Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EED 126
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC 1:
INTRODUCTION
This topic deals with efforts to comprehend the concept of enterprise
and its coverage which entail the process of combining resources:
human and materials to produce goods and services for some
economic gains. It is expected that the learners should be exposed to
the business world through enterprise building. Students learn to
identify features of the typical enterprises in their neighbourhood as
well as the facilities and opportunities available for self employment.
They should be able to identify successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria and
evaluate the role of entrepreneurship in wealth creation
CONTENT
1. Meaning of Enterprise
Wider Context: An idea that is translated into a planned and
implemented activity
planning,
implementation,
successful completion of an activity, and
accepting the reward.
Private vs Public
Profit vs Non-profit
Formal vs Informal
Individual vs Community
Local vs Foreign
Business vs Social
Small vs Large
Manufacturing vs Service
Consumer Vs Industrial
4. Classification of Enterprises
Size: The size of the enterprise may also be used for its
classification. Worldwide this type of classification depends
on either of or both of the capital employed or the number
of staff engaged by the enterprise. Below is the definition
adopted by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
SPECIFIC BUSINESS OR
ENTERPRISE TITLE CLASSIFICATION
EXAMPLE NON-BUSINESS
1. Church
2. Electronics
Company
3. Farm
4. Information
Technology
Company
5. Children's Home
6. Private Hospital/
School
7. Construction Firm
8. Professional Firm
11. Supermarket
12. Banking/Forex
Bureau
5. More Definitions
Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is first and foremost a mindset. Entrepreneur
is a person who habitually creates and innovates to build
something of recognized value around perceived opportunities.
In this definition, all words are key words:
'Entrepreneur' - can be an individual entrepreneur, but also
an entrepreneurial team or even entrepreneurial
organization
'A person' - emphasizes a personality rather than a system
'Habitually' - just cannot stop being an entrepreneur
'Creates' - starts from scratch and brings into being
something that was not there before
'Innovates' - able to overcome obstacles that would stop
most people; turns problems into opportunities; and sees
ideas through to final application
'Builds something' - describes the output of the creation
and innovation process
'Of recognized value' - encompasses economic,
commercial, social, or aesthetic value
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Wage Employment
Self Employment
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e. Risks: A risk is always a risk. However, you stand the best chance
of success if you are prepared to take calculated risks. Calculated
risks allow you to estimate the chances of failure or success
without taking a gamble. Very low risk ventures have less reward
in terms of profits and may lead to limiting your ideas and their
follow-up.
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There were also export incentives from the Nigeria Export-Import Bank
(NEXIM) to stimulate export loan facilities to SMEs, and export duty
draw-back schemes administered by the Nigeria Export Promotion
Council (NEPC).
INTRODUCTION
You may not think that your small business can attract the attention of
any government or their agencies, but it does. For any business, even
the smallest, to grow and actually benefit from all the helps that are
offered by the government or its agencies, it would have to comply
with a number of its Local, State and Federal regulations. It is not in the
long-term interest of your business to ignore or avoid these
regulations. So you should take the time to work with your Business
Support Counselor to find out the applicable regulations for your type
of business.
Bear in mind that regulations vary by industry. If you are in the food
service business and you are located in the FCT, for example, you will
have to deal with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, (AEPB).
For any location in Nigeria you will need the National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration and Control. (NAFDAC). If your business uses
chemical solvents, you will have AEPB’s compliance to meet. Carefully
investigate the regulations that affect your industry. Being out of
compliance could lead to expensive penalties, and thus jeopardize your
business.
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Business Insurance
Intellectual property protection
Employment Taxes
Employment law
Business Licenses
For almost every business that you would want to start you will need a
license to operate legally. For more information on licenses that you
might require contact the closest Business Development Service
Counselor.
You should allow enough time for the authorities to process your
application, because you may not be able to start your business until
the licenses you need are approved.
The rules are different depending on the type of business that you are
setting up. These are examples of the sort of licenses you might need,
and where to apply for them:
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(Check with Min. of Labour & Productivity or Min. of Industries for the
latest details.)
When your business employs people, even if they are your relatives, it
has to comply with a number of legal requirements. Employment law
covers many different issues, including:
Working hours and holidays
Minimum wage
Pensions
Tax and National Insurance
Maternity and parental leave
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There are also special safety regulations for certain types of businesses
doing one or more of the following things:
Working in a factory or workshop
Using heavy machinery
Using hazardous substances (like chemicals or pesticides)
Doing a lot of lifting and carrying
Fire safety
If you employ staff, you have certain responsibilities when considering
fire safety in your workplace. These include:
Doing a risk assessment of possible fire hazards and taking steps to
reduce the risk.
Making sure fires can be detected quickly, for example by installing
a smoke alarm.
Providing fire-fighting equipment and making sure it's properly
maintained.
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TOPIC 2.
INTRODUCTION:
It is important to state the historical background of entrepreneurship in
the country with emphasis to how it started and developed to its
present level. This topic also highlights the contribution of
entrepreneurship vis-à-vis the promotion of the country’s economic
position. A practical outcome is that students should learn to obtain
any required information from the net
CONTENT:
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Over the next century, British economists such as Adam Smith, David
Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill briefly touched on the concept of
entrepreneurship, though they referred to it under the broad English
term of "business management." Whereas the writings of Smith and
Ricardo suggest that they likely undervalued the importance of
entrepreneurship, Mill goes out of his way to stress the significance of
entrepreneurship for economic growth. In his writings, Mill claims that
entrepreneurship requires "no ordinary skill," and he laments the fact
that there is no good English equivalent word to encompass the
specific meaning of the French term entrepreneur (Schumpeter, 1951).
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Entrepreneurship in Nigeria
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enterprises in Africa were created when it was believed that the fastest
route to development occurred when the state took on the role of the
entrepreneur. Unfortunately, in many countries, the performance of
these state-owned firms, or parastatals, has been substandard. Part of
the problem with the state-owned enterprises is that they are run by
bureaucrats and are plagued with red-tapism. Thus, these firms are
typically run according to state procedures, instead of according to
cost-cutting and profit-maximizing concerns. The typical result is
rampant inefficiency (Elkan, 1988). Although Nigeria was at one time
characterized by such inefficiencies, it has recently pursued
entrepreneurship encouragement policies, and the initial indicators
suggest that the policies have been successful.
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First of all, you have to understand the mindset of the small business
owners in Nigeria. They own their businesses, and they like to control it
themselves. Unlike what obtains in USA, Canada and Europe where
most people wanting to start a business will look for a partner,
somebody with equity. The philosophy is "Let's share the risk together.
Let's leverage on the knowledge of one another," and things like that.
But back in Nigeria, the prevailing philosophy is "I want to start it
myself. I want to do it myself, at least up until the particular level that I
know I have full control. Then, maybe I can sell part of it, but for now,
let me do all the sweating, and let me do all the things that come with
that sweating."
The second side is that up until five, maybe not more than eight, years
ago, the financial services sector had been used to lending through
debt, not equity, so the mindset, again, is different. Most lending has to
be done with collateral, so if you default, they sell off your collateral. In
the new participatory case, there is nothing to sell off, which means
they have to do their homework a lot more to know the right type of
businesses to invest in--whether they are growing businesses or not.
