Entrepreneurship is also about the ability to convince people in what you believe is true or right. In what you think is best and worthy, in what you consider being reasonable and deserving.
We all had a chance to present it at the Literature seminar, defending one of the opposite ideas. To my opinion, actually, it does not matter what you are having debate on, the result depends on how you convince people, what facts you provide to make them sure that you are absolutely right, what strategy you follow to, what tactics you use, what examples you present to make them certain and of course first of all, you have to persuade yourself that you are on a right track in chosen idea. If you don’t believe in what you are saying, no one will and you will never prove to everyone that you are right, that you ideas are the best and they deserve being heard or supported.
As for the debate we had, let’s take the idea of entrepreneurs: whether they are born of made, this topic has been debated on for many decades, and still there is no definite answer, but only trends that support different opinions. Even though I personally was debating on another topic, I also had time to contemplate on this topic.
If we are saying that entrepreneurs are born then why we are at JIBS now, why the program on Entrepreneurship is taking place and we study the theory of entrepreneurship, why we are keep saying that market situations teach us to be good entrepreneurs, why the phrase: practice makes perfect makes sense, to be aware of the opportunities entrepreneurs pursuit, why when hiring staff experience, knowledge and background are being paid attention on.
If we are saying that entrepreneurs are made then what about the examples of Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, the great people that didn’t even have a proper business education but they reached the top of their career, they succeeded in their endeavors; these innovators are popular all over the world due to their talent, creativeness and innate ability. As for the scientists, they are also can be counted to be innate entrepreneurs, Albert Einstein who was kicked off the school but on the other hand he opened the Laws of Physics, that were not known before, Van Gogh, who died in poverty, though his masterpieces are of a great value now.
Whatever you are, if you want to be heard, to be successful and innovative, you have to be persuasive, have to be able to convince others that you are right and your ideas are the best.
вторник, 30 сентября 2008 г.
четверг, 25 сентября 2008 г.
My Reflections
When we were asked to write a blog and express our thoughts about entrepreneurship and subjects discussed at our lectured I was astonished first and now I know what that really means.
When we had a lecture on Accounting on Tuesday I could finally connect my working experience with theory. When I was running for one Finnish company as an accountant assistant, I was dealing with budgeting and finances allocation as this company has more than 10 subsidiaries all over the world. And for me it was really difficult to sort the Centers of Responsibilities out, especially Costs Centers be cause I never had an accounting background.
But mostly I booked the business trips employees had, so I need to know how and where to allocate their expenses. For this purpose I used different Cost Centers. But always asked why? In addition we had an accounting program called Scala where I could specify different Costs Centers.
At the lecture Berit Bertelsen paid significant attention on this topic.
When we had a lecture on Accounting on Tuesday I could finally connect my working experience with theory. When I was running for one Finnish company as an accountant assistant, I was dealing with budgeting and finances allocation as this company has more than 10 subsidiaries all over the world. And for me it was really difficult to sort the Centers of Responsibilities out, especially Costs Centers be cause I never had an accounting background.
But mostly I booked the business trips employees had, so I need to know how and where to allocate their expenses. For this purpose I used different Cost Centers. But always asked why? In addition we had an accounting program called Scala where I could specify different Costs Centers.
At the lecture Berit Bertelsen paid significant attention on this topic.
Where get money from???
I guess more than many times everyone who is thinking of having his own business addresses this question to himself. Yes, where get money from and as much as possible, for as long period of time as possible and at as the smallest interest as possible. This is the topic I am going to discuss further.
But first I will refer to the statement of Henritta Lake, small business correspondent on The Times,
“A business is like any other growing organism – forget to water and nourish it and it will quickly wither. ”
But obviously before watering you have to plant it first. That is you need finances initially for. For bootstraps it is common to have either 3F-s strategy: family, friends and fools or personal savings. There are lots of examples of nowadays famous people who started their own business from bootstrap financing; let’s take Steve Jobs and his partner, Steve Wozniak, who sold a Volkswagen and a programmable calculator to build the first Apple PC .
Borrowings from a bank remain the most popular form of external financing. But the problem here is that not every bank will provide you with a loan or overdraft without your profitable financial statements.
One of the most promising ways to raise capital is lending from venture capitalists, they have money you need and will supply it by using a stock in your company, and they actually share the risks, while banks will participate only if the risk is minimal. Moreover, for venture capitalists, the more the risks the higher return is expected. Business plan plays a main role here, this is what a venture capitalist wants to see, a detailed and accurate account, therefore it reflects the ability of entrepreneur to both manage and operate its business, and make the realistic decisions to ensure the success. It’s crucial not to loose the control over your business, not to pass it to venture capitalists.
But first I will refer to the statement of Henritta Lake, small business correspondent on The Times,
“A business is like any other growing organism – forget to water and nourish it and it will quickly wither. ”
But obviously before watering you have to plant it first. That is you need finances initially for. For bootstraps it is common to have either 3F-s strategy: family, friends and fools or personal savings. There are lots of examples of nowadays famous people who started their own business from bootstrap financing; let’s take Steve Jobs and his partner, Steve Wozniak, who sold a Volkswagen and a programmable calculator to build the first Apple PC .
