Entrepreneurship Skills
Introduction
Entrepreneurship development refers to the process of enhancing
entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through structured training and
institution building programmes.
The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small
Business Development is a premier organisation of the Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India,
engaged in training, consultancy and research to promote
entrepreneurship and skill development.
The major activities of the Institute include training of trainers,
management development programmes, entrepreneurship-cum-skill
development programmes, entrepreneurship development
programmes and cluster intervention.
Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur
The word ‘entrepreneur’ is derived from the French word entreprendre,
which means ‘to undertake’.
Entrepreneurship can be defined, as “an economic process, where an
idea is generated or an opportunity is created, refined, developed and
implemented, while being exposed to uncertainty to realise a profit by
effective utilisation of resources”.
Characteristics of entrepreneurship
• It is an economic activity done to create, develop and maintain a
profit-oriented organisation.
• It begins with identifying an opportunity as a potential to sell and
make profit in the market.
• It deals with optimisation in utilisation of resources.
• It is the ability of an enterprise and an entrepreneur to take risks.
Entrepreneurship — art and science
Entrepreneurship is the perfect combination of art and science as it
requires specific progression and procedures to be followed and also
the skill to digress when required, and yet make the entire activity
profitable and growth oriented.
An entrepreneur is someone, who has the capability to start an
organisation by organising various resources required to make an
opportunity purposeful.
Entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by profit but may regard
it as a standard for measuring achievement or success.
Qualities of a successful entrepreneur
(a) Initiative: An entrepreneur must be able to initiate action and
take advantage of an opportunity.
(b) Willingness to take risks: It is not necessary that every business
shall earn a profit. This deters individuals to take up risks and start
a business.
(c) Ability to learn from experience: Once an entrepreneur makes
mistakes, it must be tried that it is not repeated as it may lead to
heavy losses. Therefore, the person must have the ability to learn from
experience.
(d) Motivation: Once you get motivated to do something, you will not
rest until you complete it. It is an essential quality to become a
successful entrepreneur.
(e) Self-confidence: A person needs to have confidence in oneself.
Someone, who lacks confidence, may not be able to achieve much in
life or inspire others to work. Self-confidence is reflected in courage,
enthusiasm and ability to lead. Therefore, a successful entrepreneur
must have self-confidence.
(f) Hard work: The entrepreneur must identify the problems and solve
them. This requires hard work on the part of the entrepreneur.
(g) Decision making ability: The person must be capable of making
suitable and timely decisions. If an entrepreneur does not have the
ability to make suitable and timely decisions, the person may miss out
on an opportunity and incur losses.
Type of entrepreneurs
Service entrepreneurs
These entrepreneurs either create a new market for their services or
provide a service in an existing market.
They spot an idea and convert it into a service, which is
unprecedented or not available in the market.
Business entrepreneurs
These are entrepreneurs, who undertake business and trading
activities and are not concerned with the manufacturing work.
They identify the potential of a product in a market.
Industrial entrepreneurs
An industrial entrepreneur is a manufacturer, who identifies the
needs of customers and creates products or services to serve them.
Such an entrepreneur is product oriented
Agricultural entrepreneurs
Agriculture has always been considered as a low-yielding
entrepreneurship. Agriculturists have now introduced new and
innovative technology to maximise the yield, giving birth to agriculture
entrepreneurship.
Technical entrepreneurs
They use their technical expertise to create and offer machines, tools
and methods. They constantly innovate to make industrial processes
efficient.
Non-technical entrepreneurs
These entrepreneurs use their expertise in providing services to create
a market for technical entrepreneurs.
Their expertise is in non-technical aspects of a product or service.
Professional entrepreneurs
Such an entrepreneur starts a business, nurtures it and makes it
reach a point of self-sustenance. Once the project reaches that point,
the entrepreneur sells the business and starts a new one, and then,
follows the same cycle.