They need to know all that, and that is where they can get their
reward. So that has also become a challenge for them. The challenge
for the banks is that they need to learn the ropes of venture capitalists.
On both sides, there are real challenges, and these have slowed down
the investments in equity. There is need for value orientation and
sound financial education.
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TAXATION
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Fiscal measure has been fashioned out to provide for deduction and
allowances in the determination of taxes payable by manufacturing
enterprises. The fiscal measures targeted at aspect of industrial
activities are as follows:
a) Pioneer Status
By the provision of income tax relief Act 1958 (Amended by Decree No.
22 of 1971) Public companies are granted specific tax holiday on
corporate income. This is to encourage such industries that
government consider beneficial to Nigeria. During the period of
exemption, the companies are expected to achieve a reasonable level
of profitability. The relevant company or product is declared a pioneer
industry or pioneer product. This Act is applicable to both public and
private limited liability companies.
The relief covers non renewable period of five years for pioneer
industry and seven years for such industries located in economically
disadvantaged areas.
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EFFECTIVE PROTECTION
Tariff level provides a simple and straight forward measure of
protection against imports but may not provide the total effect
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EXPORT PROMOTION
A variety of measures ranging from export insurance to outright grant
to export oriented industries are applicable to manufacturers producing
for export. These have been articulated in Decree No. 18 1986.
i. Import Duty Draw Back
Importers can claim repayment of import duty paid for
materials used in producing export goods. Repayment will
be made in full if materials are imported for use in the
production of goods which are exported. The objective of
the duty draw back is to encourage the production of
various export goods as a way of diversifying the economy
away from it.
ii. Export License waiver
No export license is required for the export of
manufactured or processed products. Also, export products
are exempted from excise tax
iii. Export Credit Guarantee and Insurance Scheme
In order to make Nigerian products compete effectively in
the international market as well as to insure genuine
exporter against some political and other risk including
default in payment, the government has approved the
establishment of an export credit guarantee and insurance
scheme.
iv. Export Development Fund.
This should be used to provide financial assistance to
private exporting companies to cover part of their initial
expenses in respect of export promotion activities.
v. Export Expansion Fund;
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DEVELOPMENT BANKING
Industrial development banks have been set up at both federal and
state levels to offer specialized services to industry. Paramount among
these services is the provision of soft loans and advances to large,
medium and small scale, and cottage type industries on concessionary
terms. These concessions are reviewed regularly in line with policy
objective of government. These banks include Bank of Industry (BOI)
and Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank
(NACRDB).
TOPIC 3:
INTRODUCTION:
This section highlights a comprehensive typology and significance of
entrepreneurship. The real values, forms and attributes of
entrepreneurship are also discussed. Students should be able to
analyze life situations in which people may find themselves and
enumerate the benefits to be derived from the above situation.
CONTENT:
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– Profit-oriented
1. Think success. To attain the kind of success that you want, you need
to dream big. Every success story starts with big dreams. You need to
have big dreams for yourself - which you want to be somebody rich,
famous or fulfilled. You need to have a clear vision of what you want to
achieve. But it doesn't stop in dreaming alone. You should actively
visualize success in your mind that you can almost feel it, touch it or it
is within your reach. Play this image back at every opportunity. What
does it feel to triple your current income? How will your life change?
What will your business look like if you achieved the million-dollar
mark?
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to think that you are successful (or will be one) every single waking
hour. A personal development coach shared me her secret to help her
continuously visualize her goals for the moment: when climbing stairs,
recite your goal with every step you take. So if you want more money,
say "I will have money" in every step of the stairs. This technique will
reinforce your goal and keep it fresh in your consciousness.
2. Be passionate with what you do. You start a business to change any
or all part of your life. To attain this change, you need to develop or
uncover an intense, personal passion to change the way things are and
to live life to the fullest. Success comes easily if you love what you do.
Why? Because we are more relentless in our pursuit of goals about
things that we love. If you hate your job right now, do you think you
will ever be successful at it? Not in a million years! You may plod along,
even become competent at the tasks, but you will never be a great
success at it. You will achieve peak performance and do what you have
to do to succeed only if you are doing something that interests you or
something that you care about. Entrepreneurs who succeed do not
mind the fact that they are putting in 15 or 18 hours a day to their
business because they absolutely love what they do. Success in
business is all about patience and hard work, which can only be
attained if you are passionate and crazy with your tasks and activities.
4. Never consider the possibility of failure. Ayn Rand, in her novel The
Fountainhead, wrote, "It is not in the nature of man - nor of any living
entity, to start out by giving up." As an entrepreneur, you need to fully
believe in your goals, and that you can do it. Think that what you are
doing will contribute to the betterment of your environment and your
personal self. You should have a strong faith in your idea, your
capabilities and yourself. You must believe beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you have the ability to recognize and fulfill them. The more you
can develop faith in your ability to achieve your goals, the more rapidly
you can attain it. However, your confidence should be balanced with
calculated risks that you need to take to achieve greater rewards.
Successful entrepreneurs are those who analyze and minimize risk in
the pursuit of profit. As they always say, "no guts, no glory."
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5. Plan accordingly. You have a vision, and you have enough faith in
yourself to believe that you can achieve your vision. But do you know
how to get to your vision? To achieve your vision, you need to have
concrete goals that will provide the stepping-stone towards your
ultimate vision. Put your goals in writing; not doing so just makes them
as intangible fantasies. You need to plan each day in such a way that
your every action contributes to the attainment of your vision. Do you
foresee yourself as the next Martha Stewart of hand-made home
furnishings? Perhaps today, you need to see an artist to help you
conceptualize the new line of hand-made linens that you hope to
launch. Intense goal orientation is the characteristic of every
successful entrepreneur. They have a vision, and they know how to get
there. Your ability to set goals and make plans for your
accomplishment is the skill required to succeed. Plan, plan and plan -
because without which failure is guaranteed.
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9. Persevere and have faith. No one said that the road to success is
easy. Despite your good intentions and hard work, sometimes you will
fail. Some successful entrepreneurs suffered setbacks and resounding
defeats, even bankruptcy, yet managed to quickly stand up to make it
big in their fields. Your courage to persist in the face of adversity and
ability to bounce back after a temporary disappointment will assure
your success. You must learn to pick yourself up and start all over
again. Your persistence is the measure of the belief in yourself.
Remember, if you persevere, nothing can stop you.
10. Discipline yourself. Thomas Huxley once said, "Do what you should
do, when you should do it, whether you like it or not." Self-discipline is
the key to success. The strength of will to force yourself to pay the
price of success - doing what others don't like to do, going the extra
mile, fighting and winning the lonely battle with yourself.