Borrowings from a bank remain the most popular form of external financing. But the problem here is that not every bank will provide you with a loan or overdraft without your profitable financial statements.
One of the most promising ways to raise capital is lending from venture capitalists, they have money you need and will supply it by using a stock in your company, and they actually share the risks, while banks will participate only if the risk is minimal. Moreover, for venture capitalists, the more the risks the higher return is expected. Business plan plays a main role here, this is what a venture capitalist wants to see, a detailed and accurate account, therefore it reflects the ability of entrepreneur to both manage and operate its business, and make the realistic decisions to ensure the success. It’s crucial not to loose the control over your business, not to pass it to venture capitalists.
In this new environment, we have to deal with tough requirements of traditional credit sources and the incredible valuations bestowed upon successful entrepreneurial companies that go to public. Leasing, debt financing, joint ventures, research and development partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and financing from positive cash flow are still some of the most promising techniques for raising capital .
Financing Growth, Grant Thornton, p.21, 1999
JIBS Entrepreneurial Growth (Spring 2008) Study Guide.
The Ernst & Young Guide to Financing For Growth., Garner, Daniel R, p.54,
среда, 10 сентября 2008 г.
References
1. Philip A Wickham, Strategic Entrepreneurship, p. 240 Forth Edition, 2006
2.Unleasing the Right Side of the Brain, Robert Williams and John Stockmyer,
3.Corporate Creativity: How Innovation and Improvement actually Happen, Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern, 1997, p.52
4.W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics, 1994, pp.108-109
How to raise creativity?
Again and again I am coming back to the comparison between entrepreneurship and football game; since I can see something in common between them, let’s take the team, for instance.
It goes without saying that the match is entirely depended on its players, teams as a whole. And it means that you need to be extremely careful when hiring people you going to work with, it is like when you going to date someone, you choose one and the best among thousands, because you are going to work with those people and you spend most of your time with them. You have to build both strong and competent team, who you can trust to, who you can rely on. That is very important especially nowadays when it becomes rather easy either to sell or to buy information or idea. Team building is one of the most important and vital component of success that should be paid attention on.
Moreover, it’s also significant to know that if you want to be innovative you need to raise creativity in your team members. But how, whether it’s possible- that’s the question.
If your coworkers have inherited talent of creating you are lucky, if not, there are some techniques that can be helpful and efficient, anyway it’s also useful to train this ability.
Many classic creative thinking techniques make use of one or more of methods such as evolution, synthesis, revolution, reapplication, changing direction. The first that came to my mind is Brainstorming (“Applied Imagination” by Alex Osborn) which is probably the best known and certainly one of the most powerful for idea generating for specific problems. It helps to break out of the habit-bound thinking and to produce a set of ideas from which we can choose.
To encourage parallel thinking the technique of Six Thinking Hats by Dr. de Bono is used. This method doesn’t describe the labels of thinking but six different directions, ways of thinking that can be used in problem-solving.
To create the associations for idea generation the technique of Talking Pictures by Brian Clegg can be taught, when you need to split up into teams, take a digital camera and make photos as many as possible. Each group should use the picture provided to create associations that occur to them and then use these associations for idea generation.
As for as training creativity is concerned its also possible to use LARC (Left and Right Creativity) , The Journalistic Six (six general questions that can create another view of problem solving), Historical Examination, Blocking and Block Busting that includes: uses for, improvements to, what-iffing, attribute analysis, analogy and metaphor, trigger concepts.
As we can notice there are enough creativity techniques that can be used. And implementation one of them certainly depends on the problem itself.
There may also be questions about how to motivate employers for creativity. Although rewards and incentives are widely used they can actually be either effective or counterproductive. Incentives and rewards provide extrinsic motivation; they motivate someone to work on something primarily as a means to an end – the reward .
At the same time, it’s of course important for people to be treated fairly and recognized. However it’s important not to overpay here, you need to follow the balance. Talking about motivation methods we need to clarify that creative people don’t seek for money or reward at the end, they are actually doing what they like to do aside from whether they are paid or not, their final point is a result of creativity that comes from inside, not money.
Besides, a company can use some techniques to increase intrinsic motivation for creativity such as, for example, it can create good, appropriate conditions of working for their employees, support them by social programs, give long-term loans and etc.
By contrast, in the words of W. Edwards Deming:
Some extrinsic motivation helps to build self-esteem. But total submission to external motivation leads to distraction of the individual. Extrinsic motivation in the extreme crushes intrinsic motivation .
In the conclusion I would like to say that to raise the creativity its vital to know who motivate to and by what means, cause not all of them (methods) are suitable for certain conditions at certain time with certain recourses.
It goes without saying that the match is entirely depended on its players, teams as a whole. And it means that you need to be extremely careful when hiring people you going to work with, it is like when you going to date someone, you choose one and the best among thousands, because you are going to work with those people and you spend most of your time with them. You have to build both strong and competent team, who you can trust to, who you can rely on. That is very important especially nowadays when it becomes rather easy either to sell or to buy information or idea. Team building is one of the most important and vital component of success that should be paid attention on.
