Dear Prof Jorge
Here's the soft copy of my factors paper as required in the syllabus
yen
Rosalynn L.
Pangan, RPh (AGSB MBAH 10B)
Subject: Entrepreneurship
Individual
Paper #1: Factors Paper – What factors I do/don't possess that make/do not make
me a Business Entrepreneur?
Date: 15 December
2012
DO I HAVE THE
BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR (B.E.) FACTOR?
In my field of
practice as a pharmacist, there is always a silent requirement that we need to
have this business entrepreneur or the B.E. factor. Why? Having a
pharmacy is a great business opportunity and will never be a dying business and
as such, we always need to think of new ways to innovate to gain competitive
advantage against an increasing number of retail drugstores and even small
scale suking tindahan selling over-the-counter medicines and offering
less expensive but more accessible medicines to the public.
In my opinion,
successful entrepreneurs are those who have wild imagination and have strong
sense of conviction that they will succeed in their endeavour to try things
that are out of box. In which I think that I am on the middle ground of being
such. There are instances that I fall into a bliss and ideas start coming up
even when I am in a middle of a conversation or meeting with someone that I
have to immediately write it down and sometimes I burst into cutting a good
conversation and suddenly stating a new idea that came out of my mind. To be
able to know exactly where I am, I tried using tools available in the worldwide
web that would somehow gauge my business entrepreneurial skills.
I first came
across the Mentors, Ventures & Plans website, where they say that all
entrepreneurs have a common communication, team-building and creative thinking
skills. The tool looked at 12 skills from creative thinking to business
management in which I have to choose from Not Developed, Beginner, Quite
Capable and Very Capable. After the test I scored 26 and interpreted as I have
similar skill with majority of entrepreneurs. Then I proceeded on checking the characteristics
of an entrepreneur and I have to choose from Not Yet, Sometimes, Most of the
Time and Always. Out of the 11 characteristics asked, majority of my answers
are Always and I scored 32 and interpreted similarly with former assessment.
Then I came
across an article from the Mind Tools website which I found very interesting
and simple to understand. They categorized the entrepreneurial traits into four
categories: (1) personal characteristics (optimism, vision, initiative, desire
for control, drive & persistence, risk tolerance, resilience); (2)
interpersonal skills (leadership & motivation, communication skills,
listening, personal relations, negotiation, ethics); (3) critical and creative
thinking skills; and, (4) practical skills (goal setting, planning &
organizing, decision-making)2. I developed a table and checked
where I had to select from No, Sometimes, Most of the Time and Always. Based on
the tabulation, I came up with this list of B.E. factors which I think I am
strong on and B.E. factors which I need to work on:
Strong B.E. Factors Weak B.E. Factors
Optimism – I would like to think that I am always positive about new things Leadership & motivation – If I have trouble motivating others, I tend to stop and walk away.
Vision – I always think beyond what we see today Listening – Sometimes, I tend to be more focused on achieving the goal and unable to listen to the actual challenges in achieving the desired goal.
Initiative – I always get excited and privileged if I was assigned to start a new idea. Negotiation – Similar to motivation, I think I need to work on my negotiation skills.
Desire for control – I always preferred to take the driver's seat and be in control of the direction. Communication Skills – I am a good speaker but I am weak in giving a detailed instruction.
Drive & persistence – When I wanted something, I am very strong on pulling through that activity. Personal Relations – I have a problem remembering names. I am not used to giving personal compliments by verbalizing it but rather giving services to show my gratitude.
Risk tolerance – Even if majority of my idea will not work out, I am willing to take the risk especially if I have a personal strong conviction on that idea. Goal Setting – I know how to make some goals but sometimes I tend to make unrealistic commitments.
Resilience – If things don't work out, I am able to rise above that crisis and ready to start from what has been left. Planning & Organizing – I am good at planning things but I think I need to improve further.
Ethics – I think I always treat people and situations fairly. Decision-Making – I have a tendency to follow my instinct without critical thinking which may not be appropriate at certain situations. Even if most of the time, I follow a formal process of decision-making I still need to further improve this skill.
Creative Thinking – I am always involved in mapping new ways of doing things in our company.
Problem Solving – When problems arise in our team, I see to it to check on the root causes and try to work on some solutions.
Recognizing Opportunities – When I encounter problems in the workplace, I look at it as opportunities to look at things differently and adopt new ideas.
Do I have the
B.E. Factor? Yes! But I still need to improve on skills necessary to implement
new ideas. Even if with great conviction but if I am not able to convince
people to buy in this new idea and motivate them to do so, it will be like a
wind that passed by and an opportunity lost.
__________________________________________
References:
1
http://www.mvp.cfee.org/
2
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_76.html