IT entrepreneurs
People who take up entrepreneurship in the field of Information
Technology (IT) are called IT entrepreneurs.They are confined to
innovation in the field of Information Technology.
Women entrepreneurs
When women take up entrepreneurship, they are called women
entrepreneurs. They take initiatives in starting entrepreneurial
activities.
Social entrepreneurs
They focus on developing solutions that benefit the society
They develop, fund and implement solutions that are directed towards
society, culture and environment.
The term ‘social innovator’ is used interchangeably with social
entrepreneurs.
Family business entrepreneurs
When a family or an individual runs a business successfully and
passes it on to the next generation, then such an entrepreneur is,
generally, termed as family business entrepreneur.
The person, who is handed over the business or the functioning of an
enterprise, is not the first generation entrepreneur. The person carries
out all entrepreneurial activities as inherited in the same manner or
introduces certain technological advancements to the existing way
and method of the family business.
First generation entrepreneurs
First generation entrepreneurs are those who do not have any
entrepreneurship background.
Roles and functions of an entrepreneur
(a) Identifying entrepreneurial opportunity: An entrepreneur
senses opportunities faster than others which are based on human
needs
(b) Turning ideas into action: Entrepreneurs must be capable of
turning ideas into reality. They should be able to collect information
regarding ideas, products and practices to meet the market demand.
(c) Feasibility study: Entrepreneurs conduct studies to assess the
market feasibility of a proposed product or service. They anticipate
problems and assess quantity, quality, cost and sources of inputs
required to run the enterprise. Such a blueprint of all activities is
termed as a ‘business plan’ or ‘project report’.
(d) Resourcing: An entrepreneur needs various resources in terms of
money, machine, raw material and workforce to run an enterprise
successfully. He must ensure the timely availability of all these
resources.
(e) Setting up an enterprise: For setting up an enterprise, the
entrepreneur may need to fulfil some legal formalities. The person
must also try to find a suitable location, design the premises, install
machinery and do many other works.
(f) Managing the enterprise: The person has to manage the
workforce, material, finance and organise the production of goods and
services. Only a well managed organisation yields the desired results.
(g) Growth and development: Once the enterprise achieves the
desired results, the entrepreneur has to explore another higher goal
for its growth and development. The person is not satisfied only with
achieving a set goal but constantly strives for achieving excellence.
What motivates an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur has the potential and willingness to overcome every
hurdle that comes in way of the person’s entrepreneurial endeavours.
The person finds out ways and means to pursue one’s dreams and
fulfil the goals.
Qualities that motivate an entrepreneur:
Standard of excellence
An entrepreneur constantly sets high standards and strives to
attain the standard of excellence by working hard and showing
innovativeness.
Uniqueness
An entrepreneur should remain unique in everything the
person does and the way it is done.
Focus on long-term goals
An entrepreneur focusses more on what is to be achieved in distant
future rather than in near future. The person will plan and work
patiently to achieve the long-term goals.
Need to influence
The entrepreneurs see their ideas as revolutionary and expects them
to influence the world in a significant way.
Identifying opportunities and risk taking
Ways by which aspiring entrepreneurs can identify new business
opportunities and evaluate their potential and risks are as follows.
• Community concerns: Look for issues that concern your
community. Identify the inefficiencies, analyse how an idea can help
and evaluate the risks involved.
• Personal experiences: Many powerful world changing ideas come
from the experiences and challenges an entrepreneur faces in life. So,
one must listen to the personal stories of successful entrepreneurs
and draw inspiration.
• Research with others: Speak to like-minded people, get involved
through social groups and join local startup groups. Many a time,
discussion with others opens various doors of opportunities.
Startups
A startup is a company that is in the first stage of its operations. It is
often financed by the founders until the business gets off the ground,
and it gets outside finance or investments.
• Startups can be started with minimum investment.
• Startups seek financial investment differently than most small
businesses. They rely on capital that comes via investors while small
business operations rely on loans and grants.
• Startups come up with an innovative idea. They like to get guidance
and mentoring from an expert.
