COMPETENCIES REQUIRED IN SETTING UP A SUCCESSFUL SMALL

BUSINESS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN SETTING UP A SMALL BUSINESS

Chiedozie Prisca Onyinye CWCNS/2022/0092

Joseph Deborah Chimeremeze CWCNS/2022/0187

MAY 23, 2023

DEPARTMENT OF NURSING SCIENCE

CENTRAL WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF NURSING SCIENCES, ENUGU.

 TITLE PAGE

EXPLAIN THE KEY COMPETENCIES REQUIRED IN SETTING UP A

SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS; KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND TRAITS.

IDENTIFY KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN SETTING UP A SMALL

BUSINESS; RESOURCES, ABILITY, MOTIVATION, DETERMINATION,

IDEA, AND MARKET, ETC.

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO NURSING SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT, COLLEGE of NURSING, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENT FOR CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT AWARD IN

INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP (EED 126)

LECTURER: DR. MGBEASIRI VENATIOUS

JULY, 2023
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The success of every man is dependent on the contribution of others. Hence, the

task of undergoing this study has not been a one-man affair. A lot of people

provided the much-needed support. Some gave inspirations, encouragement,

guidance and contributions that brought motivation. Others provided useful criticism

that spurred one to action. We therefore wish to pledge our indebtedness to all who

made this work a success in one way or another.

Very prominent among them is our lecturer Dr. Mgbeasiri Venatious for his

consistent guidance, motivation, and encouragement despite his tight schedules.

Dr.Ven, your valuable devotion to this study has made it to see the light of day.

Our sincere gratitude also goes to our able group leader. Chiedozie Prisca Onyinye

for her guidance and encouragement including her hard work in putting all this

together. Remain blessed dear. We also appreciate our group members Joseph

Deborah Chimeremeze, …….. for their contributions and encouragements. We are

also indebted to some websites on goggle. We must admit that without them, we

would not have achieved what we have today. Thank you so much.We thank our

individual families for the wonderful support and encouragement they gave us on the

course of this assignment.

Our special thanks go to our school president Prof. Dr. Akubue Augustine Uchenna

for all the work he has put into our academies, Prof. we are really grateful.

Finally, our profound gratitude goes to the almighty God for bringing us thus

far. His grace has indeed been sufficient unto us. To him be all the glory

forever.
ABSTRACT

The competitive nature of our business environment requires innovativeness and

creativity to achieve performance. Being innovative and creative is important but

being competent is very vital for any business growth. These can be achieved through

training, learning new skills, attitudes, personal relationships, being initiative,

information seeking and the rest to achieve entrepreneurial objectives. This paper

therefore examines the competencies required for entrepreneurial performance in

setting up a small business, as influenced by personal traits and leadership skills. This

paper adopted a theoretical approach and reviewed the relevant literature as a basis for

the examination of entrepreneurial competencies and performance in setting up a

small business. Finding shows that engaging in entrepreneurial core competencies,

personal traits and learners skills are positively related to business success. Engaging

in managerial role, entrepreneurs require organizing and relationship competencies

which are positively related to business success. This study recommended that

entrepreneurs should desire entrepreneurship training and be more proactive. This

study concluded that though entrepreneurial competencies are learnable through

entrepreneurial training programmes and education they also serve as yardstick

(standards) for formulating appropriate strategies and which when implemented

enhance the attainment of business goals.

KEYWORDS: entrepreneurial competencies in setting up a small business, skill,

performance.
INTRODUCTION

Competency is a combination of knowledge, skills, ability, attitude, and behaviour

used to improve performance or as the state or quality of being adequately qualified

and capable of performing a given role. Competency refers to behaviours that one

demonstrates to meet the minimum performance standards.

Competencies required in setting up a small scale business; knowledge, skill and

traits. Competencies are personal and professional skills that cannot easily be

measured. Some examples of these skills include accountability, ethics, and

competitiveness.

A. Some of the most important competencies required in setting up a small scale

business are as follows:

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCY refers to knowledge, abilities, skills and behaviours

required for effective job performance in managerial occupations. It is very important

for a business organization to identify, develop, and retain talented people. Every

successful and effective manager possesses several competencies that enabled him to

perform efficiently and effectively at different managerial levels. Managerial

competencies today play an important role in different types of organizations as it

detects the differences between average and excellent managers in an organization for

marketing purposes.

MARKETING COMPETENCY refers to the ability of identifying with the wants and

needs of the target customer and communicates the company’s brand image and
product value in such a way as to elicit a favorable reaction from that target customer.

The activities of marketing are so diverse that it is difficult to say exactly what

marketing is.

SKILLS REQUIRED IN SETTING UP A SMALL AND SCALE BUSINESSES

1. Personal Skills

The first skill required in setting up a small scale business is personal skill. Personal

skills are simply those skills that are attached to ones personality, more like habits.

