nandithar1207@gmail.
com
NQXCPJVU8W Self-Learning Material
Program: MBA
Specialization: All
Semester: 2nd
Course Name: Entrepreneurship
Course Code: 21VMB0C201
Unit Name: Entrepreneurial Competence
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
Objectives
This module will assist in:
● Understanding entrepreneurial competencies in detail.
● Understanding what qualities and behavioral traits make a successful entrepreneur.
● Understanding the motives and career path to entrepreneurship.
● Understanding how the decision-making process is taken by the entrepreneurs.
Learning outcomes
After the course the learner will get an in depth understanding on the framework of
entrepreneurial competencies. The learner will also know how to go about as an entrepreneur,
required skill sets and the various career options available for them.
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
1. Introduction
On a daily basis, people come across individuals who say we are entrepreneurs. But out of
many, how many of them actually lead the path of success? The answer to this question can
be found while understanding Entrepreneurial Competencies in detail.
Entrepreneurial competencies are the skills or personality traits possessed by an individual
which can be specific and generic knowledge, motives, social roles, characteristics, etc. These
skill sets may or may not be known to the individual and while some of them are innate, the
other skills set gradually develop through training and learning by the entrepreneurs during
their entrepreneurial journey.
EC can be explored in two major ways:
1. Personal competencies:
It refers to the personal characteristics which an individual possesses. It can be elaborated
using examples like problem solving, motivation, monitoring, commitment, etc.
2. Business competencies
It refers to the business acumen or knowledge which an individual might already possess
or develop in the process. It can be elaborated using examples like business planning,
technological strategy, financing, leadership, etc.
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W
1.1. Qualities of a successful Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship can be termed as an art and mastering this art may be difficult but not
impossible. One’s record might not look like Jeff Bezos, Ratan Tata or Mark Zuckerberg but that
should not stop one from becoming a successful entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur will
learn, develop and build on qualities and skills required to reach the level of success.
So, let’s understand the key qualities that makes an entrepreneur successful:
• Risk
Risk is one of the most important traits which a business man is expected to possess or develop
throughout the course of time. Business and risk go together and in business it’s said bigger the
risk ,bigger the business and bigger the profits. Hence a businessman should analyze, understand
and be willing to take risks for their business.
Every business and entrepreneur needs to take risks at some point of their life and their
entrepreneurial journey.
• Persistence
Where there is risk involved there is either success or failure. But Rome was not built in a day
and so are some businesses. The key quality an entrepreneur should possess is Persistence.
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
Steve Jobs said “Sometimes Life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.
Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple 1 logic board, he was also the first to realize the
importance of personal computers for a broader audience. That’s how the Apple computer was
formed. But at a later stage, due to some reasons Steve Jobs was removed from his own company
by the board of directors. But Steve Jobs was persistent and started another firm NeXT Inc which
later on was bought by Apple, having Steve Jobs back in the company.
• Visionary and future oriented
It’s a saying by Bill Hybels “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion”
Before starting a business and even after starting one, it’s very important for an entrepreneur to
have a vision for their business. Without a vision for the business, how will an entrepreneur
progress make others believe in their business or build a plan towards it. The vision of the
business is also related to how the future of the business is going to be like. Having a vision and
aligning in with other things gives the business a path to walk on.
• Originality and Creativity
Entrepreneurship is all about originality, how you try to bring something very new into the market
which is a problem for many but very few have been able to find the optimum solution for the
same. How an entrepreneur applies their creativity to think out of the box and take his business
in different directions talks a lot about their skills.
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W • Financial Skills
Financial skills are the most important need in an entrepreneur. How to manage the circulation
of money in the business, optimum utilization of the resources, working within the budget,
investment opportunities, etc. all come under the umbrella of financial skills.
• Analytical skills
Analytical skills help the entrepreneur to think from all the perspectives, evaluate the situation
and then take the right option required for the business. Analytical skills help the businessman
to break down the complex problems into smaller problems and find a way out.
1.2 Motives and Drives to Take up Entrepreneurship
Though entrepreneurship is an old concept, it’s reaching new heights in today's era. The youth
and adults both are jumping into the wagon of entrepreneurship. But have you ever wondered
why are people entering the world of entrepreneurship or what are the key drivers pulling people
towards it?
Let’s find out some of the motives and drives to take up entrepreneurship:
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
1. Ownership: Many individuals cannot work for others or according to others. They need their
freedom of space and ownership to do what they want. They are also motivated with a relaxed
work environment rather than the assigned hours of working.
