Reflection On Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

?RFLECTION ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP By Executive Summary A reflection on entrepreneurship is a look at the possible explanations of the existence of all the characteristics seen in the entrepreneurial processes. A group organizes to meet the proprietor of MoYou Company. An interview that leads to a substantive reflection on issues related to entrepreneurship takes place. Among the issues realised are that entrepreneurs always: Carry out market review Identifies the right customer segments Reaches out to the specific market segments Have skills to run the risks involved Considers market competition There was also a reflection based on the facts realized in the interview. The reflection was about the practicality of the theories associated with entrepreneurship and a search on how the entrepreneurs nurture their success. Introduction Entrepreneurship refers to an act and art in which the entrepreneur innovate new things, finances them and creatively makes a transformation of the innovations into a more profitable economic good or service (Bosma, Jones, Autio, & Levie, 2007, p. 45). This may take the form of a start-up company or intra-entrepreneurship. According to the global economic monitor, all entrepreneurs, with a base on having been born and not made have specific characteristics. Innovation, initiative and resource maximization ranks high on the idea of taking opportunities and creating a profitable cause out of them. A view at the leading entrepreneurs in the world brings to focus a well laid plan of risks and ideas that are endured over time to create profit. This reflective report therefore analyses the entrepreneurship of MoYou Company. It is done through an interview with the company entrepreneur Mr Oren. An overview of the company will be very sufficient to create an understanding of the entrepreneurial principles and strengths that he has put in place to get successful. In view of the same, an interview will be conducted with him and will be recorded in the details of the critical incidents information. The reflection report will then follow in which all the entrepreneurial principles will be featured in the reflection. Individual principles will be analysed as indicated by Mr Oren as well as an assessment of his success factors based on his strengths expressed in the interview. Critical Incident Finding the Entrepreneur and Implementing the Interview Original Situation The situation that was in the offing was a creation of six group members. The aim of the group in implementation of the entrepreneurship experimental learning was to look into all the available social avenues to search for an entrepreneur and have him/her respond to their questionnaire. The main issue about the interview was to try and get knowledge of his ability and how he has managed to succeed in the competitive business world. The method of searching for an entrepreneur was to be open and given the high availability of the social networks, all the group members were hopeful of a useful choice being found. Actions That Were Implemented As stated, the choice of an entrepreneur is not an easy task because in most cases the people who are known are the executives and management teams and individuals. These only take part in the implementation of the procedures but they are usually not part of the original team that initiates the project. The cosmopolitan lived offered a wide variety of choices of entrepreneurs that were to be interviewed. An e-mail was sent to an entrepreneur in the cosmopolitan and it was easy to get through since he responded confirming the acceptance of his time. This opportunity was good because the business was well known to all the town members. The entrepreneur was Mr Oren, the entrepreneur behind the existence of MoYou Organization, a company that is associated with creation and development of beauty products. The arrangement was that there was need to meet over a tea break since as an entrepreneur, time was a paramount issue to him. In view of this, and given that he will be interviewed with only one member, there was an agreement to meet at a local restaurant in a serene environment where the interview was to take place. This necessary step was occasioned by the fact that there was need to create an environment where he would not be distracted by the common office emergencies and contingencies. In addition to all the actions taken before, a copy of the questions was sent to him so that he could prepare and give an accurate response to all the information that was required of him. Evaluated Outcomes from His Responses Having met at the restaurant, there was no wastage of time and going to the objectives of the interview was the key issue. The questionnaire had been searched by all the group members and was to touch on very important issues in the company. The report was also wholesome in that it was to create a review from the time the idea to create the business came into his mind to the end issues that affect the operations of the business. In the overview of the business, Mr Oren stated that prior to the start of the nail business, there were reports that nails contributed to at least 58% of the confidence of women. The same report also explained that 54% of girls did not like going to the salon due to economic and preference reasons. Creation of products they would use therefore became a paramount business to him. That was a business idea that came to his mind and he took the risk to try and implement a business strategy. He stated that the business started in 2009 the company to date has locations in Europe, the USA and the rest of Europe. The main procedure