Factor Paper by E Timbol AGSB Clark

SESSION 4 ASSIGNMENT

Factor Paper

In Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirement in

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Ateneo-Regis MBA Program

Ateneo Graduate School of Business - Clark

Submitted to:

Prof. Jorge Saguinsin

Submitted by:

Elizabeth Carlos-Timbol

Date:

March 7, 2014

Ever since I was small, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur like my father.  He was a businessman, who at such a young age even before turning 30 years old, he was able to establish businesses on his own or some, with partners.

Back when my siblings and I were just young kids, our  parents would give us incentives during summer.   For example, if we will help clean the house, our parents will give us salary each time we helped in cleaning or in gardening.   When we reached highschool, if we helped in any of my dad's business, he would give us salary.   Nevertheless, my parents would make it a point that we will not be the strict Chinese-type of business-minded family who is "all work and no play".   

My parents would make sure that we would enjoy our summers, in our childhood and teenage lives.   I guess, it is one way of instilling discipline and inculcate in our minds indirectly to love the business world.   My mother used to be a teacher back  at a time when being a teacher was highly regarded as a very noble profession. However, as our family was getting bigger every year, reaching 14 children, my mom decided to become a full-time housewife, mother and at the same, doing business on the side without leaving our home.  She would be the cashier for those people paying electricity which we were the supplier.She would be the neighbors' dollar exchange person to go to, also at a time when there were only few establishments changing dollars to pesos, something that banks were not so aggressive at that time.

Getting high scores, reaping awards and achievement is no longer a surprise to me.  I have always been competitive in nature and you could see that in my aggressiveness, so much so that I was actively engaged in sports from elementary to college, being consistently a varsitarian that represented my school in inter-school competitions and winning, too.

As a student, I am quite the industrious, Type A kind.  I really work hard even I could afford to just simply sit back and relax.  But I didn't do it that way, I was hungry to explore and experience a lot of things,  which basically got me involved in a lot of academic and extra-curricular activities that my day would start as early as 4am, training for either the swimming or basketball team and spend the rest of the day in the classroom or in various student organizations one of which I was the founding chairperson (Ley La Salle).

Looking back now, all these experiences honed my leadership and people skills that one cannot simply learn within the confines of a classroom.  So when I finished college, it was already innate in me to work in multiple jobs that multi-tasking is but second nature to me.   I can work very well under pressure and would like get things done fast and efficient, and hating it when things are not done the right away, as I know it causes others' work to get delayed as well.

I was wondering why I got low score in passion.  I am passionate with things I voluntarily get myself involved in.   As my personal mantra "Ready, Fire, Aim!" goes, I never stop not until I get to achieve my aim.   I would "ready" and "fire" because of my entrepreneurial spirit, such that I would start the business even some things are not yet perfect.  Because I believe that no matter how you prepare for everything, you can't perfect something until you see the flaws and you don't get to see the flaws until you start it.   When I start things, I get passionate about it, that is why I get angry within reason, when things are not done accordingly as planned.

Taking control is something I put premium on.  Because in any company, there has to be a leader who would always  give the go signal, pretty much as what an entrepreneur would: taking the risk already and at the same time, ready to take the blame should some things fail or does not necessarily go as planned.   And I don't agree  in the saying that one will take the credit in yourself for positive results and if negative results, you will blame external factors.   That is exactly why the role of a leader is difficult as he or she is the risk-taker and takes full charge of everything.

Creativity wise, I am always innovative especially in systems and procedures which are needed in every new business in order to jumpstart its operations.  There is a huge  difference between being a boss and being a leader . I am, by nature, a leader and not a boss.  As that famous quote by E. M. Kelly goes, "The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says, 'Go!' -a leader says, 'Let's go!'."

Being action and results-oriented, I'd rather do something productive instead of just talking, find solutions than magnify the problem on hand.   It annoys me when things are just purely plans and people talk theoretically as if they are the most intelligent and experienced beings on the planet, wherein I fact they haven't proven anything.  One has to be credible first based on a proven track record.