1. Social Gathering;
2. Visiting A National Park;
3. Subsistence Farming;
4. Political Campaign;
5. City Life/Rural Life;
6. Unemployment;
7. Using Internet;
8. Vocational Training;
9. Hunger/Drought;
10. Family and Home
11. Being In a Foreign Country; and
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1. Activities and situations in life are many and varied. These situations
change over time and according to location. Things happen to you, to
your family, within your community, and even in your government that
demand things be changed and done differently. Events in your natural
environment, the legal sector, the financial sector, the labour market,
and even the weather can all force you to do things differently. Even
events happening far away from your area can affect you either
directly or indirectly.
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3. Who Is To Do It?
Technological Entrepreneurship
The term "technopreneur" arose from within Singaporean culture to
describe an individual whose entrepreneurial endeavours focus on a
technology-centered enterprise. The government of Singapore has
embraced technopreneurship and has launched several initiatives to
promote technopreneurship as a means of economic development. In
the past three years. For example, the government now sponsors
university courses on technopreneurship and helps connect venture
capital companies with budding technopreneurs. This greater openness
has encouraged many new start-ups to form, and the country is well on
its way to fully integrating itself into the New Economy. Singapore's
success with technopreneurship policies has influenced other Asian
countries to begin such initiatives.
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Social Entrepreneurship:
The idea of “social entrepreneurship” has struck a responsive chord. It
is a phrase well suited to our times. It combines the passion of a social
mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and
determination commonly associated with, for instance, the high-tech
pioneers of Silicon Valley. The time is certainly ripe for entrepreneurial
approaches to social problems. Many governmental and philanthropic
efforts have fallen far short of our expectations. Major social sector
institutions are often viewed as inefficient, ineffective, and
unresponsive. Social entrepreneurs are needed to develop new models
for a new century.
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Entrepreneurs answer the hard questions that add value to the quality
of life for Society. These include:
• WHAT IS TO BE PRODUCED?
Since two-thirds of the total production of goods and services focus on
the consumer sector, consumers comprise the group who determines
what is to be produced. The entrepreneur takes note of consumer
needs, analyses them and takes decisions on what to produce.
It has been said that “if a man/woman builds a better mousetrap, the
world will beat a path to his/her door”. In a market economy there is a
“golden opportunity” for profit, recognition and service for anyone with
the imagination, energy and drive to do a job better, or provide a
better service than others. The essence of the free enterprise system is
competition. It is competition that makes a man/woman who is already
doing a good job to try harder, instead of “resting on his/her laurels”.
This competition provides, in the end, a better standard of living for the
consumer by offering choices. The consumer “shops” to get the best
value and the best quality. When the purchase is made, the money
paid is “votes” in favour of the product or the service chosen. Those
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The point is that anyone with imagination and a little courage to take a
chance on his/her own ability and ambition can generally be successful
in business provided the individual has progressed to the point in
his/her life when he/she is a good business risk. One must acquire the
basic education, skills, knowledge and maturity in order to reduce the
chances of business failure. Any business is a risk. The chances of
failure can be greatly reduced by education, experience and the
exercise of good judgment.
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TOPIC 4:
INTRODUCTION:
The contribution of entrepreneurship in the promotion of economic
development should not be underestimated and therefore the need to
highlight it is essential. The entrepreneurs are the change agents and
the prime movers of the economy. It has been established that no
country can grow economically without the positive support of the
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. Students should be able to
classify the resources into economic, human knowledge and time and
distinguish between economic development and economic growth.
CONTENT:
1. Resources and Constraints of Entrepreneurship/Classify The
Resources Into Economic, Human, Knowledge And Time
ECONOMIC RESOURCES
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HUMAN RESOURCES
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Goods that are imported into a society must of necessity have local
demands. The strength of this demand is a measure of how successful
the product has been in the market. Entrepreneurs can take any locally
available raw materials and work out the process for creating similar or
identical products (substitutes) thus reducing the need for imports. In
most cases the local substitute is much better than the imported one.
The case of locally produced frozen chicken has shown that fresh local
chicken have better taste and are more desirable.
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identify what the market needs and wants and can find an efficient way
to meet the demand. Entrepreneurs make the economic system work
and make life better for everyone concerned by creating new products,
developing new and efficient methods, and offering lower prices
through effective competition.
The successful entrepreneur recognizes what consumers want or might
want, and produces it in a competitive manner for sale. Profit is the
return to a business if demand is met effectively, and loss is what a
business gets if it does not meet this demand.
The entrepreneur also makes effective decisions on how to produce
efficiently in order to obtain competitive products whose prices and
quality are acceptable to the customer. A socially responsible
entrepreneur also makes products which meet safety, environmental
and other legal requirements.
Entrepreneurs also make decisions on how to distribute the goods and
services that are produced to those customers willing and able to pay
for them. Through competition, entrepreneurs are able to offer prices
that influence consumers’ decisions to buy.
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TOPIC 5:
UNDERSTAND ENTREPRENEURIAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTITUDES
INTRODUCTION:
It is very important that the students, who are expected to be potential
entrepreneurs, comprehend the qualities, characteristics and attitudes
involved with entrepreneurial undertakings. It is against this
background that this section is presented so as to guide all
stakeholders on entrepreneurship. Students should learn to evaluate a
project considering its resources: management of time, personnel,
equipment and money as well as understand constraints and problem
solving techniques
CONTENT:
1. Explain the Philosophy, Values, Scope, Need and Characteristics
of Entrepreneurship
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Not all entrepreneurs have all the traits above. However, each
entrepreneur is strongly driven by his personal motive and enjoys
doing what they do irrespective of the amount of hard work required.
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about 38 years. She opened her business 5 years ago after working for
a financial house.
I had worked in currency exchanges for ten years, and I was
determined to have one of my own someday. In the beginning I had
difficulty getting enough capital. I think banks were reluctant to help
me because I’m a woman. But I needed financial assistance, because I
didn’t have enough money of my own.
Crime is a problem if you own a business in my community. It’s the
biggest difficulty I have with the exchange. Customers might get
robbed as they leave, so I’ve had to spend money for a security guard.
I don’t want to lose my business, so I’ve got to work hard to make a
living. To tell you the truth, I thought I’d be making more money; but,
I’m only breaking even. But I’m happy. I wouldn’t want to have to work
for anyone else again. I’m my own boss and I’ve accomplished
something. I’ve actually made my dreams come true. To me, owning
my own business is just a beautiful, beautiful thing.
The time was right for me to start my own business. I had a wife who
worked; we had one child, no responsibilities, and some money. I’d
worked for a small advertising agency for seven years, and I left on
very good terms. I didn’t take any accounts with me, so there were no
hard feelings. A business like mine can be started without a large
investment. I think my major investment was a personal computer. I
put down a deposit for a phone, bought several filing cabinets, and
traded professional services for office space.
When I opened, I sent announcements to everyone I knew. People
don’t call you right away, but they put your name in the back of their
minds and call you later. I also sent out a newsletter to business
acquaintances I thought might be clients some time in the future. Any
business (I don’t care what it is) is 99 per cent selling. If you can’t sell,
you won’t make money.
Emmanuel owns an art gallery which specializes in signed prints and art
posters. Emmanuel is 25 years old. He has little or no formal education. His
talent as an artist was encouraged by visiting artists to the neighbouring
university campus.
When I first thought of opening a gallery, I went around and talked to people
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in the art community. I asked them what I needed to know to open a gallery.
