Factors Paper - Camille A. Dela Cruz

ENTREP S20

Mr. Jorge Saguinsin

Factors Paper

Camille A. Dela Cruz

While doing the research paper for the Factors paper, I was able to stumble upon several or even numerous resources that provided me the essential factors of being an entrepreneur. I particularly chose the Entrepreneurial Success Factors by Dragan found in the website I cited in the references. I chose it because it was very detailed and provided me a deep and thorough insight on the characteristics of an entrepreneur. According to the author there are 15 factors that make an entrepreneur and below are these factors. The way I did my self-assessment was to go through each factor and analyze whether I possess or do not posses such factor. On the table below, the left side is where the factors cited by the author that would shape a person to become a successful entrepreneur and the right side is my thorough self-analysis of each factor.  Truthfully, I appreciate such exercise – self-assessment, because it pushes me to look back at my life and re-discover who I am as a person.

Factors	Self-assessment
1.     Willingness to take action - This is the first and most important factor or each potential and current entrepreneur. All other factors presented below, won't have importance if he or she didn't take a real action.	I highly and strongly believe that in this factor I'm still half-baked. I am so blessed that in the early course of my young adult life I have discovered that being an entrepreneur is what I really want and I've decided that the corporate life is not the path I will no longer journey in two years time. I have been blessed to discover what I really want but knowing is only one thing. Being an entrepreneur won't happen if I don't act upon it. I think the call to materialize my desires is still my biggest challenge and the number reason for this, is that I have so much fear to fail and to risk everything for the something that is uncertain. Unless I conquer that fear, I may not be able to pass the first stage of being an entrepreneur.
2.     Knowledge - they must have superior knowledge about business issues for business that they start.	I have not fully earned this factor because one I don't have the experience to gain and earn knowledge about entrepreneurship but I believe I have taken huge steps to develop this skill. First, I enrolled in MBA to further develop myself and learn more about the subject of entrepreneurship. Second, I have been trying to discover and learn more about our family business by asking my dad from time to time the history of the business and how it works.
3. Creativity. They must have creativity to be unique and continuously improves business.	I am blessed to be born with a creative mind. Since grade school I have noticed that I have an "eye" for things.  Maybe the reason for that is that I am surrounded with a family who loves being creative and unique and you are allowed to appreciate art in all forms. What is significantly lacking is my ability to give time to hone and further improve this factor.
4. Skills - Each entrepreneur and each business need different entrepreneurial skills that in some cases can be crucial for business success.	Similar with the knowledge factor, I believe I have not fully developed my entrepreneurial skills but I have taken a huge leap by enrolling in this class and finishing my MBA to further improve and hone my entrepreneurial skills. I consider also that I have gained a few entrepreneurial skills over the time I have worked in the corporate world.
5. Intelligence - They must be intelligent to manage all possible situations and to solve the hardest problems that will be a constant in business life.	Again, similar with skills and knowledge, I have not fully possessed this factor. And again, I believe have taken the necessary steps to further build on this factor.
6. Patience - They must be patient and to continue after losing the first battle, because the war is not finished. It's only the beginning.	This is one factor I am certain I strongly possess. I am the type of person who can extend the utmost patience to any person or the situation I am in. I am not the typical who is restless and demands answers immediately from people, the environment or myself. In addition, I don't easily give up. I try until I know have I have exhausted all means, measures and resources.
7. Persistence - Persistence simply is a refusal to give up from something, or ability to keep your actions against your personal feelings that you're not ready for such actions. Feelings and motivation didn't produce results, but the action is something that will produce it.	I am still confused about this factor because I am the type of person who has the resilience to deliver results and that highly contributes to being persistent. However, while reading the definition of the factor, I believe I have not possessed the factor of persistence fully. I have the tendency to decide based on my emotions and that I know is exceedingly wrong because I would be making irrational decisions.  I am aware of this mistake, and I have been working tremendously hard to change this trait of mine and to always make decision based on facts and objectivity.
8. Teamwork - Nobody can achieve anything alone so this is true also for an entrepreneur because they're not a "Superman". They must be team players for their business success.	I am the biggest fan of this factor, as I've always believed that teamwork will bring any organization to a success that is immeasurable. At work, I highly promote this essence because without it people will be doing their own thing that will just result to a waste of resources. With teamwork, objectives and goals are easier to achieve and accomplish.
9. Calculated risk - This is truly one of the most important questions: did they take the risk? Yes, each business startup is in some level risky. However, more important is how a successful entrepreneur takes a risk? The word calculated risk is the most appropriate word for this feature.	Similarly with the factor of willingness to take action, this is one factor I have yet to possess. As mentioned above, I have a huge fear of the uncertain. I think I grew up in an environment where I had the perception that being "safe" should be the right path to choose because it has less consequences and failures. The disadvantage of this is that it led me to be a person that became highly fearful of risks, which eventually led me to this situation – having the difficulty of taking that first step of becoming an entrepreneur.
10.  Self-Confidence - Self-confidence is a really important and key factor. I think that nobody would be an entrepreneur if don't have self-confidence that he knows how to start and manage their own business.	I strongly believed I have possessed this factor already early at my life. I grew up in an environment where my parents taught me to love who I am and not to be afraid to show the unique me. So I grew up having the least insecurities. I am not afraid to gain my fullest potential and to show the world what I am made of.
11.  Experience - Sometimes experience is in category not must have as a factor, but it is something that will increase business potential energy. They must employ all present and previous experience they had into the business.	I am very grateful for the experience I have learned over the years from my work and school. The experiences I've gained over the years will truly help me on the time I will start my own business. The next step for me is to further improve this factor by absorbing more experiences.
12.  Talent - Talent is something inborn in an entrepreneur. Sometimes talent can be replaced with knowledge.	I think this particular factor is what I am very unsure of. I really don't know if I have the talent to be an entrepreneur but I guess my other talents can be used for me to build the business I desire of. I am very much passionate about cooking and I believe that I can use this skill to create my own business like a restaurant or a bakery store. I think it is important that if a person wants to be an entrepreneur, he or she must find what she is good at and use this as a leverage to create their own businesses.
13.  Honesty - Honesty is important in every case, but sometimes honesty, can be the biggest enemy of an entrepreneur in some complex conditions.	I am proud to say that this is one factor that I truly possessed. I have been to several situations wherein my honesty was test to its fullest potential and at the end I chose to be the honest person.
14.  Connections - More connection the more possibilities for building a successful business.	This is the factor I have to push myself to work for even more. I know I have built my connections during the course of my corporate but I believe it isn't enough. I lack on making acquaintances becoming stronger working relationships.
15.  Luck - Luck is a psychological factor. Some people can say that they don't have luck. And indeed there are some "lucky people" who just accidentally found the right place at the right time. However, it is a small percentage and cannot be included as a serious factor for success.	I really don't believe in luck because I know that a person will succeed only if he or she does her best and exceed the expectations he/she set for him/herself. However, I do believe that timing is crucial to one's success. You may have the resources and the right skills now but if the timing isn't right then it won't definitely happen.

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References:

Dragan (2012). Entrepreneurial Success Factors. Accessed December 2012 at http://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/852/entrepreneurial-success-factors/