Based on Timmons Model, I am team player as I let people shine and give them proper credit to whom it is due.  This is the only time I take the back seat.  I only become visible when problem arises.  Otherwise I'll  let my  people going about their jobs.   Even as I keep exploring many business pursuits as a form of adventure for myself, I also have my share of failures and losses, but not enough to demoralize me.   I start at with minimum exposure while I'm trying to learn the new business.  When things are getting ready, that is the time I shift to next gear to aggressiveness.  Otherwise, if I don't see any potential or future, I'll close it but I don't easily give up. I'll maximize things first as I always see opportunity for every disaster that comes along.

I am the type who seeks new business opportunities from an existing business, hence its expansion becomes a chain or at least related.   For example, in many establishments we operate, we hire the services of  a security agency for a good deal of money.  Why not put up your own security agency and earn this good deal of money by being a supplier to some of your own demands?

In the real world, being streetsmart trumps being bookish.  I go for common sense.   I have acquired  businesses who are losing and turn them around into profitable ones.
One has to be diversified in business because there are businesses than can easily be duplicated, like the bottled water industry.   Twenty years ago, bottled water is only popular in European countries.   Fast forward ten years, it become a permanent fad, and water refilling stations mushroomed everywhere.  That is why you now have to be fast in implementing ahead of others, especially where technology is involved.

 .
While I was going through the "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" slides, I remember my term paper regarding "The Economic Impact of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises".  It has many similarities in my views . It's what inspires my advocacy of "Go Negosyo" where you create jobs and livelihood to contribute to our country's economy and proclaim with full conviction in your heart that your country is indeed your business.

By the time I turn 50 six years from now, I aim to be billionaire!  That is my "20/20 Vision". 4

APPENDIX

50 Item Entrepreneuralism Questionnaire Results

Personality Trait	Low   Fairly-low    Average    Fairly-high  High	Score
Achievement Striving	llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll	44
Industriousness	llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll	45
Passion	llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll	29
Taking control	llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll	44
Creativity	lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll	38
Successful entrepreneurs are likely to score highly in many, or even all of these measures, whereas unsuccessful entrepreneurs or those unsuited to entrepreneurialism may express lower scores on many of these measures.   Achievement Striving Achievement striving is a person's internal motivation to achieve outstanding results and their propensity to work hard towards goals. A score of 44 indicates a high level of internal motivation to succeed. You are more driven than the majority of people when meeting goals and striving for achievement. Your work is of very high priority, possibly even at the expense of your own work life balance at times. You are very likely to go the extra mile, and/or undertake additional responsibilities. Despite your high motivation, you may feel that you must achieve even higher results, rarely being satisfied with your own achievements, causing you to strive ever onwards. Industriousness Industriousness is a person's level of persistence, resistance to stress and self-discipline. A score of 45 indicates a high level of industriousness. You are likely to thrive in stressful, challenging situations, possibly finding laidback environments boring. You will have a strong advantage over most people in high pressure environments. You are very unlikely to become distracted or procrastinate, instead opting to continue until the job is done. You are very likely to put in extra work or extra hours when the opportunity arises.   Passion Passion refers to an individual's emotional intensity, enthusiasm and emotion based decision making. A score of 29 indicates an average level of passion. You use emotional factors as performance enhancers as much as most people. You show about as much enthusiasm for your work as most people. When making decisions, you are likely to use a mixture of intuition, emotional intelligence, rationality and logic. Inspiration, motivation and emotional intelligence are about as important in facilitating job performance as other factors. Taking Control Taking control is related to the psychological personality theory of "locus of control", the extent to which individuals believe they can control events that affect them. A score of 44 indicates a high perceived ability to take control. You are very confident in taking control of situations. When positive outcomes occur, you almost always credit yourself, but when negative outcomes occur, external factors are almost always blamed i.e. luck, chance etc. Creativity Creativeness is the use of imagination to develop and implement original and innovative ideas. A score of 38 indicates a fairly high level of creativity. You show a relative preference for generating new ideas and handling complex problems. When addressing issues, you tend to focus on delving deep into the issue rather than focusing on superficial aspects. You are more likely to use abstract and lateral thinking than conventional and traditional thinking when making decisions.