Core Competencies in

Entrepreneurship
Lesson 3
 The entrepreneurs are individuals who are alert to
profitable opportunities for the exchange of goods and
services. A street vendor in Divisoria takes the
opportunity to make profit by selling school supplies
during the opening of the classes. During Christmas, they
take the opportunity of selling Christmas items and in
other occasions sell clothing apparels at different season.
A cell-phone repair man takes the opportunity of
servicing various cellular owners who cannot afford to
buy new models.
 Entrepreneurial Skills and Competencies
The skill and competency factors are the following: Negotiating, Planning, Risk
Assessing, Purchasing, Accounting, Recruiting, and Training, Selling, Controlling and
Dealing with Emergencies.
The Entrepreneur as a Missionary
The entrepreneur is a missionary who perceives opportunities inherent in the exchange
of goods with great desire for profit. The entrepreneur creates an environment in which
success is possible and the possibility of failure is controllable. The entrepreneur is at
work whenever he takes risk and invests his personal talents and resources to make
something new or different as customers like to buy new and improved products.
 Entrepreneurial Skills and Competencies
Entrepreneur is Goal Driven
The entrepreneur is goal driven and self-confident as he exercises the
locus of control. He sets high goals and strives to attain the projected target
and accomplishments. He extracts compliance with set goals and activities
to avoid the risk he foresees while planning the activities and programs in
the operation of the enterprise. He accepts challenges and responsibility for
results. He makes sure that the people work based on specified work
programs and schedules.
 Entrepreneurial Skills and Competencies
The entrepreneur is a Marketing Man
The marketing environment is identified by the entrepreneur and thus he
marshals his resources to pursue the opportunities and makes immediate
action to exploit his personal gain. The needs and wants of customers are
properly identified and these are the propelling reason for him to take the
opportunity to make profit. He takes the lead for innovation and makes
modifications to make the customer aware that his product or service is more
superior to those offered by others.
 Entrepreneurial Skills and Competencies
The entrepreneur Starts Small to Become Big
Many entrepreneurs start small scale but with their managerial talents
and persistence, they exploit the opportunities available for their disposal. At
the early stage, their growth orientation is for expansion of their operation
and they persistently pursue approaches that differentiate them from other
managers.
 The Making of an Entrepreneur
The making of an entrepreneur is a dynamic process and an approach. As
an approach, the entrepreneur considers the business opportunity as a chance to
find new ways to solve the problem rather solving immediately the problem. A
manager of an organization is characterized as an adapter while the character
of an entrepreneur is an innovator. The manager employs discipline and precise
methodical approach in solving business problems while an innovator
entrepreneur approaches the problem on a different angle as he focuses on
discovering problems and make new avenues for its solutions.
Entrepreneurship is a process that can be developed, learned and nurtured.
 Entrepreneur as a Dynamic Process
Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process of innovation and the creation of new
opportunity for the creation of new venture. The small business owner entrepreneur in the
sense is self employed and is different from an innovator entrepreneur. The real
entrepreneur is an individual with the greatest drive for expansion and growth and has
propensity to make a difference in terms of their achievements in profit and exploitation of
the resources for growth and business expansion.
The entrepreneur develops strategic plans and programs that will ascertain a definite
advantage over the others in their line of business. This is the reason why we see people in
the same line of business that others had gone miles over the others. The former is a
manager of his business while the latter is an entrepreneur.
 The Factors that Develop Entrepreneurial
Activity
1. The Entrepreneur Takes the Initiative
With his great interest to capitalize on the opportunity at hand the
entrepreneur takes the initiative of venturing into business. With some
knowledge on hand, he knows that he can operate the venture with minimum
risk. With vigour and vitality, he plunges into a profitable operation.
 The Factors that Develop Entrepreneurial
Activity
2. Organization of Capital Resources
While talents and ambitions are great resources of the entrepreneur,
financial and human resources are important ingredients in the start of the
organization. With his savings and other financial resources, he starts
operation on small scale together with his trusted family members or friends
he knew that could help him develop his dream enterprise.
 The Factors that Develop Entrepreneurial
Activity
3. The development of Administrative Machinery
The management is developed with organizational structure based on the
need of operation. Specific duties and responsibilities are assigned to
individuals with talents and skills that fit their respective position. It is based
on the individual capacity to do the job and not on personal connection with
the entrepreneur.
 The Factors that Develop Entrepreneurial
Activity
4. The Development of Entrepreneur Autonomy
The entrepreneur develops autonomy in the operation of the enterprise as
he takes the lead in all the activities of the organization especially in the
early stage of operation. His venture capitalized as he knows best the
direction of the entreprise as he is aware of the calculated risk involved.
Locus of control must be in his hands.