involves design and manufacture of nail art products. To date, the sales of the products have gone to the extra mile of sales through stores such as Fenwick and Hamleys. The second question was on the issue of identification of the right customer segments, target groups and the ability to venture into these segments. The entrepreneur indicated that starting the business in UK, there was a clear indication that the market was clearly segmented based on the economic ability. Since there was no need for market discrimination, the company serves to a large extend the middle class to upper class women, young ladies and women. In fact he stated that analysis of the women and young children showed a third of the population using these products. Although the business was not expected to be this big, the risks taken however saw to it that the company realizes the highest profits in the industry. The company also reaches out to the market as stipulated by the entrepreneur through different methods. Being of service to the young generation, the company identified the latest and current methods of marketing the products to the customers. Of particular note is by use of Facebook, you tube, beauty blogs as well as most other social networks. These sites have largely contributed to the development of the company sales to a very large extent. There was also a need to establish whether there are skills needed for one to be a successful entrepreneur, and whether the skills are acquired through life or it is an inborn thing. Mr Oren categorized that the company lays a lot of emphasis on four types of skills; technical skills, managerial, entrepreneurial and personal maturity skills. The skills as noted take a wide range of other micro-choices that fall under the skills. This he explained is depended on the section that the respective employee is working. However, these are required in management. As an entrepreneur, he noted that there are three particular skills which he soundly had; business concept, scanning of the environment and networking. This is important in that it helps the business to have a wide market spread in terms of its customers. Competition is risk that all entrepreneurs that must be aware of (Alvarez & Barney, 2007, p. 130). On competition, he explained that he was aware of the competitiveness of other similar companies in the market; Nailtopia and RioNails companies. These he however said that he capitalized on their weaknesses to exploit the market. The weakness of Nailtopia, he noted was that the company had a very weak brand of its products and in most cases did not have a price variety to its products. This, as compared to the strengths of MoYou put it at a very big disadvantage when it comes to market variety and class. There also the idea of the issues that the entrepreneur thought affected the business to a large extends. This, he was aware of several issues. One of the issues was that of the target market. Given that the company has only been in operation for less than five years, he indicated that service to the middle and upper class was a challenge since majority of the low class citizens who struggled with accessing the products was painting a bad picture of the company. Though the company had a competitive advantage in the market and industry as a whole, he was planning to competitively launch products that may make the market all inclusive as far as supply is concerned. The other issue he referred to was the government regulations on the contents of the products that are included in the products. This was attributed to the high levels of the youth doing anything to make sure that they look beautiful. Therefore, high levels of discipline were therefore to be practiced to make sure that there is compliance with the categorical law issues. There are also countries especially in the Eastern Europe in which there are varying levels of wealth ownership. What would be considered a middle class in Europe would not be described as rhea same. Therefore, there has to be a difference in prices as far as the two places are concerned. The company also started at the end of the world economic crisis and there was also a very strong fear in investment opportunities. Financial bases were however stronger in the company though the fear created anxiety among users of the products but they are now more secure than they were. Reflection A successful entrepreneur is the one that sees his dreams of progress come to be realized (Baum, Frese, & Baron, 2007, p. 50). The responses of the respondent (Mr Oren) about his entrepreneurial endeavours and success therefore are a food for thought based on the responses that he gave during the interview. At the beginning of the interview, the entrepreneur states that the consultancy reports indicated that there were a percentage of the women that were influenced by the confidence of having the right type of fingers. From an insightful valuation of the situation, what we see is a simple value that the women attach to beauty. However, Mr Oren sees a gap using his entrepreneurial skills of environmental scan. According to Alvarez (2007), there exists a market opportunity. Who is therefore able to locate its viability? In the real essence, this is a reflection that goes back to the original idea of whether entrepreneurial abilities in people are a situation in which one is born with or it is acquired. Study of the market is a critical issue in the elevation of the mind towards taking advantage of any chance that happens to be present there (Saras & Sankaran, 2011, p. 119). There is a reflection on the possibility of there being a previously acquired knowledge about the availability of the chance or gap in the market and the ability to