They are the characters possessed by successful entrepreneurs. For instance; if one is

a professional proofreader, then it’s important to develop a keen eye for spotting

errors. One has to be in the right mindset before ever starting a business. Being in the

right mindset entails the abandonment of the get rich quick mentality and above all,

one must have integrity.The most important thing in a business relationship is ones

reputation for honesty.

If one can genuinely and sincerely fake honesty, they will be a success.

2. Communication skill

The next important competency skill is communication skill. A famous speaker once

said that the fact that you are talking doesn’t mean someone is listening. To be a

successful business owner, one must be a powerful communicator.

3. Negotiation skill

In the course of building a business, one is bound to negotiate deals. He negotiate

with customers and suppliers over goods and services offered. He negotiate with
bankers over bank loans terms and conditions, just as he negotiate with investors over

equity and stakes. If one cannot negotiate, they will end up getting good deals at

exorbitant prices or worse still, they will get nothing. So if one cannot negotiate, if

one lacks persuasion skills, building a business may just be a dream to them.

Negotiation or persuasion is an art that can be learned, all they have to do is to devote

their time to learning it and they will become a master at it.

4. Leadership skill

In business, leadership skill is not an option. It is a necessity. Business is all about

ones relationship with people. It entails uniting people with different backgrounds,

beliefs and skills to a common cause. It entails forging people with different skills and

ideologies into a business team. Good leadership consists of showing average people

how to do the work of superior people. Building a successful business that requires

one to become an excellent business leader.

Business is not just doing deals, business is having great products, doing great

engineering and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a

cobweb of human relationship. Successful entrepreneurs were not born business

Leaders, they were made. They became business great leaders because they desired it,

they humbled themselves and learned the art and science of leadership. Today, they

are leaders in their game with a huge number of followers.

5. Sales skill

A man’s success in business today turns upon his power of getting people to believe

he has something they want. Success in business is also all about selling, one must

first sell himself to his investors, next to his suppliers, his business team and
employees and then to his customers. The ability to sell is the number one skill in

business. If one cannot sell, he shouldn’t bother thinking about becoming a business

owner.

B. THE KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN SETTING UP A SMALL BUSINESS

(MAIR)

1. Motivation

2. Ability

3. Idea

4. Resources.

IDEA AND MARKET

The important issue to be determined here is the viability of the idea, project, product

or service to be offered.. Does the idea, product or service meet a NEED or want for

which there are customers who can afford it and are willing to use/Purchase it in

sufficient quantities to make the whole project worthwhile( I.e return a profit, in a

business context)? How is the proposition to be offered more desirable or better than

what is currently available and how will competitors react?

MOTIVATION and DETERMINATION

It is widely acknowledged that to be successful, the individual or group needs to be

highly motivated and determined to set up the business to make it succeed.

This will be reflected, e.g in how persistent they are in overcoming obstacles that

might get in the way, how they go about seeking information and how they act on

opportunities. Additional indicators might be their commitment and attitude to work

(quality, efficiency,long hours).

ABILITY

Another important question is whether the individual or others involved have

particular abilities, these may be knowledge, technical, managerial skill of revenue to

the business or project. One way of 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 measures will not only influence performance but also in some cases,

whether they start at all. E.g capital, cash, premises, material, equipment and labour.

The Availability of infrastructure e.g utility like Electricity, telephone, roads and

support services might also be important

BUSINESS PLAN

In order to turn the above 4 component 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 ;

1. Where one currently is with his idea, project or business .

2 .What he wishes to do.

3. How he propose to go about it and,

4. That the project is worthwhile.

COLLUSION

There may be a need to consult professionals such as lawyer, accountant and or staff

from small business support agencies for advice. The whole business and the process

need to be managed and how well this is done in particular , finding and dealing with

customers, management of cash and finance, marketing, handling employees, dealing

with suppliers, and control systems will all affect performance.

References

1. Ekezie, E.E (1995): Small Scale Business in Nigeria: The Financial Solution”. The

Nigerian Accountant, Vol.28 No 3.

2. Iromala, R.U (2006): Small and Medium Scale Business Development, Lagos;

Cedar Trust Venture Ltd.

3. Izedomi F. (2006) Sourcing Finance for Start-up and Existing Business in Nigeria:

Prospects and Challenges. ICAN Student Journal, Vol. 10, No 2. Jamodu, K.

(2001): Small Business Enterprises, Lagos, Elfoda Ventures.

4. European Journal of Business and Innovation Research

Vol.8, No.3.pp. 50-61, May 2020 Published by ECRTD-UK Print ISSN: 2053-

4019(Print), Online ISSN: 2053-4027(Online)