The more people I talked to, the more ideas I got. You never should be shy
about asking other business owners for help. Not everyone’s going to be nice
about sharing ideas, but most business owners are friendly and believe that
competition is healthy. Besides, successful entrepreneurs love to talk about
their successes.
Running a business takes a great deal of time. You have to be willing to work
seven days a week. You have to think about the business 24 hours a day.
Sometimes it gets lonely. There’s no one to turn to, and all the problems are
yours. Having some experience in sales helped me in the business. But many
specific things had to be learned on-the-job. Business schools don’t teach
you how to wrap packages, but that’s an important part of the retail
business.
My advice to anyone thinking about going into business, especially a retail
business, is to be flexible. Move with the market trends. Don’t stock what
you think customers ought to have. Stick to your standards and tastes but
don’t blame the customer if your merchandise doesn’t sell. My gallery is a
great source of pride to me. Still, I always have to keep working to make my
business grow. I don’t feel I’ll ever be able to sit back, put my feet up and
say “I’ve done it.” I shall always have problems, and my task is to solve
them.
John has owned a small restaurant for three years. Like Emmanuel,
John has little or no formal education. It is interesting to know that John
has lost his parents while in the primary school. He had no one to help
him with further education. He is just 28 years old.
I started by working at a restaurant in another town. I waited on tables,
cooked, did the purchasing and bookkeeping and picked up a basic
understanding of the business. Later, I spent some time at two other
restaurants in town learning about managing a restaurant. Most people
think if they are good cooks they can open a restaurant. It’s not that
simple! You’ve got to know every area of the food business, such as
purchasing, advertising, cooking, managing employees and customer
relations.
Young people come to me and say, “I want to learn about operating a
restaurant from you so I can open my own.” I tell them, “That’s okay
with me, I’ll have you cook, bartend, wait on tables and clean up
tables.” They say, “You don’t understand. I want to learn how to
manage.” Well, I believe that you’ve got to “feel the business” from the
ground up before you can run it.
I enjoy the freedom of being in business. I like being my own boss. I
have twelve employees, and it gives me a good feeling when they ask
me for advice. It would be difficult for me to work for somebody else.
But I might become an employee in the future. I’m only twenty-eight
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years old, and my career could take many turns. I hope that if I did
have to work for someone else, I could pretty much do what I wanted. I
like making decisions and being a leader.
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A loss of any one part and motivation is on the rocks. For example:
• If you have a unique idea but don’t like taki ng risks, idea is all
you will ever have.
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• There must be something in your life that turns you on. You can
start by analyzing the lifestyle of your dreams. Remember,
money is not a goal; it is a reward for achieving a goal.
7 Rules of Motivation
1 Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that
go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals,
you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.
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Remedies: The fact is that we are all dependent on the world around
us. And small business, just like each individual in our society, must
cope with the changes in our environment.
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(2) how they can improve the likelihood and level of its impact;
(4) whether, all things considered, the benefits justify the costs.
Products:
Description of the product including specifications relating to
their physical, mechanical and chemical properties;
Uses of the products
Processing Activities:
Description of the process showing simplified flow charts
indicating comprehensive materials and energy requirements;
Consideration of alternative processes and justification for
adopting the chosen process;
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Project Location:
Map showing project location
Desirability of location in terms of distance from the source of
raw materials, market and other factors
Desirability of location in terms of infrastructure, and utilities
supply
Comparative study of different locations indicating advantages
and disadvantages
Project Layout:
Description of the project layout showing buildings and facilities
Types of buildings and estimated cost
Land improvements such as assess roads, drainages, etc
Type of supplementary local utilities and cost
Raw Materials:
Description and specifications relating to their physical,
mechanical and chemical properties
Current and prospective costs of raw materials including source
of materials
Local availability, continuity of supply all year round, and
prospect for importation
Waste Disposal:
Description and quantity of waste to be disposed of
Description of the chosen waste disposal method and cost
Comparison with other methods to indicate cost benefit
Compliance with legal requirements with regards to
environmental impact
Manpower Requirements:
Skilled and unskilled labour requirements
Technical and managerial staff requirement
Training needs assessment and training schedules
Proposed remuneration including fringe benefits
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When doing business, you need to make routine decisions every day:
Do I have to order raw materials? To what date? From where?
Sometimes, however, you need to make decisions with a high impact
on the future of your business: Should I enlarge the capacity of my
workshop? Should I hire or fire workers? Should I change my products?
Because of their importance, these latter decisions need to be well-
reasoned. For that reason, it’s worth thinking about a process which
leads to such well-reasoned decisions. The following hints may help to
improve your ability to analyze problems and make decisions.
Process
Before you can make a decision, you have to know, what are the
problems to solve, what are your goals, what are the possibilities you
have to solve the problems and what advantages and disadvantages
every solution has. Thus, the process of making good decision is as
follows:
Step 5: Decide!
You now have enough information to make important decisions about
the future of your business. However, your resources (money,
equipment and workers) are limited. You cannot solve all your
problems or take advantage of all opportunities all at once. You will
have to decide which problems to address first, and which
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Exercises:
Think about your own business and do the following:
· Analyse your present situation and write down the most important
problems.
· Analyse your future potential: What are the market trends? What will
be the direction of technical development? What are the expected
government strategies? Write down the expected effects of these
aspects on your business.
· Think about your goals. Write them down, ranking them according to
their priorities.
· Think about your problems and your goals. What problem has the
highest priority? Make a ranking and write it down.
· Think about your resources. Write down how much money and labour
you could invest in a project to improve your situation.
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Exercise:
· Write down the specific instructions for each person who has
responsibility for part of the action plan.
Leadership Styles
Entrepreneurs are responsible for setting goals and making plans for
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The first question is, what changes can you anticipate in the driving
forces and restraining forces acting on your small business? Will the
new shopping area draw customers away from the present business
district? Will any of the big customer-drawing businesses be
relocating? Is your business district showing signs of physical
deterioration? Are customers already dissatisfied with the shopping
convenience of the business district? If you take no special action,
what are the chances of declining profit and eventual business
collapse? You need to examine every aspect of the situation before
you can even define the problem.
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With our example, the four action alternatives presented above reflect
the degree of involvement in the change as we define the problem.
Each of those four alternatives calls for specific alternative actions to
achieve basic objectives.
For instance, the final alternative, taking advantage of the draw of the
new market area, presents several alternatives. They include
relocating in the market area when it opens, keeping the present store
location and opening a sister store in the market area, closing the
present business operation and reinvesting in a different kind of
business in the new market area, and others.
The third alternative, directly countering the draw of the new market
area, offers several choices. One is to work with the city to improve
the appeal and convenience of the business district. After all, the city
will eventually lose taxes if the business district deteriorates and
collapses. Another is to work with neighbouring businesses to
establish a central theme for widespread remodeling projects, which
would create a more appealing atmosphere for the customer.
The small business owner could replace the negative impact of the
new market area in a number of ways without taking any of these
decisive actions. The store could be redecorated, remodeled, or
rearranged inside to be a more pleasant place. New product lines
could be added to draw new customers or provide a better selection.
