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MGN428: Developing Entrepreneurial Mindsets

Assessment 3: Self Reflection Report

Tutor & Lecturer

Dr. Luca Casali

Student
Ujjwal Kachhwah
N11528800
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Overview

This report aims to provide an overview of my entrepreneurial mindset, as revealed through a

self-reflection personality test. By undertaking the test, I sought to gain deeper insights into my

personality traits, strengths, and areas for development as an entrepreneur. This self-reflection

process has not only allowed me to better understand myself but has also enabled me to apply

this knowledge to enhance my entrepreneurial journey. The self-reflection personality test

utilised in this report draws from the widely recognised Big Five Model, which assesses

personality traits across five dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness,

extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability. Each dimension represents a key aspect

of an individual's personality and plays a significant role in shaping their entrepreneurial

mindset. The assessment has also identified areas for development. For instance, scoring lower

in conscientiousness has prompted me to address organisational skills and attention to detail.

By acknowledging these areas, I can proactively work towards improving my entrepreneurial

competencies and refining my strategies.

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Table of Contents

1) Self-Reflection (Beginning of the semester) ……………………………………….4

2) Self-Reflection (Conversation with an Entrepreneur) ……………………………..8

3) Self-Reflection (End of the semester)……………………………………………..11

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Self-Reflection
(Beginning of the Unit)

During the first test, I experienced a range of emotions. As I progressed through the

questions, I began to delve deeper into my experiences and behaviours, reflections on my

preferences and tenancies in various situations. This introspection prompted me to think about

my strengths, weaknesses, and the underlying reasons for my entrepreneurial aspirations. It

forced me to confront aspects of my personality that I had not fully considered before, it

encouraged me delve deeper into my entrepreneurial self. I initially scored low on extraversion

that suggested that I am an introvert person. While attempting the tests for the first time I was

not very open to new experiences, and I felt comfortable in my own space and stayed very

reserve to self. This might be the major reason that the evaluation revealed that I might be an

introvert person. An entrepreneur is not expected to be an introvert that trait goes opposite to

the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur. The test revealed that I am moderately open-

minded person that was the positive point for my entrepreneurial journey. The next thing that

the test results told me was that I am an agreeable person, this trait of mine might not be a

positive sign for an entrepreneur’s point of view. Since this might end up in a situation that

might not be suitable for me, my business and most importantly my business. This may put on

some additional workload on me that may stretch beyond my limit of handling the stress. The

test revealed that I might be a disorganised person, this was an area of improvement. Since

disorganised person often tend to be dependent on others and seek for some support while

doing trivial things. The other trait that shows not so good signs was the negative emotionality

tab, the test results guess that I am a highly negative while considering emotions, which implies

that I may experience emotions more intensely While this can present challenges, it also

highlights my ability to emphasise and connect with others on a deeper level. By leveraging
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my emotional intelligence, I can build strong relationships and foster a positive work

environment within my entrepreneurial ventures. And that does reflect in my scores, I agree

with the scores that came out through the evaluation of the set of questions. I did gain a valuable

insight into myself and my entrepreneurial orientation.

The other test that attempts to evaluate entrepreneurial mindset specifically, provided

with useful insights as well. The results revealed that my entrepreneurial alertness was 3.61,

entrepreneurial alertness is evaluated through three sub dimension that are, scanning and

search, association and connection, evaluation, and judgment. In scanning and search I was

able to get 3.67 points out of five which is a decent score in theory, I scored exactly same the

second sub dimension association and connection, and slightly lower in evaluation and

judgement, that is 3.5. All these scored were acceptable but these scores can be improved. In

risk propensity I scored 2.71 which an average as per my limited understanding. Risk

propensity has uncertainty as “risk” the word itself suggests that things and processes might

not go as planned by the planning team or an individual. Next is entrepreneurial self-efficacy

that describes how much does the person beliefs in his entrepreneurial tactics, it has two sub

dimensions business idea and founding, I have scored 3 and 4 respectively that makes 3.5 as

overall score for the self-efficacy. These scores could have been better if I had opportunity to

sit among the people who genuine business experiences. However, I did score 3.57 in

entrepreneurial passion. Since all these scores are theoretical it is very tedious to get knowledge

about someone’s actual potential as the situations differ in different workplaces and a person

with a particular skill set can perform better in one area and not that great in other area. But the

thing that matters the most is whether a person is open to learning new skills adapt to the ever-

changing situations in globalised world.