2. Wealth: Everyone thinks of earning money as quickly as possible and there is a belief that
business helps you be financially independent than being in the corporate world. As it’s said
bigger the risk, bigger the profits, entrepreneurs are always willing to take huge risks in their own
business for huge returns.
3. Vision: There are times where the vision between two individuals or organizations don’t align
in a corporate or other setting. But when it comes to business, entrepreneurs have the freedom
to mold their business based on their vision without much hindrance and also bring about
change in the world.
4. Legacy: In the later topic we are going to study family-owned businesses. Family-owned
businesses are those businesses which are passed on from generation to generation and have
become a legacy. When an individual has been around such a business environment, the
individual is automatically motivated to work for their family business and continue the legacy
forward.
5. Personal Growth
When an individual starts their own business, they will either start it from the very scratch or
build it from the existing resources. Either way when they do so, they learn a lot and develop
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W during this journey. They also invest a lot of time on personal growth and with a sense of
independence understand the real ups and downs in the world.
1.3 Careers in entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is very subjective. While deciding the path of entrepreneurship different
entrepreneurs take different routes based on various factors and their situation.
For some Individuals they go through the dilemma whether to start their own business or work
for someone to build theirs. There are also individuals who feel they should first gain insights and
knowledge by working in the corporate world and then implement their learnings for their own
good and business. But we also come across those individuals who just come across a problem,
find a solution, implement the needful and start their entrepreneurial journey.
The beginning of the entrepreneurship journey can be broadly classified in two ways:
Starting your own venture:
Starting a new venture means an individual might have a business idea which can be unique and
through necessary steps, might launch the business. But it doesn't necessarily mean innovating
something from scratch. Starting your own venture can mean- buying a business or taking up a
franchise, investing in a project or innovating on technology, etc.
An individual should identify their interest, evaluate the factors and situation and make the final
decision.
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
Joining Existing Business/Family-owned business:
Joining an existing business means the business idea might not be yours but you might have all
the skills to run the business along with the innovator. It can be simply put by the terms of Co –
founder, CEO, etc.
Family-owned businesses are the oldest type of business structure where the members of a
family are involved in the business process and the majority of the business is owned by the
family members itself. Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata are great examples of how to build and
take forward family businesses to new heights.
In today’s world Entrepreneurship is being adopted by many people and now it can be seen being
included by many universities in their courses. There are also many universities who along with
Entrepreneurship have recently started offering courses specifically for Entrepreneurship and
Family Business. Individuals looking for a career in entrepreneurship now have the chance to get
an in-depth learning, experience and specialization before entering the business world.
2. Behavioral traits of Entrepreneurs
All entrepreneurs are different. The way they look at things, the way they function and the way
they implement things all may vary from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. But there are some
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W common traits which all entrepreneurs might share with each other.
Looking below at some of the generic traits:
1. Entrepreneurs invest in themselves:
The entrepreneurship process is all about continuous learning. Entrepreneurs always try to
keep themselves well informed about the happenings around the world, they get into the
habit of reading, they try to understand businesses through networking, they invest in their
further education and at times reward themselves.
Before investing in their business, they make sure they are ready for real world and invest
time, energy and resources to learn and grow better
2. They take big decisions carefully
Every small decision taken by an entrepreneur in their entrepreneurial journey is taken
while considering various factors, situations and proper planning in the end to have a
successful long-term achievement. There are chances of success and failure but the
entrepreneur will again strategically decide the way ahead irrespective of the outcome,
keeping in mind what’s best for their business.
3. They are passionate and motivated about their business:
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
Every individual in this word is passionate about something that they have created,
invented or built. Ranveer Arora known as BeerBicpes is a fitness trainer and social media
influencer. He is also the co-founder of Monk-E which talks about fitness, motivation,
lifestyle, grooming and many more. After his BeerBicpes page went hit, he got motivated
to start his official journey with Monk-E. His willingness, hard work and passion helped
him reach new heights.
4. They are adaptable to the current market situation, trends and customer needs
The most important trait an entrepreneur should hold is adaptability. If their business is
not taking into consideration what are the latest trends, what the customers are currently
looking for and what the market needs in today’s world, the business might have difficulty
in a longer run. The way a traditional business and a new business function have a major
difference and to be in the competition they need to be on toes with everything.
Reliance and Tata are two major giants which are constantly in news about their new
merger, acquisitions and innovations as they try to build towards the above criteria. The
way they have adapted and evolved from the old working style to the current situation is
one of the strong traits which their top management executives hold.