identify possible avenues of developing the gap into a useful venture. This is seen when the period within which the company becomes a multinational is so much shortened. Sarasvathy (2005) indicates that there is an entrepreneurial framework that is created from the mind of an entrepreneur that hardly exists in the mind of the common man. In the first section, there has to be an expression of ability to deal with or handle the situation or chance. That is why the effectual stakeholder framework puts the initial indications of the ability at questioning the relationship between existence of the gap and the ability of the entrepreneur (Hisrich, 2010, p. 24). At the beginning, there is the need to understand the ‘who, what and whom’ of the entrepreneur. These give a move to the next section which questions the ability to handle the situation as well as the concerned interactions with other similar stakeholders related to the business (Haywarda, Forster, Sarasvathy, & Fredrickson, 2010). At the end, it is realized that the effectual stakeholder commitment to the duties is the one that bears all the success that Mr Orien realizes in the job that he took up as an entrepreneur. Identification of the market viability through the segmentation bases was actually done before the actual initiation of the entrepreneurial project. Entrepreneurship by investment involving starting up a business may result in a loss or a gain based on the choice of the consumer group that is chosen. From the principle of affordability loss, we set out an outward thought of a winner (Wiltbank, Sarasvathy, Dew, & Read, 2008, p. 40). Scrutiny of a market relevant to the products being produced is a paramount issue. A loser talks about what he will do if he wins and a winner knows what he will do if he loses. This wise statement by Berne indicates knowledge of the second thought if the first one does not bear the required fruits. For instance, the entrepreneur in the case chooses middle and upper class to sell to. That was not an option he had in the final saying. In the affordable loss principle, there is a reiteration of choice of the right strategy so that there is maximization of the rewards obtained from the venture. Effectuation at this point was appointed towards what the entrepreneur was willing to lose so that he can optimize the gains (Sarasvathy S. D., 2008, p. 39). In this case, there is a committed entrepreneur who is willing to lose everything as long as there is a tangible gain if he does not lose. This looked like an angel investing in which case there is a high level of uncertainty. Though there may be a satisfying choice based on the market, there are no initial levels that the market is going to be overly productive (Dewa, Read, Sarasvathy, & Wiltbank, 2009, p. 297). The connections between the past ability to manage such situations are the indicators that it will be successful. Therefore, the entrepreneur is the key person here and he uses all the traditional values that can be applied to the situation to make sure that there is sufficient success in the business. This could therefore be the type of entrepreneur referred to as the causal entrepreneur. He formed the company from a non-existent one to a multinational. This was done by identification of the real market and creation of the available resources, which culminated into the company functioning to become what it is today. Planning is a long process in entrepreneurship. Once the real plans for the business to work has been finalised, there are trends that follow. From the responses of the entrepreneur, the distribution channels were long planned so that there would be no discrepancies at the implementation stage. How was this possible? Given that this was an issue of new market creation especially in the diaspora, there was need to establish a well created procedure on the way the company would distribute its products. The importance of reaching out to the markets through the modern systems cannot be overruled (Wiltibank, Dew, Read, & Saraswarthy, 2006, p. 990). He no longer relies on the use of the normal means of communication but decides to involve the use of the latest means of communication. Why was this necessary? It can be discerned from the historical communication issues that communication in itself is a dynamic process. This dynamism must have led him to the adaptation of the latest methods that could reach out to the targeted market, the young female generation. There is therefore a clear cut span which he strings together through the generational changes in the modifications in technology (Sarasvathy & Dew, 2005, p. 550). Use of twitter, Facebook, Google ads and YouTube are identical with the most frequented sites for the youth. From the application of the skills of entrepreneurship, it brings back the ideal question about how entrepreneurship used to develop in the ancient times. Sarasvathy (2010) indicates that the development of entrepreneurship is not an issue of the recent past. There is a relationship to its development even in the biblical times. The ancient entrepreneurs identified these opportunities from any context and develop them into businesses including doing the same thing in the temples. So, was there some science in the development of entrepreneurial skills in a person? From a scientific perspective, there is no specified person that can originally be born with the skills (Davidsson, 2008, p. 80). Any person can develop then and constructively utilise them for the common good. But the entrepreneur in the case is seen to have skills related to the development of the company. The key piece of information that comes out here is what is expressed by Dew (2005). He explains a compelling issue related