New services could be added. In short, by making special efforts to
keep the customers satisfied you can make the drawing power of the
new shopping area a little less strong.
4. Selecting Action: Once all the alternatives have been spelled out
and the impact and potential of each has been studied, it is time to
select the action that best fits your goals and objectives, your
capabilities and limitation, and follow through.
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TOPIC 6:
INTRODUCTION:
For entrepreneurship to succeed there are certain prerequisites which
form the core competencies that are basic for attaining success. These
competencies are discussed and highlighted in this section. Students
should learn to collect data about themselves, and use such data to
determine “who am I”, assessing personal efficiency, rating of
concepts, self-knowledge as well as identifying core skills, and success
factors required for entrepreneurship. Students would also observe the
behavioural pattern in moderate risk taking, goal setting etc. and also
learn how to play relevant business games.
Content:
1. MAJOR COMPETENCIES REQUIRED FOR SUCCESSFUL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Definitions
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Knowledge
Possessing information on, or familiarity with:
• A business opportunity
• The market
• Customers
• Competitors
• Production processes
• Technical matters
• Business management
• Sources of assistance
Skills
May be of a technical or managerial nature. They relate to abilities to
perform tasks or functions in areas such as:
Technical Managerial
• Engineering • Marketing (including
selling)
• Computing • Financial management
• Carpentry • Organization
• Mechanics • Planning
• Catering • Leadership
Traits
Personal characteristics of successful entrepreneurs:
• Takes initiative
• Sees and acts on opportunities
• Is persistent
• Personally seeks information
• Is concerned for high quality
• Is committed to fulfilling contracts
• Is oriented to efficiency
• Plans systematically
• Solves problems in original ways
• Demonstrates self-confidence
• Takes calculated risks
• Is assertive
• Is persuasive
• Uses influential strategies
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Ability
Another important question is whether the individual or others involved
have particular abilities – these may be knowledge, technical or
managerial skills of relevance to the business or project. One way of
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making up for any lack in this area could be to team up with people
who have the necessary expertise, or buy it in.
Resources
Finally, the extent to which the person(s) involved can acquire or
organize resources in adequate measure will not only influence
performance but also, in some cases, whether they start at all.
Examples here include capital, cash, premises, materials, equipment
and labour. The availability of infrastructure (e.g. utilities like
electricity, telephone, roads) and support services might also be
important.
Business Plan
In order to turn the above 4 components into reality, a plan would be
required. In business, this is normally referred to as a Business Plan. On
the whole a business plan should show four main things, namely:
• Where you currently are with your idea, project or business;
• What you wish to do;
• How you propose to go about it; and
• That the project is worthwhile.
Resources
_ Desktop PCs, all networked
_ Dial-up, broadband or wireless connection
_ Account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or satellite provider
_ Software to manage transactions and accounts
_ Desks and chairs
_ Air conditioners or fans
_ Staff to run/supervise
Ability
_ IT or computing knowledge and skills
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The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in
life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where
you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the
distractions that would otherwise lure you from your course. More than
this, properly-set goals can be incredibly motivating, and as you get
into the habit of setting and achieving goals, you'll find that your self-
confidence builds fast.
Achieving More with Focus
Goal setting techniques are used by top-level athletes, successful
business-people and achievers in all fields. They give you long-term
vision and short-term motivation. They focus your acquisition of
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knowledge and help you to organize your time and your resources so
that you can make the very most of your life.
By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take
pride in the achievement of those goals. You can see forward progress
in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By
setting goals, you will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize
your ability and competence in achieving the goals that you have set.
We start this process with your Lifetime Goals, and work down to the
things you can do today to start moving towards them.
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Physical:
Are there any athletic goals you want to achieve, or do you want
good health deep into old age? What steps are you going to take
to achieve this?
Pleasure:
How do you want to enjoy yourself? - you should ensure that
some of your life is for you!
Public Service:
Do you want to make the world a better place? If so, how?
Exercise:
Spend some time brainstorming these, and then select one goal in
each category that best reflects what you want to do. Then consider
streamlining and prioritizing again so that you have a small number of
really significant goals on which you can focus.
As you do this, make sure that the goals that you have set are ones
that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family,
or employers might want (if you have a partner, you probably want to
consider what he or she wants, however make sure you also remain
true to yourself!)
Then create a daily to-do list of things that you should do today to
work towards your lifetime goals. At an early stage these goals may be
to read books and gather information on the achievement of your
goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your
goal setting.
Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which
you want to live your life.
Staying on Course
Once you have decided your first set of plans, keep the process going
by reviewing and updating your to-do list on a daily basis. Periodically
review the longer term plans, and modify them to reflect your changing
priorities and experience.
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Set priorities: When you have several goals, give each a priority.
This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals,
and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
Write goals down: This crystallizes them and gives them more
force.
Keep operational goals small: Keep the low-level goals you are
working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then
it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping
goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
Derive today's goals from larger ones.
Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care
to set goals over which you have as much control as possible.
There is nothing more dispiriting than failing to achieve a
personal goal for reasons beyond your control. In business, these
could be bad business environments or unexpected effects of
government policy. In sport, for example, these reasons could
include poor judging, bad weather, injury, or just plain bad luck.
If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can
keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw
satisfaction from them.
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SMART Goals:
A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART
mnemonic (memory aid). While there are plenty of variants, SMART
usually stands for:
S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Time-bound
For example, instead of having “to sail around the world” as a goal, it
is more powerful to say “To have completed my trip around the world
by December 31, 2015.” Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot
of preparation has been completed beforehand!
Achieving Goals
When you have achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction
of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement,
and observe the progress you have made towards other goals. If the
goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately. All of these
help you build the self-confidence you deserve!
With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of
your goal plans:
If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goals harder
If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the
next goals a little easier
If you learned something that would lead you to change other
goals, do so
If you noticed a deficit in your skills despite achieving the goal,
decide whether to set goals to fix this.
Failure to meet goals does not matter much, as long as you learn from
it. You should feed lessons learned back into your goal setting program.
Remember too that your goals will change as you get older. Adjust
them regularly to reflect growth in your knowledge and experience,
and if goals do not hold any attraction any longer, then let them go.
Key points:
Goal setting is an important method of:
Deciding what is important for you to achieve in your life;
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If you don't already set goals, do so and start now. As you make this
technique part of your life, you'll find your career accelerating, and
you'll wonder how you did without it!
“Games are… the most ancient and time-honored (sic) vehicle for
education. They are the original educational technology, the natural
one, having received the seal of approval of natural selection. We don’t
see mother lions lecturing cubs at the chalkboard; we don’t see senior
lions writing their memoirs for posterity. In the light of this, the
question, ‘Can games have educational value?’ becomes absurd. It is
not games but schools that are the newfangled notion, the untested
fad, the violator of tradition. Game-playing is a vital educational
function for any creature capable of learning.” (Crawford 1982)
Computer games are fast becoming a growing part of our culture; the
global market is worth billions of dollars. In 2002, the world market for
‘games and edutainment/reference software’ realized 16.9 billion US
dollars, with 3.3 million games consoles being sold in the UK alone
(ELSPA 2003). People of all ages, but most visibly children, play these
games, often dedicating long periods of time in total concentration.
