Each dawning day, we read or watch news about entrepreneurs who have managed to build successful businesses amidst unbelievable circumstances. Top in this list are prominent names like Bill Gates, Richard Brandon and Steve Jobs.
Apparently, such incidences generate several questions about whether their success could be due to timing, luck or some other hidden factors. However, the reality that only a few individuals have succeeded signifies that they possess some intrinsic personality traits, which predisposes them towards success. For the case study, Gavin Macmillan possesses some key personality traits that endorse him as a successful entrepreneur.
To begin with, Macmillan is highly innovative. Having succeeded in saturating mobile bartending market in Canada, he is thinking of expanding his businesses to other regions by recruiting new faces in his franchises. Apparently, Macmillan realizes that his franchisee idea would only succeed if he shared it with other like minded individuals.
Secondly, Macmillan is a very patient man. Even after failing miserably in the first trial lessons, he does not give up. Instead he comes up with new ideas. He realizes that entrepreneurship demands a great level of patience before one can yield positive results.
Thirdly, Macmillan is exceptionally adventurous and this trait, albeit risky, might attract the desired results, if effectively executed. His idea of building a yacht with a helicopter pad on it is quite adventurous.
Similarly, his flexibility enables him to change course when one idea proves to be untenable. For instance, when he realized that the initial idea attracted huge losses, he came up with a new idea.
On the other hand, the perfectionist personality is a risky element in entrepreneurship. Macmillan must realize that not everything is likely to go as planned especially while dealing with different players.
Consequently, Macmillan motivation can be classified as both intrinsic and extrinsic in nature. Macmillan motivation can be termed as intrinsic because he seems to have an internal desire to stretch his bartending ideas beyond unbelievable limits.
The fact that he is willing to train new players indicates that he gains pleasure from bartending. This personal pleasure could be termed as intrinsic. On the other hand, Macmillan is in bartending business for money. Apparently, the main reason why he is willing put up with the slow process of exploring new territories is because he targets some monetary rewards.
Macmillan dream of building a yacht appears like an untenable idea that may never be realized. Such an idea demands for a great level of skills and resources. However, by setting up such an enormous and unbelievable goal, Macmillan is likely to stay motivated even when events attest to be too challenging along the way.
Moreover, this goal will apparently stretch his innovativeness to the maximum. He has to steer his businesses towards profitability in order to garner enough resources to fulfill the major goal.
Contrastingly, although MacMillan seems like a goal orientated individual, there are some pitfalls, which may derail his vision. From the case study, we learn that the greatest hindrance to Macmillan success is poor time management. On this note, I would advice Macmillan to consider the element of time factor while setting up his goals.
An effective timeline would enable Macmillan to keep proper track of his goals. Secondly, Macmillan needs to prioritize his goals to avoid confusion. For instance, he should decide whether to first complete training for new bartenders or to introduce the mobile bartending idea. On the same note, MacMillan ought to differentiate between long term and short term goals. This will enable him to evaluate whether the yacht goal is realistic or just a dream.