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Screenshot: Big Five Personality test taken at the start of the semester.
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Screenshot: Entrepreneurial Mindset Test (Broad and Specific Traits) taken at the start of the

semester.
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Self-Reflection
(Conversation with an Entrepreneur)

I arranged this conversation with an entrepreneur, his name is Sourabh Mourya. He has

started an online platform known as The Agri World. They provide customer service through

calls, emails, Instagram, and an official website that is also an e-commerce solution for the

people who are interested in agriculture. Sourabh has an ambition take agriculture sector online

and more reachable in India, reachable here means that the farmers should be educated about

their properties of soil and have knowledge about new products in the market. Farmers usually

rely on product suggestions given by retailers who have the products which may produce good

results in the yield, but they might not be a sustainable option, that means they might be harmful

for water bodies and for the soil itself in the long term and may result in toxic soil. Sourabh

has an experience of on-field agriculture practices that take place in rural parts of Chattisgarh,

a landlocked state in central India. He told us about the issues with traditional farming and

demerits of not knowing the properties of agricultural products that consists of high percentage

of toxic chemicals in them. He wants to bring awareness about these practices, and how to

carry out with more care for nature. His motivation comes from his love for the locals and

nature. Sourabh shares that on his journey he has learned about different aspects of life and

how differently people choose to live in rural parts of India than in urban areas, though we

share the same amenities in both rural and urban areas like, tap water, electricity, and

technology such as televisions, mobile phones, broadbands and 4G/5G networks. As we shift

to rural parts people are less comfortable to change and thus it was difficult for him to motivate

people for using other product in the available in the market. He learned that the locals are less

likely to trust a city boy. In the conversation Sourabh tells us that, initially it was difficult for

him to start the conversation with the people not in terms of personal relationships, but in terms
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of his journey as an agri entrepreneur. So, he started conversations with the young ones and

that helped him in gaining access to the thoughts of the elders, this assisted him in convincing

the older generations that they can give a try to new products. Other issues with agriculture

sectors are awareness, people usually aren’t aware of the schemes made available by the

governments for the benefit of farmers and usually these schemes go in silent rooms. And even

if they are aware they usually do not know the process of applying for it. The one of the most

common schemes that is available in almost every state is weather catastrophe compensation,

under this scheme if the crops get destroyed due to extreme weather the farmers get some

compensation, the amount of compensation vary from state to sate because of difference in

legislature and budget of the state. Currently Sourabh has limited access to a few locations

where he can work on, and major earnings comes from the website sales of vegetable seeds

and pesticides. He plans to work on more educating content for his website and partner with

some local suppliers for better reach ability.

If I were to be in Sourabh’s shoes:

• I would try to make my educational content reachable to rural areas as well and since

India has many regional languages, I would try to translate all the content in local

languages, this could be done by partnering with NGO(s) that work in agriculture sector.

• Apart from locals I would try to communicate with local political leaders as well who

can assist in gathering people for the awareness programs that would educate people

about the hazardous chemicals that are present the pesticides.

• I would also try to gain some revenue from offering lessons to people living in urban

areas who are interested in garden farming or terrace farming.

• My areas of strength would be communication with the locals, promoting my

organisations through various social media channels such as Facebook. I would

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promote my channel in such a way that it presents my organisation’s social cause, and

why I am committed to it.

• My areas of weakness would be managing multiple fronts at a same estimate which I

think can be somewhat difficult especially if there are multiple degrees of difference

between two tasks such as communicating with rural population and managing e-

commerce finance.

These were some of the steps that I would try to implement ideally if I were to be in Sourabh’s

shoes.
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Self-Reflection
(End of the Semester)

This unit was a profound journey of self-discovery and introspection. While attempting

this test for the second time, I actively engaged myself in applying knowledge and skills to

understand my entrepreneurial self and my mindset. As I embarked on the test, I approached it

with an open mind and a willingness to explore my experiences, behaviours, and tendencies,

providing valuable insights into my personality traits and how they relate to entrepreneurship.

I have noticed a good improvement in in my scores. Previously when I attempted the test, I

scored low in conscientious but in this test, it was on higher side of the bar. Similarly, my

extraversion was low, that has also improved in second test. This improvement is a result of

knowledge gained through the unit and includes will to improve and be a better person than I

was yesterday. While in previous test I gained moderate in open mindedness even that has

moved to higher side of bar. While agreeable trait seems to same that indicated that my core

nature of being supportive to other need has not changed and I am willing to help anyone in

my capacity. The other trait in which I scored high was negative emotionality, which was not a

good sign, but it has decreased significantly in the second test. This is a good sign, because as

an entrepreneur it is important to stay focused and away from unnecessary negative thoughts

as this might impact in overall performance and efficiency of a person.

In the other test my overall entrepreneurial alertness was 4.47 previously it was 3.61

points. And this is because there was increase in all sub dimension of entrepreneurial alertness,

that includes increase in scanning and search, association and connection, evaluation and

judgement. My overall entrepreneurial self-efficacy has also increased to 4.67 which was 3.5

which is a good up shot for me. In entrepreneurial passion I was able to score full marks

previously it was 3.57 all these improvements are the outcome of consistent efforts towards
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better understanding of self in terms of entrepreneurial world and it was also the outcome of

dedication towards being a better entrepreneur in future.

Both the test has served as a powerful tool for understanding my entrepreneurial

mindset. By providing insights into my personality traits and how they relate to

entrepreneurship, it has enabled me to capitalise on my strengths, address areas for

improvement, and develop a holistic approach to my entrepreneurial journey.

Screenshot: Big Five Personality test taken at the end of the semester.
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Screenshot: Entrepreneurial Mindset Test (Broad and Specific Traits) taken at the end of the

semester.