5. They network, collaborate and expand their circle.
When someone starts a new business, everyone is not willing to be a customer of the new
product or service. The process from the launch to success is a tedious process. But
nandithar1207@gmail.com
successful entrepreneurs know how to find their way out of this.
NQXCPJVU8W
They get the best out of their networking skills, they network with as many people as
possible, they grow their circle through second- degree connection and so on.
During their networking process they analyze and come across various prospects for their
business, build trust and get them involved in their business circle.
Networking is one of the most challenging yet the most important aspects for any
entrepreneur. It can be a boon during tough times but can also be a betrayal for few, so
working everything out wisely and with utmost care is very important.
1.4 Entrepreneurial Decision Process
Just like athletes have to go from their starting point to the final destination to win the race, in
the same way entrepreneurs have to go through a number of decisions in the process of
entrepreneurship from the very beginning to the very last to achieve success.
As discussed in the above point about how entrepreneurs take decisions strategically, consider
various factors and take small steps with a vision for successful long term. Here we are going to
discuss the same in detail:
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
1. Problem Identification
The very first step of the decision process is to identify the problem which the majority
people face in the country, or a problem which is the pain point for people or an
innovative idea. There are various ways in which an individual can identify the problem
by company analytics, looking at the competitors, by understanding what the customers
are looking for, research, personal experience, etc.
We can understand the decision process by taking an example:
Example: Lavanya comes from West Bengal but was settled in Mumbai. She realized there
wasn’t any good place to have authentic Bengali cuisine in Mumbai just like she would
get in hometown. She also came across people from other cultures who were facing the
same dilemma. Lavanya identified this as a business opportunity and through her
research also understood the scope of the business.
2. Looking for Alternatives
After the problem has been identified the next main step for the entrepreneur is to look
for alternatives on how to solve the problem. Here the skills of decision making and
adaptability come into the picture. The entrepreneur needs to figure out ways in which
they will try to implement to implement their idea into action
Example: Lavanya has now decided to work on providing authentic Bengali Cuisine to
people. But now she has various alternatives around her on how to go about her decision.
She can either open her own restaurant, or take up a small place and work in it, or she
can for now start a small business just from her house, etc.
nandithar1207@gmail.com
NQXCPJVU8W
3. Evaluating the alternative solutions
Once the entrepreneur has alternatives in their hand, now the main task is to evaluate
various factors surrounding the alternatives. Evaluation should take into consideration
various factors such as optimum utilization of resources, budget, returns, feasibility, long
term scope, etc.
Example: Lavanya now has to evaluate the various options she has with regards to
starting her Bengali cuisine venture. She might take into consideration the cost of putting
up the place, distribution convenience, money at hand to implement the venture, number
of employees working for her etc.
4. Selection of the best alternatives
After complete analysis and evaluation of various factors it’s time for the entrepreneur to
select the best and feasible option for the benefit and implementation of the business.
Example: Lavanya decided to go ahead with renting a small place for her venture which
will be covered from the business she gets throughout the year. She decided to go ahead
with this option also on the basis of feasibility as she would need people to work for her
as well and there would be more floor space for her deliveries. The locality she decided
to go ahead had the greatest number of requests for Bengali cuisine.
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
5. Implementation of the plan
Once everything has been finalized the crucial step is implementation and putting the
plan into action.
Example: Lavanya has now taken a small place for herself, employed people to work here
and has started marketing and selling her business throughout the area/city.
6. Review the project
The last step of the decision process is the review of your implementation plan. Every
business needs analytics to determine how their business is looking and what changes are
to be made in the near future. Reviewing also helps the entrepreneur to evaluate whether
the business is running in profits or losses.
Example: After a few months in business, Lavanya realized her business has taken wings
and is falling short of delivery persons for her business. She also got feedback from her
customers regarding her menu and decided to work on it. She also reviewed her budget
and realized it was going a little overboard and has to work on financial planning.
Reviewing the business frequently will help Lavanya stay in the business for the long run.
Glossary
nandithar1207@gmail.com
Entrepreneurial It’s the quality and the characteristics within an individual to
NQXCPJVU8W
competencies start a new business.
Persistence To continue and not give up
Launch Introducing a product/service in the market
Networking Exchange of information and ideas among people
Resources Resources are the materials available in the market for use
Venture A journey that can be risky
Family-owned business Business owned from the previous generation and the member
of the family is the founder.
Entrepreneurships Executing a new idea
Proprietary content. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use or distribution prohibited.
This file is meant for personal use by nandithar1207@gmail.com only.
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
