Business Entrepreneurship

It is proposed that the process of entrepreneurship initiation has its foundations in person, intuition, society and culture. It is much more holistic than simply an economic function and represents a composite of material and immaterial, pragmatism and idealism. The essence is the application of creative processes and the acceptance of a risk-bearing function, directed at bringing about change of both economic and social nature. Ideally, but not necessarily, the outcomes would have positive consequences. The key to initiating the process of entrepreneurship lies within the individual members of society and the degree to which a spirit of enterprise exists or can be initiated.

Culture is important in any discussion of entrepreneurship because it determines the attitudes of individuals towards the initiation of entrepreneurship. Each era produces its own models of entrepreneurship according to its specific needs of the host society, however it has been described consistently using terms such as innovative, holistic, risk taking and co-ordinating ways of behaviour. Certain cultural institutions may facilitate, or hinder, entry into entrepreneurship. Thus, it is proposed that the culture of societies and the charateristics of people living in these socities, impacted by certain innate personality traits, will influence the degree to which entrepreneurship is initiated.

It appears that there is a significant relationship between entrepreneurship and cultural specificity, combined with an intuitive response by individual members of the society, albeit part innate and part cultural conditioning. Certainly, the cultural context in which persons are rooted and socially developed plays an influencing role in shaping and making entrepreneurs, and the degree to which they consider entrepreneurial behaviour to be desirable. Cultural dimensions that are significant to the extent to which entrepreneurial behaviour is supported by a society have been identified as: communal versus individual; conformist versus divergent; and equal versus elitist.

Furthermore, the role of the family, immediate and extended, is recognised as having the potential to make a positive contribution towards entrepreneurial behaviour through the provision of inter-generational role models. Finally, the profile of an entrepreneur which emerges through the study is one who is intelligent and analytical; is an effective risk manager and networker; possesses a strong set of moral, social and business ethics; exhibits a basic trader’s instinct; and is dedicated life-long learning in its many forms.

You hear a lot of talk lately about entrepreneurship, but have you given any thought to what the term entrepreneurship means? Entrepreneurship is defined in Wikipedia as:

”…the practice of starting new organizations or revitalizing mature organizations, particularly new businesses generally in response to identified opportunities.”

Some people mistakenly believe that entrepreneurs are gamblers, since they are perceived to be risk takers. Often times entrepreneurs are driven by a need to innovate rather than a need for excitement or risk. In reality entrepreneurs take calculated risks. These calculated risks generally that have the potential for significant returns.

Opportunity, innovation, and growth are three key factors to consider. Often times an entrepreneur identifies trends and changes as opportunities before others even notice them. In order to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, entrepreneurs often need to take action with the resources that they have on hand.

Another key theme in entrepreneurship is transforming existing products through innovation. This innovation might be based upon a need to adapt an existing product to a new market. It could be based upon identifying a better way to provide value to customers by making an existing product somehow more useful or valuable to existing customers. It could be as simple as identifying a problem that is solved or mitigated with the product or service that hadn’t been considered previously.

Growth is the third key factor that characterizes entrepreneurship. It is best represented by the continual efforts of entrepreneurs to expand into new markets. This expansion could be to a new type of customer or new geographic markets, both locally and internationally. Entrepreneurs are eager to identify new techniques to help their business grow

These principles are the building blocks that many businesses were, and are, founded upon. Many of the largest corporations can trace their start to one or more entrepreneurs. These organizations often started as small enterprises by people with vision and determination. History shows us many examples of entrepreneurs who took leaps of faith and huge amounts of risk to achieve their dreams.

The internet is a great example of entrepreneurship. Literally wherever you turn, you can see the results of entrepreneurship. People from all walks of life are innovating and quietly amassing huge fortunes because they embraced their entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are the ones taking the risks, improving their profits, and hopefully the world overall.

Many of the technological advancements available today would not have been possible if entrepreneurs did not invest in the development of these businesses. They in essence came out of their comfort zones to develop the technologies that we enjoy today. I think you’ll agree that entrepreneurial spirit is a necessary ingredient for businesses to provide better and faster products and services to their customers and clients. This entrepreneurial spirit allows them and their organizations to reach greater heights of success. Individuals with vision and the courage to take calculated risks will help organizations innovate, grow, and ultimately succeed. Embrace your entrepreneurial spirit, you might be surprised by what you and your organization can achieve.

Entrepreneurship comes with more baggage than one would expect. From designing a logo to picking a financial planner, a lot needs to be understood and executed systematically to succeed in commercial endeavors. The order of things could be particularly difficult to comprehend if you are a first time entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship training can help you deal with the business of doing business much better. This is not to say that practicing entrepreneurs don’t need help. If you already own a business, then entrepreneurship training can help you become more efficient, by filling any gaps there might be in the way you run your show.

Most training program packages offer several modules ranging from personal finance to business strategy. The popular ones include:

Finance: Money matters prey high on any entrepreneur’s mind. Only a handful would probably have all the necessary resources for investing in their fledgling business without having to borrow. Managing the investment well is crucial in order to ensure a steady source of future earnings. Entrepreneurship training programs could offer guidance on choosing angel investors, planning an investment portfolio, insurance matters, exercising prudence and so on.

