking several risks in the corporate world. Simply put,
entrepreneurship is the willingness to start a new business,
Entrepreneurship has played a vital role in the economic
development of the expanding global marketplace.
• An entrepreneur is someone who is willing to work for
himself and by himself. There are several different
meanings of the term entrepreneurship.
 Who is an entrepreneur?
• One who creates a new business in the face
of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of
achieving profit and growth by identifying
significant opportunities and assembling the
necessary resources to capitalise on them.
 Entrepreneurial
profile/characteristics
• Desire for responsibility

• Preference for moderate risk

• Confidence in the ability to succeed

• Desire for immediate feedback

 Cont
• High level of energy
• Future orientation
• Skills at organizing
• Value of achievement over money
 Cont

• High degree of commitment

• Tolerance for ambiguity
• Flexibility
 Cont

• Evaluate your potential as

an entrepreneur
 Benefits of entrepreneurship
• Opportunity to create once own destiny
• Opportunity to make a difference
• Opportunity to reach once full potential
• To reap impressive profits
• To contribute to society and gain
recognition for the efforts
• Opportunity to do what pleases one most
 Small Businesses vs. Entrepreneurial
Ventures
• There is a fine line between being a small business (SB) owner and an
entrepreneur—the roles actually have a lot in common—but there are
distinct differences that set them apart. Small businesses usually deal
with known and established products and services, while
entrepreneurial ventures focus on new, innovative offerings. Because
of this, small business owners tend to deal with known risks and
entrepreneurs face unknown risks.
• Limited growth with continued profitability is what is hoped for in
most small businesses, while entrepreneurial ventures target rapid
growth and high returns. As a result, entrepreneurial ventures generally
impact economies and communities in a significant manner, which
also results in a cascading effect on other sectors, like job creation.
Small businesses are more limited in this perspective and remain
confined to their own domain and group.
 Types of Entrepreneurship

• 1. Small Business Entrepreneurship: Small businesses

are grocery stores, hairdressers, consultants, travel agents,
internet commerce storefronts, carpenters, plumbers,
electricians, etc. They are anyone who runs his/her own
business.
• 2. Scalable Startup Entrepreneurship: Unlike small
businesses, scalable startups are what Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs and their venture investors do. These
entrepreneurs start a company knowing from day one that
their vision could change the world.
 Types of Entrepreneurship
• 3. Large Company Entrepreneurship: Large companies have finite
life cycles. Most grow through sustaining innovation, offering new
products that are variants around their core products. Changes in
customer tastes, new technologies, legislation, new competitors, etc.
can create pressure for more disruptive innovation – requiring large
companies to create entirely new products sold into new customers in
new markets.
• 4. Social Entrepreneurship: Social entrepreneurs are innovators who
focus on creating products and services that solve social needs and
problems. But unlike scalable startups their goal is to make the world a
better place, not to take market share or to create to wealth for the
founders. They may be nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid.
 Potential drawbacks of
Entrepreneurship
• Uncertainty of income
• Risks of losing once entire investment
• Long hours of hard work
• Lower quality of life until the business gets
established
• High levels of stress
• Complete responsibility
• Discouragement
 Forces or factors driving the
growth of entreprenuership
• Entrepreneurs being viewed as heroes and
their accomplishments used as models to
follow
• Entrepreneurial education in colleges and
universities
• High levels of unemployment
 Cont
• Shift to a service economy. The booming
service sector continues to provide many
business opportunities
• Technological advances enabling
entrepreneur to operate even from home and
yet appear like a big business.
• Commerce and World Wide Web
connecting entrepreneurs with customers
world wide.
 Cont

• International opportunities providing

tremendous business opportunities
Strategies to adopt in foreign market entry:
Research foreign markets thoroughly
Focus on a single country initially
Utilize government resources designed to
help small companies to establish presence
Forge alliance with local partners
 Mistakes of Entreprenuership
• Management mistakes
• Lack of experience
• Poor financial control
• Weak marketing efforts
• Failure to develop a strategic plan
• Uncontrolled growth and expansion
• Improper inventory control
 Cont
• Incorrect pricing
• Inability to make the entrepreneurial
transition
• Poor location
 Ways of avoiding becoming a
failure statistic
• In depth knowledge of business
• Develop a business plan
• Effective management of financial
resources
• Understand financial statements
• Listen to manage people effectively
• Keeping healthy
 Common Myths about
Entrepreneurs
• Success stories about entrepreneurial makes
people uncomfortable. The question seems to
be “How did such an unnatural event
occur? "The question gives rise to a great
number of social and cultural myths around
the idea of what it really takes to be an
entrepreneur. Below are some of the most
prevailing myths.
 cont
• It Takes Money to Make Money
Many entrepreneurs have started businesses
under troubling financial circumstances and
only prospered monetarily once their
businesses took off.
• Need for a Great Idea
A great idea is less important than a
profitable proven business model.
 cont
• Need for a Lengthy Business Plan
Countless would-be entrepreneurs have delayed
starting businesses because they did not have
a lengthy, formal business plan What needs to
be firmly understood before committing to a
venture is the basic, underlying business
model: who are the customers, what do they
want, and can you profitably supply it.
• .
 cont
• Need to be Lucky
Bill Gates specifically, was the beneficiary of
tremendously good luck but he was also
smart and resourceful. Majority of
entrepreneurs prosper with hard work, drive
and intelligence
 cont
• Need for Support From Family and
Friends
This is not totally accurate since friends and
family members are more likely to urge one
toward a more proven path involving school
or a guaranteed career in formal
employment.
 cont
• Need for a type-A Personality
The reason Type-A’s often thrive in entrepreneurial
roles is that they tend to be extremely focused, alert
and self driven. This traits can be learnt.
• Need for Perfect Timing
There is no perfect timing. In reality, few
entrepreneurs are likely to say that the timing was
perfect for them
 cont
• Need to Succeed Immediately
The most celebrated people in any field tend to be
those who succeeded right out of the gate. Michael
Jordan, Eddie Van Halen, and (in business) Google are
cultural icons largely because of how quickly they
established themselves as big-time stars.
However, there are many people who make mistakes
before succeeding.
 cont
• Winston Churchill famously said that “success
consists of going from failure to failure without
losing enthusiasm.”
• Everyone Can Do It
Not everyone is capable of becoming an
entrepreneur.E.g the people who cannot get work
done without external pressure from a boss or
supervisor. Self-employment would probably be
unrealistic goal.