Today, researchers, teachers and designers of learning resources are
beginning to ask how this powerful games medium might be used to
support learning. Rather than shutting the door of the school against
the computer game, there is now increasing interest in asking whether
computer games might be offering a powerful new resource to support
learning in this information age. There is a considerable current
thinking about the role of computer games in supporting learning
inside and out of school.
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There are two key themes common to the development of games for
education:- namely:
1. The desire to harness the motivational power of games in
order to ‘making learning fun’.
2. A belief that ‘learning through doing’ in games such as
simulations offers a powerful learning tool.
CATEGORISING GAMES
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1 Learning ‘Competencies’
Research into the wider context of games play indicates that, contrary
to populist media opinion, games are often a facilitator to social,
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communication and peer activities. This has always been the case; in
the early years of computer gaming, a ‘playground culture’ of
discussing, swapping, buying and selling games emerged. Interactive
communities often develop around mainstream games with or without
developers’ encouragement, as enthusiasts create websites, discussion
boards and other communication environments to exchange
information, experiences and even resources related to a game.
Risk taking is an integral part of business and life, but so few people
know how to manage it properly. The word risk has a slightly negative
connotation to it — it implies danger, tension, and possible loss. But
risk also has a positive side, the chance of hitting a big win, of getting
more on the back side than you invest on the front side.
All risks are not equal, however. Some risks are just plain dumb, and
you should never take them. But even in those cases, there’s usually
some emotional benefit. The city of Las Vegas (famous for its array of
casinos) thrives on such benefits. But what about intelligent risks?
Those are obviously the ones where the upside outweighs the
downside, at least probability-wise. You won’t find too many of those
risks in casinos.
Now we all know it’s generally a bad idea to take dumb risks, where
your expected outcome is negative and the potential upside is very
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The most intelligent risks are those where the potential downside is
limited, but the potential upside is virtually unlimited. Those are the
risks you should jump to take.
This planet has enough total and complete idiots. Please don’t be one
of them. You will lose a lot more by missing big opportunities (by not
taking risks) than you ever will from making mistakes.
Here are some examples of intelligent risk taking (indicating the worst
expected outcomes as well as the best):
Most of us are pretty good at avoiding dumb risks, unless you happen
to be reading this from a jail cell. But we’re exceptionally lousy at
taking intelligent risks. The stupidest mistakes we make are errors of
omission.
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It’s amazing how much long-term difference just a small change you
make today can make. Just a little more self-discipline, a little more
courage, a little more persistence, a little more enthusiasm —
these can produce huge gains in the long run.
The flat period is the hardest because you’re working hard and getting
very little to show for it. Maybe you keep working on your social skills
but can’t seem to get a date to save your life. Maybe you keep
working on your internet skills but still can’t figure out how to make
your own web site. Maybe you start a new business and just can’t
seem to get anything going.
That’s life. Give yourself permission to work hard and have little to
show for it, as long as you intelligently hold a positive long-term
outlook.
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Find an intelligent risk you can take today. Most likely it won’t pan out.
But what if it does? Celebrate either way because no matter what the
outcome, you’ll gain courage just by making the attempt.
The car is packed and you're ready to go, your first ever cross-country
trip. From the Garden City of Port Harcourt to the rolling hills of Jos
through Benin, Akure, Lokoja, Abuja, you're going to see it all. You put
the car in gear and off you go. First stop, the ancient city of Benin of
Fame and on .. and on till you reach destination.
A little while into the trip you need to check the map because you've
reached an intersection you're not familiar with. You panic for a
moment because you realize you've forgotten your map.
But you say the heck with it because you know where you're going. You
take a right, change the radio station and keep on going.
Unfortunately, you never reach your destination.
Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about
where we want to go, but we don't have a map to get there.
What is the difference between a dream and a goal? Once again, the
written word.
Goal setting however is more than simply scribbling down some ideas
on a piece of paper. Our goals need to be complete and focused, much
like a road map, and that is the purpose behind the rest of this article.
If you follow the 7 goal setting steps I've outlined in this article you will
be well on your way to becoming an expert in building the road maps
to your goals.
1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want,
not just something that sounds good.
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Setting goals in each area of life will ensure a more balanced life as
you begin to examine and change the fundamentals of everyday living.
Setting goals in each area of life also helps in eliminating the non-
integrated thinking we talked about in the 2nd step.
Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of
the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set
of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your
subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right
from wrong and it does not judge. It's only function is to carry out its
instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more
positive results you will get.
Instead of writing "A new home," write "A 4,000 square foot
contemporary with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the
mountain on 20 acres of land.
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Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above?
Walk around the house. Stand on the porch off the master bedroom
and see the mountain. Look down at the garden full of tomatoes, green
beans and cucumbers. And off to the right is the other garden full of a
sunflower, carnations and roses. Can you see it? So can your
subconscious mind.
Shoot for the moon; if you miss you'll still be in the stars. If I never
make it, everything I do to reach that goal will make me a better
person. If I make it, but don't go as high as planned, then I am still
among the top in my field in the nation. Shoot for the moon!
Reviewing your goals daily is a crucial part of your success and must
become part of your routine. Each morning when you wake up read
your list of goals that are written in the positive. Visualize the
completed goal, see the new home, smell the leather seats in your new
car, feel the cold hard cash in your hands. Then each night, right
before you go to bed, repeat the process. This process will start both
your subconscious and conscious mind on working towards the goal.
This will also begin to replace any of the negative self-talk you may
have and replace it with positive self-talk.
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Every time you make a decision during the day, ask yourself this
question, "Does it take me closer to, or further from my goal." If the
answer is "closer to," then you've made the right decision. If the
answer is "further from," well, you know what to do. Remember the
‘straight line law – the shortest distance between two pints’.
If you follow this process everyday you will be on your way to achieving
unlimited success in every aspect of your life.
We can argue with subjective feedback. It's not based on fact. It's
subject to interpretation and frames of reference. Informal learning and
relationships are based on delivering this feedback. Referees, juries
and critics all make judgment calls about our conduct. We get told we
are out of bounds, guilty or breaking the rules. We also receive word
that we are exceptional, valuable or likeable. It depends on who says it,
how they see us, which mood they are in at the moment and what
we've done to our relationship with them.
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Let's get personal and talk about you for a moment. Are you perfectly
happy with the way things are at this time, or do you wish things were
better? Chances are you are neither perfectly happy nor completely
unhappy, for most of us lie somewhere between both extremes.
However, if you're not totally satisfied, what are you doing about it? If
you continue to do the same things, everything will remain the same.
Nothing will change until you do.
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brought you where you are today. Change your choices and actions
and you will change the results that follow. This understanding is the
first step in personal transformation. The second step is the action that
follows, for as Dietrich Bonhoffer (1906 ~ 1945) wrote, "Action springs
not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."