Barriers to Entrepreneurship
A business venture is a hurdle race which involves risks.
The things which can stop a person from achieving success are called
‘barriers’.
Environmental barriers
• Lack of adequate resources or raw material
• Non-availability of skilled labour
• Lack of requisite machinery and other infrastructure
• Unavailability of monetary resources on time
Research, market surveys and mentor guidance can help overcome
such barriers.
The Indian Government has come up with various
schemes to help small-scale entrepreneurs gain capital.
Some of these are:
• Government Mudra Yojana
• Credit Guarantee Scheme
• Stand-Up India Scheme
No or faulty business plan
If a person does not make an action plan, it may lead to a chaotic
situation. Having a plan to reach the goal helps the person in knowing
one’s role in running a successful business and pushes everyone
associated with it to work harder.
Personal barriers
Self-doubt
When something goes wrong in a business, one starts doubting and
discouraging oneself and may even feel like giving up. Self-doubt
comes when we do not have confidence in ourselves and our abilities.
Ways to deal with it:
Work towards your goals
Get support and from family and friends
Forming a team and teamwork
As an entrepreneur, one must find people who think alike.When new
people fit into the culture of the team, work can happen better and
faster.
Entrepreneurial Attitudes
An attitude is a way of thinking or feeling about something. It can be
positive or negative, good or bad.
The attitude an entrepreneur has is different from that of a wage
employed person. A wage employed person has to do one’s job and not
worry about the company. But the entrepreneur thinks and acts
differently. The person not only thinks about one’s work but also
about the work of one’s employees and the work required for the
growth of the company.
Entrepreneurial Competencies
Competency is the ability to do something well.
Decisiveness
Decisiveness is the ability to make profitable and
quick decisions.
It is about identifying an opportunity and acting on it.
Initiative
Initiative is the ability to take charge and act in a situation before
others. Once you have decided what you want to do, the next step is
taking action.
Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal means dealing with relationships. It is between two or
more persons. It is important for an entrepreneur to work with people
and learn how to interact with them
Listening
It is important to listen when someone talks. When someone shares
something, it is, generally, because the person might have thought
about it or it is how one feels. Listening with interest to what someone
is saying helps build trust with the person.
Body language
Our facial expressions, gestures and postures are
important while working with people.
Positive attitude
Having a positive attitude, generally, implies being optimistic about
situations, interactions and oneself. People with a positive attitude are
hopeful and see the best even in difficult situations.
Having a positive attitude is important while receiving and giving
feedback. Feedback is giving information or criticism to someone to
say what can be done to improve something.Thus, during a feedback
conversation, it is important to speak in a positive manner.
Stress management
Sometimes, one experiences stress while working
with other people. Because there are people with different
personalities working in a team, it can lead to stress for all.
Methods to deal with stress:
1. Taking a walk in nature
2. Doing a physical activity like running swimming, etc.
3. Practising deep breathing exercises
4. Practising meditation or yoga
Perseverance
Perseverance is the ability to continue to do something, even when it
is difficult. One must work hard to achieve the goal and analyse and
learn from failures.
Organisational skills
Organisational skills refer to the ability of making optimal use of one’s
time, energy and resources to achieve one’s goals.
Some of them are:
Time management
Time management is the process of planning and following a
conscious control of time spent on specific activities. It is the ability to
use one’s time well. Time management includes the following.
1. Planning well
2. Setting goals
3. Setting deadlines
4. Giving important work responsibilities to other people in a team
5. Conducting the most important tasks first.
Goal setting
It is the aim or result that we want from an activity. Goal makes us
work harder, motivates us to complete what we start and achieve the
target.
Efficiency
Efficiency is the ability to do things well, successfully,
without wasting time.
Managing quality
Managing quality in a business means setting and maintaining a
standard of excellence for products or services being provided to
customers. When the business venture starts growing, maintaining
quality becomes the most important part because of the number of
products being produced every day.