 The Factors that Develop Entrepreneurial
Activity
5. The Development of SWOT Analysis
The avoidance of risk can be taken with careful analysis of the Strength,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the organization. The
entrepreneur must see the environment of the enterprise based on SWOT
analysis so that the risk involve could be seen before it happens. Forecasting
environmental events are antidote to future risk.
 Peculiar Characteristics of Managers in
Solving Problems
1. The manager develops system and procedure that are precised based on current practices
in the industry.
2. The manager is interested in solving organizational problems rather than finding other
avenues in the solution of the problems.
3. The manager is interested in the refinement of policies and procedure and tends to revise
them to solve existing problems.
4. The manager finds ways and means to solve problem and compliance to routine activities.
5. The manager is interested in details and is sensitive to group cohesion and extract group
cooperation as a means to group accomplishments.
 Characteristics of Innovator Entrepreneur in
Solving Problems
1. He looks at the problem on different angles and finds means to circumvent the same.
2. He discovers the roots of the problem and develops avenues to better solve the problem.
He formulates solutions and alternatives.
3. He develops basic assumptions and hypothesis related to current practices and makes
innovations based on careful analysis through SWOT.
4. The innovator entrepreneur is interested in the end results rather than the means to
achieve it. He has little tolerance for details and routine work.
5. He capitalizes on people with bright ideas and talents and gets their opinion and
concensus and with little regards for people with mediocre ideas.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
The Making of Filipino Entrepreneur
The making of Filipino entrepreneur is a process of trial and error. The
colonization of the Filipino for more than 300 years is a great factor in the slow
development of entrepreneurial activity in the country. Our concept of owning a
small business like a sari-sari store, or a small tailoring shop, or a repair shop or
market distribution outlet already makes the person an entrepreneur. While this
concept is true to certain extent, entrepreneurship is more than being self-
employed and making a living out of the meagre income to support family needs
or a little of their wants.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
The success of Filipino entrepreneur stands in a very shallow foundation. Most
Filipino business starts on a copy cat syndrome. For example, Maria will start a sari-sari
store and here comes Pedro seeing the flourishing business of Maria, opens store opposite
the other corner. Juana starts a barbeque stand on the corner and here comes Petra with
another variety street foods. This is the scenery in most Philippine business condition.
The food business outlet is one of the most abused and most prominent activities of
some Filipino business entrepreneur, including that of small outlet in the distribution of
basic grocery and other items called sari-sari store or in some cases mini-grocery store.
Some enterprising outlets include cellular phone load that adds to their income.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
The Foundation of National Bookstore
The making of National Bookstore is not a myth of fortune and honey.
The founder, Socorro Ramos, came from a poor family that sustained a
living from selling various items to support their basic needs. She was a
working student while in high school but because of her persistence and
perseverance she graduated with honours. Being a working student was not a
hindrance to her education as she painstakingly combined studies with hard
work.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
After high school she worked as a sales clerk in Goodwill Bookstore owned by her
brother where she learned the rudiments of book business. Learning the hard way is not
easy task and starting a business empire of national magnitude with more than 30 branches
all throughout the country was a product of entrepreneurial acumen coupled with
determination and hard work.
Business capital for expansion could come from savings and other sources. The Ramos
couple knew that they could expand their business with the savings that they had and
bought the present office of the store at Rizal avenue in Santa Cruz, Manila where a 9
story edifice was built. They built a building complex in Pasig where printing and other
services are being made.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
With their children, they went into vertical expansion by establishing
printing press to print local books and other office forms and supplies. They
ventured on other business activities and expand horizontally and vertically
and made them of what they are today. Their children were trained the same
hard way and they are all successful, fitted to inherit the new growing
business empire.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
Leonardo Sarao, the Jeepney King
The success of the jeepney business is the making of a Filipino
entrepreneur. Sarao jeepneys abound in all terminals during the early period
of transport development in the country until copy cats made jeepneys of
similar styles. Leonardo Sarao, the jeepney king, started the business by
being a helper mechanic until he established his repair shop from a meagre
capital.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
He then started buying second hand parts and engines from Japan and
built jeepneys that abound in most streets of the Metropolitan manila and its
suburbs. He established the jeepney factory with meagre capital and made
savings to expand his operations. He ventured into other business activities
and success was not professionals and are now engaged in various business
activities that made them of what they are today.
 The Development of Entrepreneur
The above few successful stories of Filipino entrepreneurs will serve as a
self propelling reason for us to think that the making of entrepreneurial is
not served in silver platter. The career of these few successful entrepreneurs
were built with entrepreneurial genius founded on slow and painstaking hard
work. Their personal objective is not only to generate money to sustain basic
needs or wants but the greater drive for personal fulfillment.