Can you see where I'm going with this? All the above thoughts express
the mindset of a self made victim. Instead of taking personal
responsibility and taking charge of one's life, that kind of thinking is
used to blame others or life for one's own failures. That type of thinking
is dead-end thinking; and self-defeating thinking. With these thoughts
in mind, and tongue in cheek, Ambrose Bierce (1842 ~ 1914) defines
responsibility in his "The Devil's Dictionary" as follows:
Yes, it's easy to shift the responsibility and blame others or events. But
what good is that? All it does is keep us in a rut. We cannot make any
real progress until we admit to ourselves, "Only I can hold myself back.
Only I can stand in my own way. Only I can help myself. Only I can take
personal responsibility. Only I can transform myself from a victim of
circumstances to a reasoning, choice-making, action oriented person.
Only I can make the decision to stop acting like a victim and start
taking charge of my life."
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Let me end by saying, all this emphasis on making the right choices
and accepting personal responsibility is for your benefit only. That is,
use these ideas to improve yourself, but not to judge others. You can
never enter the mind, heart, and body of another, so you are unaware
of the reasons for their failures. Not everyone is as ready as you are to
change. That's why it is written in the Talmud (Rabbinical writings of
the 1 ~ 6 centuries AD), "A man may not be responsible for his actions
in an hour of tribulation and pain." You have enough problems already;
don't add to them by endlessly complaining, for that only entrenches
them deeper into your life. Rather, look for the good, appreciate it, and
take responsibility by making the most of what you have. Happiness is
a choice, just like misery is; we all have the responsibility to make the
right choices. We owe it to ourselves to do so.
Julie is six years old. She’s shy and indecisive and doesn’t have any
close friends. Julie’s teacher, Mrs. Sterling, often keeps Julie company
at school and gives her extra help. Mrs. Sterling doesn’t mind. Julie is
such a quiet and well-behaved girl.
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Eventually, Julie grew out of her wanderlust and became a polite little
girl. But maybe we overdid it, say Julie’s parents. Now she isn’t
interested in doing anything on her own. She just waits for us to advise
her.
Mrs. Sterling suggests that they give Julie a light chore—something she
could easily accomplish. Maybe that will help Julie feel like she’s in
charge and already has permission to do a good job on her own. Julie’s
parents agree.
In a few weeks, Mrs. Sterling notices that Julie is seeking less help and
spending longer periods with the other children. Then one day in a
burst of pride Julie tells Mrs. Sterling the proper way to empty a
dishwasher and put away the dishes. Mrs. Sterling thanks Julie for the
lesson and smiles as Julie runs off to play with her new friends.
Now let’s take a look at how you can teach your children
independence, self-reliance and the joy of confidence.
Encouragement
Parents need to support their children in their natural quest for
independence. A great way to do this is with chores. Most kids are in a
hurry to grow up; helping out around the house teaches them
responsibilities and shows them they can make a difference through
their actions.
But be careful. Your child can sense if you’re concerned about their
abilities. Let them know that it’s a big help to have them involved and
give them jobs they can accomplish. If you’re apprehensive about their
safety or performance give them another job.
Allowance
Children who are allowed to do things on their own develop self-
reliance. Early on, leave your child alone for small periods. They’ll learn
that they’re safe and can do things without you in the same room.
Later, friendships teach them to cope in different situations. Chores,
hobbies and homework develop independence, too. Here are some
methods to help your children succeed on their own.
• Model self-reliance in your own behavior.
• Show them step-by-step how a project is done.
• Make sure they know the goal so they go in the right direction.
• Make the project fun! Time it. Do it backwards. Dance. Make a game
out of it.
• Set timelines for a project, but let your children complete it their own
way.
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• Let them do the job in parts so they succeed each time they work on
it.
• Let them fail. Let your children try things their way and learn from
failure.
• When they forget to do a chore, show them the consequences, but
don’t do the job for them.
Support
Knowing when to step in and help your child with a project can be
challenging. Here are some guidelines, but observe how your children
solve problems and support them appropriately.
• Step in to support your children when their approach is unsafe,
unhealthy or disruptive.
• In general, make yourself available to help, but encourage them to
work through any snags they hit on their own.
• If you do step in, emphasize what’s working and then suggest ways
to do the job better, or consider doing the job together.
• If the job is done well enough… leave well enough alone. Perfection is
not the aim. Unless the work needs to be corrected for very good
reasons congratulate your children on their efforts. And praise them
often.
Protecting your children from harm is vital, but it’s also important to
allow them to explore, to engage in life and even to fail. That’s how
they learn self-reliance. In the long run, if children aren’t taught
independence they lack self-confidence—and that’s very difficult to
learn later on.
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TOPIC 7:
INTRODUCTION:
Motivation and the role it plays in the conduct of entrepreneurship and
how it positively affect the entrepreneur is very significant to the study
and practice of entrepreneurship. In this section efforts is made to
highlight the assessment of these motivational patterns in relation to
the process of entrepreneurial practice. Students should be able to
explain motivation, objectives, merits and demerits as well as carryout
analysis on the motive strength from Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT)
scores. Also they should be able to explain the spirit of Achievement
Motivation Test, (AMT)
CONTENT:
1. MOTIVATION
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A loss of any one part and motivation is on the rocks. For example:
• If you have a unique idea but don’t like taking risks, idea is all you
will ever have.
• There must be something in your life that turns you on. You can
start by analyzing the lifestyle of your dreams. Remember,
money is not a goal; it is a reward for achieving a goal.
7 Rules of Motivation
1 Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that
go in many directions. When you learn to succeed at mini goals,
you will be motivated to challenge grand goals.
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Creating a Vision
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Benefits of Visioning
The process and outcomes of visioning may seem vague and
superfluous. The long-term benefits are substantial, however.
Visioning:
Vision Killers
As you engage in the visioning process, be alert to the following vision
killers:
Tradition
Fear of ridicule
Stereotypes of people, conditions, roles and governing councils
Complacency of some stakeholders
Fatigued leaders
Short-term thinking
"Nay-Sayers"
It is five years from today’s date and you have, marvelously enough,
created your most desirable district. Now it is your job, as a team, to
describe it - as if you were able to see it, realistically around you.
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Achievement Theory
David McClelland’s achievement motivation theory envisages that a
person has need for three things but people differ in degree in which
the various needs influence their behavior: Need for achievement,
Need for power, and Need for affiliation.
Entrepreneurs are usually highly motivated individuals who seem to
enjoy work regardless of what they do. Most people are able to
accomplish goals which are similar to what they want to do. However,
entrepreneurs are able to motivate themselves to produce high output
in the work they have to do.
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The test comprises 31 cards. One card is blank and the other thirty
include blurred but emotionally powerful (or even disturbing)
photographs and drawings. Originally, Murray came up with only 20
cards which he divided to three groups: B (to be shown to Boys Only),
G (Girls Only) and M-or-F (both sexes).
Card 6GF again features a sofa. A young woman occupies it. Her
attention is riveted by a pipe-smoking older man who is talking to her.
She is looking back at him over her shoulder, so we don't have a clear
view of her face. Another generic young woman appears in card 12F.
