Traits approach
Entrepreneurship refers to the process of identifying business opportunities and using the available resources to exploit these opportunities. Traits approach refers to the aspect that entrepreneurs have psychological traits that they use in running their businesses. These include the need for achievement, independence and autonomy.
Entrepreneurs also have a need for prosperity which makes them identify new products and inventions to enhance the success of their businesses. They should also be tolerant in cases of ambiguity. This proved to be a little difficult in company A for the interviewee as his wife had great hopes for the outcome of the business.
The downfall that they experienced, however, acted as a motivation factor and encouraged them to work even harder. Being creative is another essential element in the interviewee’s business that made it move to enormous heights of success and compete effectively with the competing businesses. This is of immense help when competing with the competitors as most customers tend to look for a unique aspect in a product or service before buying it.
Advantages of entrepreneurship
Many entrepreneurs venture in business due to the desire to attain independence in the work place. Entrepreneurs are in most cases their bosses, and this makes them feel independent and free to make and implement their own decisions. This was one of the reasons why the interviewee considered the suggestion by his wife to venture in to business. This is because they would be liable for the decisions they make in the business and responsible for the outcomes.
They are also liable for all the activities taking place in the business, a fact that makes them responsible and hardworking. Entrepreneurs also need to be risk takers. This enables them to try out new ideas that may be of immense importance to the business. For entrepreneurs to succeed in business, they should lay down goals and objectives. This helps in governing and monitoring their actions to meet these goals. This also enhances healthy competition in the market hence enhancing equilibrium of demand and supply.
Environmental Approach
Entrepreneurs need to consider the environmental approach in the running of their businesses. This comprises of the ethic and cultural background within the business environment. Family members and situations also have a significant impact in influencing the business success or failure. The host’s wife contributed a lot towards the attainment of success in the business. This mainly came about in the form of decision making and dedication.
She could also encourage her husband to move on when things seemed not to work out. The environmental approach provides a center for the growth of a risk taking behavior for the entrepreneur. This is because; he or she needs to handle different problems that include hardships and poverty. It also breeds insecurity whereby the entrepreneur should take the appropriate actions to enhance safety and stable economic conditions in the business.
Cultural effects on Business
Different cultures have different perceptions of entrepreneurs. This leads to pull and push factors whereby the positive forces pull the entrepreneurs closer and act as factors of motivation towards the attainment of their desired goals. On the other hand, push forces tend to push entrepreneurs away from the environment and regard them as misfits.
This discourages the entrepreneurs to thrive in the business, and some of them opt to look for alternative business opportunities or environments. The educational experience and background of the entrepreneurs also determine the success of the business to a large extent. Entrepreneurs with high education levels tend to do well in business which is not the case for those with low levels of education.
Behavioral Approach
Another vital aspect that should be considered by entrepreneurs is the behavioral approach. This analyses the actions and activities are undertaken by the entrepreneur and include management actions. The entrepreneur is responsible for laying down strategies and implementing tactics that he or she thinks can take the business to greater levels of success.
In their business, the interviewee and his wife gathered a lot of information from competitors who included friends and relatives. They were also responsible for gathering and organizing resources and setting up the appropriate structure in which the activities should be undertaken.
Contingency Approach
Entrepreneurs should also put into consideration the contingency approach which mainly targets business opportunities. For them to succeed in business, entrepreneurs should have the ability and will of sensing a business opportunity and exploit it. This helps an immense deal in broadening their scope of business and market.
Source of Business Ideas
In the interview that I conducted, the source of the business idea was the interviewee’s wife who invented the idea and shared it with her husband. This got discovered through a friend who ran such a business and earned massive profits. From the failures that the interviewee encountered in the process of running his business, he learnt that for a business to be successful there is an immense need for interest in the business.
The business should be about something that one loves doing to create an open mind for creativity and innovation. The entrepreneur should also avoid cases of over anticipation. This may lead to depression when the business fails to perform as desired and in most cases; most of the entrepreneurs end up giving up on the business.
Lessons learnt from Business Failures
As a result, entrepreneurs should understand that it requires time for a business to attain up an upward trend. They should be ready to face fluctuations and losses and deal with them accordingly. Marketing the products or services can also be of significant importance as it calls for development of good and healthy relationships with customers.
They should be handled with respect and the business should ensure that it produces high quality and unique products that will attract customers. Entrepreneurs should also take time to identify with their competitors. This involves gathering information about their products and how they go about the management of their businesses. This ensures that the entrepreneur gets updated hence enhancing competition.
Definition of Business Success
The interviewee defined success as the capacity to accomplish the goals of the entrepreneur. This involves producing high quality services and goods and making maximum sales per day. Business success also entails earning the trust of customers and attracting the highest possible number of customers to the business.
The typical day of the interviewee could be defined as practically busy as the business needs a lot of commitment and dedication. This involved long working hours and barely any time for rest. This would only take effect within the first five years of the business as the host hoped that the business would expand and set a foundation after this time.
Sources of Business capital
The interviewee got support from his family and friends in putting up the business. This was in the form of material support and words of encouragement during the rough times that the business experienced. The capital to start the business could also be obtained from assets from the host’s family. This enabled the business to start, though at a slow pace. The interviewee claimed to have problems with the bank which included issues to do with mortgage. This denied him the opportunity to obtain a loan as the process of clearing the mortgage was taking a long time.
Conclusion
New businesses may be difficult to manage but get easy with time. Entrepreneurs should learn to be patient and not place too much hope on the business during this time. They should commit themselves to activities that can help the business climb levels of success. This involves seeking out for new business ideas and obtaining information from competitors. Entrepreneurs should also put in place the different approaches discussed hereby for them to succeed in business.