to the entrepreneurs. He asserts that entrepreneurs have a way of creating an anatomy in the decisions they make based on some issues. This, in relation to the entrepreneurial skills owned by an individual whether acquired or inborn has specific characteristics. These are of the form of; being structured well and oriented towards achieving a goal, have alternative means of getting to achieve the goals, are affected by the environment and are able to put into consideration the existence of conflicting goals (Cope & Pittaway, 2007, p. 220). There can be no successful entrepreneurship without successful competition in the market. As stated in the interview case, there are several competition issues that must occur to make sure that the effected competition processes are successful. Competition according to entrepreneurial specialists create value in the market in that each company would want to effective and favourably dominate the market (Harmeling, Sarasvathy, & Freeman, 2009, p. 345). As seen in the case, there is effectiveness of the strategies that are supposed to be followed to make the company successful in the market. Ideally, if an opportunity exists, then it is possible to have a pace setter. This refers to the first entrepreneur that grasps the opportunity and makes it known to the other entrepreneurs. MoYou for instance has been in the market for a very short time but was able to initialise a plan that would be relevant to shed off competition from the other two companies in the UK nail industry. And in light of the competition, there might have been no strict barriers to the companies that entered the market before MoYou so that it became easier or tactical to explore the market. So how much does a market competition mean to an entrepreneur? Getting aware of the existence of an opportunity is viable enough for the company to be able to explore the market. However, the returns to the company seem to be based on the level of secrecy. Other issues are not likely to be very significant in light of the issue of returns (Dew & Sarasvathy, 2007, p. 269). The principle of discovery and creation gives the original company to the market an upper hand in terms of the competition that is being realized. This stems to the fact that entrepreneurs that originally created the market are able to have factual ideas about the market secrets than the others that come later on to the market. But that does not guarantee market sustenance. Creation setting therefore creates a natural competitive advantage to an entrepreneur and there is no big trouble trying to spend on the creation of market barriers. Customers tend to create loyalty to the goods in the market at the first instance (Wiltbank, Read, Dew, & Sarasvathy, 2009, p. 118). The other entrepreneurs that come later are the ones that will create a barrier to sustain the market. Entrepreneurs in the market are faced with so many issues. Theoretical and empirical integration is therefore relevant in trying to unveil the circumstances that create a successful entrepreneurial venture. Virtual institutions differ from real institutions and these can be related only in the process of getting raw ideas about reality. Empirically, the exploitation of the opportunities in the market is by far different form the theoretical context covered in learning (Nicholas, Stuart, Saras, & Wiltbank, 2011, p. 247). To this end, there are empirical questions that come to the mind in evaluation of all entrepreneurial strategies; are the opportunity takers any different from the common people who do not? How are risks in the market measured by the entrepreneurs? Do changes in the industry create new opportunities? By entirety, creation of the entrepreneurial opportunities is not related to the development of the theories learned. From narratives of contingency, the knowledge can be obtained from several sources; other entrepreneurs, whistle blowers and many other sources (Sarasvathy, 2004, p. 520). However, there is a lot of success if the entrepreneur will undertake to venture into a more risky business that would however be more profitable. The hubris theory undertakes to justify the fact that challenges in the entrepreneurial market are leveraged if there is confidence in the entrepreneur taking up the risk. This is regardless of the high and low risks involved. Conclusion Entrepreneurship undergoes several processes. Before it can be considered a success, there has to be sacrifice, risk taking near wild decisions that would see the entrepreneur emerge successful (Dew, Sarasvathy, Read, & Wiltbank, 2008, p. 315). This report has shown a reflection about initiation of an entrepreneurial initiative. In light of the same, it has highlighted the initial preparations for a very fruitful interview with a top nail products entrepreneur. Highlight of the details of the interview have been reviewed at the beginning. A synthesised reflection was also done based on the outcomes of the reflection which tried to create a critical look at the connections in the orientations of entrepreneurial activities. References Alvarez, S., & Barney, J. B. (2007). Discovery and Creation: Alternative Theories of Entrepreneurial Action. Discovery and Creation, 3(6), 123-147. Baum, J. R., Frese, M., & Baron, R. A. (2007). The Psychology of entrepreneurship. New York: Routledge. Bosma, N., Jones, K., Autio, E., & Levie, J. (2007). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. London: London Business School. Cope, J., & Pittaway, L. (2007). Simulating Entrepreneurial Learning. Management Learning, 38(2), 211-233. Davidsson, P. (2008). The Entrepreneurship Research Challenge. Washington: Edward Elgar Publishing. 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