But this time, she is juxtaposed against a mildly menacing, grimacing
old woman, whose head is covered with a shawl. Men and boys seem
to be permanently stressed and dysphoric in the TAT. Card 13MF, for
instance, shows a young lad, his lowered head buried in his arm. A
woman is bedridden across the room.
With the advent of objective tests, such as the MMPI and the MCMI,
projective tests such as the TAT have lost their clout and luster. Today,
the TAT is administered infrequently. Modern examiners use 20 cards or
less and select them according to their "intuition" as to the patient's
problem areas. In other words, the diagnostician first decides what
may be wrong with the patient and only then chooses which cards will
be shown in the test! Administered this way, the TAT tends to become
a self-fulfilling prophecy and of little diagnostic value.
The patient's reactions (in the form of brief narratives) are recorded by
the tester verbatim. Some examiners prompt the patient to describe
the aftermath or outcomes of the stories, but this is a controversial
practice.
The TAT is scored and interpreted simultaneously. Murray suggested to
identify the hero of each narrative (the figure representing the patient);
the inner states and needs of the patient, derived from his or her
choices of activities or gratifications; what Murray calls the "press", the
hero's environment which imposes constraints on the hero's needs and
operations; and the thema, or the motivations developed by the hero
in response to all of the above.
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Survey
Most Achievement Motivation surveys are constructed in the same
manner. They ask a number of questions designed to explore certain
behavioral characteristics. The surveys have related groups (or
components) of questions that are scattered throughout the
questionnaire. The questions may ask the respondents their likes and
dislikes of various topics. Other questions may ask respondents to rate
themselves or their abilities. By having related groups of questions, the
survey can ask the respondent the same question in different
manners and compare how the student answered each time. In this
manner the consistency of the respondents answers can be checked.
The answers to the questions are presented as a Likert – type scale.
Typically, there are between five and seven answers the respondent
can select (Chiu, 1997; Jagacinski & Duda, 2001; Sagie, 1993; Wagner,
Powers & Irwin, 1985).
Summary
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manner they save face with their pears. If the task is not attempted, it
cannot be failed (Atkinson and Feather, 1966; Atkinson, 1974).
The probability of success also has bearing on an individual’s
achievement motivation. An individual may not need to put forth much
effort to accomplish an easy task. A difficult task may be thought to
take too much effort. Tasks of moderate difficulty seem to be preferred
by individuals with high achievement motivation. An individual’s
perception of the outcome also affects their achievement motivation. If
the outcome of a task is not viewed as unimportant, little or no effort
may be made in attempting the task.
The diagnostic results of the test can be used for personnel selection
purposes as well as for identifying individual training needs as part of
personnel development. AMT can be successfully applied where a large
number of applicants are concerned, for example for the selection of
managerial staff, industrial workers, and for the founders of new
businesses.
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Begin and end each day by reflecting on the day’s activities. Then
you will get twice as much done, increase your Power, and hit your
targets faster. Always take the straight path to your Target. Always
make the Strengthening Decision.
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TO DO LIST
DO IT DELIBERATE
DUMP IT
(Focused Attention) (Mental Box)
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
Motivational Quotes for your meditation:
"Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going
to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that
goal, and by maintaining focus."
"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it
becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which
he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit
until he finds it."
"The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the
result of steady accretion... It is the man who carefully advances step
by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider - and progressively
better able to grasp any theme or situation - persevering in what he
knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is
bound to succeed in the greatest degree."
“Sloth makes all things difficult; but industry, all things easy. He that
rises late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at
night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes
him.”
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that is the stuff
life is made of.”
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a
habit."
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"It concerns us to know the purposes we seek in life, for then, like
archers aiming at a definite mark, we shall be more likely to attain
what we want."
"For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is
possible for him to achieve."
“You may never know what result comes of your action, but if you do
nothing there will be no result.”
“The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting
goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become
endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task,
no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your
dreams.”
"It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance
in this world. The great man or woman is the one who never steps
outside his or her specialty or foolishly dissipates his or her
individuality."
“A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. You are not here to
fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to
accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine.”
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"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once,
whether you're ready or not, to put this plan into action."
"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit."
"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work.
That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get
you pretty near."
"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a
day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had
everything to do and you've done it."
"Success follows doing what you want to do. There is no other way to
be successful."
"If you expect nothing, you're apt to be surprised. You'll get it."
"Thinking well to be wise: planning well, wiser: doing well wisest and
best of all."
"Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their
jobs."
"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only
with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at
the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy."
"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he
has already achieved, but at what he aspires to."
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"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision"
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to
accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
"A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much
knowledge that is idle."
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
"Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come
tomorrow. You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed
if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles."
"It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the
time that others waste."
"I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not
know what can't be done."
Here's one last quote from Walt Disney: "All our dreams can come
true, if we have the courage to pursue them."
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"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you
are and you know what you want."
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are
heading."
Here's one last quote from Lao Tzu: "A journey of a thousand miles
must begin with a single step."
"There are three classes of people: those who see, those who
see when they are shown, those who do not see."
"Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold
weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the
mind."
"It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole
scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and
bad things are very easy to get."
"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them
as impossible."
Here's one last quote from Pablo Picasso: "Action is the foundational
key to all success."
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"It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle
over who makes a weapon or who pulls a trigger."
"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless,
but planning is indispensable."
"Pessimism never won any battle; No one can defeat us unless we first
defeat ourselves."
"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived,
stop thinking and go in."
"Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is
possible for your life."
Here's one last quote from Oprah Winfrey: "Every day brings a
chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance. "
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but
doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next
moment."
"Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do
better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those
who never mount the high wire."
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"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your
goal, you can get there if you're willing to work."
Here's one last quote from Les Brown: "We must look for ways to be
an active force in our own lives. We must take charge of our own
destinies, design a life of substance and truly begin to live our
dreams."
"I advise you to say your dream is possible and then overcome all
inconveniences, ignore all the hassles and take a running leap
through the hoop, even if it is in flames."
"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your
motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the
obstacles that will invariably come your way."
“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”
"You are never given a dream without also being given the power to
make it true. You may have to work for it, however."
“Since all the world is but a story, it were well for thee to buy the more
enduring story, rather than the story that is less enduring.” St. Colum
Cille (St. Columba of Scotland)
“In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not
always an easy sacrifice.” Richard Bach.
"He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows
that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of
the most busy life."
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"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small
ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go
to sleep in peace." Victor Hugo, a French poet, playwright, and
novelist.
"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think
is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a
strength."
"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.
I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can
expect half-hearted results."
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300
games. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is
why I succeed." Michael Jordan
"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time
we fail."
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all
means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible,
but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for
remaining ashore."
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"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish. "
"True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents."
You didn't create your body, nor are you able to control the body's
functions. An intelligence greater than the human mind is at
work. It is the same intelligence that sustains all of nature. You
cannot get any closer to that intelligence than by being aware of your
own inner energy field -- by feeling the aliveness, the animating
presence within the body. - Tolle
"You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take
risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that
are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that
kind of feeling for what it is you're doing, you'll stop at the first giant
hurdle."
"You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
Put blinders on and plow right ahead."
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