Moreover, it’s also significant to know that if you want to be innovative you need to raise creativity in your team members. But how, whether it’s possible- that’s the question.
If your coworkers have inherited talent of creating you are lucky, if not, there are some techniques that can be helpful and efficient, anyway it’s also useful to train this ability.
Many classic creative thinking techniques make use of one or more of methods such as evolution, synthesis, revolution, reapplication, changing direction. The first that came to my mind is Brainstorming (“Applied Imagination” by Alex Osborn) which is probably the best known and certainly one of the most powerful for idea generating for specific problems. It helps to break out of the habit-bound thinking and to produce a set of ideas from which we can choose.
To encourage parallel thinking the technique of Six Thinking Hats by Dr. de Bono is used. This method doesn’t describe the labels of thinking but six different directions, ways of thinking that can be used in problem-solving.
To create the associations for idea generation the technique of Talking Pictures by Brian Clegg can be taught, when you need to split up into teams, take a digital camera and make photos as many as possible. Each group should use the picture provided to create associations that occur to them and then use these associations for idea generation.
As for as training creativity is concerned its also possible to use LARC (Left and Right Creativity) , The Journalistic Six (six general questions that can create another view of problem solving), Historical Examination, Blocking and Block Busting that includes: uses for, improvements to, what-iffing, attribute analysis, analogy and metaphor, trigger concepts.
As we can notice there are enough creativity techniques that can be used. And implementation one of them certainly depends on the problem itself.
There may also be questions about how to motivate employers for creativity. Although rewards and incentives are widely used they can actually be either effective or counterproductive. Incentives and rewards provide extrinsic motivation; they motivate someone to work on something primarily as a means to an end – the reward .
At the same time, it’s of course important for people to be treated fairly and recognized. However it’s important not to overpay here, you need to follow the balance. Talking about motivation methods we need to clarify that creative people don’t seek for money or reward at the end, they are actually doing what they like to do aside from whether they are paid or not, their final point is a result of creativity that comes from inside, not money.
Besides, a company can use some techniques to increase intrinsic motivation for creativity such as, for example, it can create good, appropriate conditions of working for their employees, support them by social programs, give long-term loans and etc.
By contrast, in the words of W. Edwards Deming:
Some extrinsic motivation helps to build self-esteem. But total submission to external motivation leads to distraction of the individual. Extrinsic motivation in the extreme crushes intrinsic motivation .
In the conclusion I would like to say that to raise the creativity its vital to know who motivate to and by what means, cause not all of them (methods) are suitable for certain conditions at certain time with certain recourses.
Pursuit of opportunities
To continue the metaphoric comparison between world market and football game, I would like to draw your attention on the business opportunity.
As I said before the football field is like a world market where players are businessmen who are competing for being the first to have a ball, a business opportunity, since they have managed to do all their best that means they’ve scored the game.
As it was mentioned at the lecture of Entrepreneurship by Jonas Dahlqvist, a business opportunity is a gap in the market which presents the possibility of new value being created. One more needs to be added, new value should be created better than whenever before. Entrepreneurs like football players are constantly thinking of how to do something differently and better or how to kick a ball until other players or competitors pass it ahead of you.
However, having a ball does not mean that you have already scored the game, you have to do all your best to kick the ball into the goal, the same for opportunities, they are the ‘raw materials’ out of which the entrepreneur creates an ‘entire new world’ .
At the same time there is a clear link between innovation and business opportunity. Well, if appropriate exploitation of opportunity means creating something new that is different and better, meanwhile innovation is itself something new and novel, then we can conclude that innovation is a means of exploiting a business opportunity.
Moreover, opportunity is just a chance, and how best you make use of it depends whether you reach your goals of not. As far as market creates lots of opportunities however not every one can see and exploit them in an appropriate way.
As I said before the football field is like a world market where players are businessmen who are competing for being the first to have a ball, a business opportunity, since they have managed to do all their best that means they’ve scored the game.
As it was mentioned at the lecture of Entrepreneurship by Jonas Dahlqvist, a business opportunity is a gap in the market which presents the possibility of new value being created. One more needs to be added, new value should be created better than whenever before. Entrepreneurs like football players are constantly thinking of how to do something differently and better or how to kick a ball until other players or competitors pass it ahead of you.
However, having a ball does not mean that you have already scored the game, you have to do all your best to kick the ball into the goal, the same for opportunities, they are the ‘raw materials’ out of which the entrepreneur creates an ‘entire new world’ .
At the same time there is a clear link between innovation and business opportunity. Well, if appropriate exploitation of opportunity means creating something new that is different and better, meanwhile innovation is itself something new and novel, then we can conclude that innovation is a means of exploiting a business opportunity.
Moreover, opportunity is just a chance, and how best you make use of it depends whether you reach your goals of not. As far as market creates lots of opportunities however not every one can see and exploit them in an appropriate way.
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