Ecommerce: Vital for the survival of any business today, e-commerce has opened up huge opportunities. No new business strategy is complete without an e-business angle. Yet, there are a number of older generation entrepreneurs who are not entirely familiar with these concepts. For them, entrepreneurship training programs that concentrate on e-commerce business strategy and provide a boot camp type of training or crash course are particularly useful. is just one example of the several training options out there. Once they are ready to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon, sites like can provide very useful services.

Business development: Training programs could offer anything from tried and tested methods to innovative and fresh ideas, to help your business grow. Be it retaining employees or impressing clients, making your money grow or retrieving it in time, training programs can go a long way in addressing the needs of your business. In an increasingly competitive atmosphere, such programs prove indispensable.

Street smart skills: Many other aspects of your personality could influence the profitability of your business. You need strong negotiating skills for instance, in order to strike profitable deals with clients and vendors. Likewise, great communication skills are essential to make the right impression in the right places. Stress management techniques are critical when dealing with difficult situations. Specialists offer mentoring to develop one or more of the above skill sets. In addition, they could help you figure out your strengths and weaknesses, thereby focusing your attention on areas for improvement.

Revamping: Want to give your business a much needed makeover? Revamping is ideal if you want to keep the freshness alive at work. But you need to be careful about the consequences as well. If you are planning on changing the way a product looks, keep in mind that your customers would have grown familiar with a certain image and deviating too much from the usual may not go down well with them. Professional help could see your business through a successful makeover.

Legally smart: Laws have been strengthened and made more comprehensive over the years; as a result there are a mind boggling number of legal issues that business owners need to deal with. Staying up-to-date will keep you from running into rough weather. While resources are aplenty on the internet, you could avail of professional help from a specialized entrepreneurship training program. While on the subject, we’d like to mention that Intellectual Property Rights have assumed significance in recent years and for all you inventors out there, is invaluable!

That’s not all. Suffield University grants degrees in a number of interesting fields; take your pick at Vaughn College of Business awards degrees in Business and Entrepreneurship. Visit them to learn more. provides you with a list of online training programs. Learn about the Entrepreneurship Training programs

Entrepreneurship training could help you mold your ideas, old and new, into profitable undertakings. Both amateurs and experienced entrepreneurs stand to gain from such programs. Go get that extra edge!

Entrepreneurship Speech to Montgomery College

I would like to sincerely thank Steve Lang and Elana Lippa for inviting me to speak to you to-day. Topic of my speech is “Entrepreneurship and Leadership”.
What is Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is a way of life.  It’s a powerful force deep down inside, driving you to achieve your dreams, despite dubious odds and the doubts of others. 

I’m sure many of you here today have the desire, the drive and the dreams to become entrepreneurs.  Dreams give us the strength that carries us through.  Indeed, I’ve often thought that perhaps it is not we who carry the dream, butthe dream that carries us.

I love entrepreneurship.  There is nothing like the excitement, glory, fun and sheer thrill of starting something from scratch and watching it grow into a large enterprise of astonishing proportions.  If you have the opportunity to be an entrepreneur, grab it.  Find passionate and driven people and lead them.  Give them all the necessary resources, and then give them some oxygen to breathe.

I can’t stress strongly enough how determined you must be, for the road to success is neither short nor easy, as the following statistics so starkly reveal:

Only 1 in 6 million high-tech business ideas become an IPO

Venture capitalists fund fewer than 1% of the business plans they receive

Founding CEOs of high-tech firms typically own less than 4% after an IPO

60% of high-tech companies funded by VCs eventually go bankrupt

It takes 3-5 years after their IPO for most high-tech companies to finally succeed1

Clearly, it’s not easy to be a successful technology entrepreneur.  Many will fail at some point, and you must learn to overcome heavy doses of frustration, burnout and disappointment along the way.

So Why Become an Entrepreneur?

For the true entrepreneur, this is a rhetorical question.  For the emerging entrepreneur, there are at least three major motivations:

The FIRST motivation is a yearning to create something novel and useful.  “To be on the cutting edge” is a necessary mantra.  The technology entrepreneur strives to fill a need in the marketplace and then develop a solution — perhaps a better communication tool, an improved optical switch or a faster bioinformatics system. 

Too many people confuse this creative problem-solving by genuine entrepreneurs with the process of merely finding hot technology companies in the market and building new companies that mimic them.  Remember, the hot technology companies are hot because they seek to solve a problem.  The copiers have neither identified a problem nor created a solution.  They simply jumped on the latest bandwagon coming down the road.

The SECOND motivation of the technology entrepreneur is build something that will last forever.  The entrepreneur must always keep ahead of the competition to sustain the enterprise as a profitable concern. 
Risk-taking is absolutely crucial because it yields the innovation that sustains your competitive edge, in a world where competitors constantly catch up to and overtake stagnant firms.  That’s why being on the cutting edge is paramount.  We have to get out of our comfort zone, venture into new horizons and experience new environments.  We must not be afraid of taking chances.  If we fail, we must simply get up and try again.  Perhaps we will fail further… but nevertheless, we must try yet again.  Success teaches you how to move forward, but failure teaches you to never go backwards.  Thus, failure is the first step to success.

The THIRD motivation of the entrepreneur is to have freedom.  Being your own boss has definite appeal.  Glass ceilings cease to exist and achievement is limited only by imagination.  Entrepreneurs are motivated by having control over their work and the flexibility to pursue their dreams.  But freedom always has a price.  With greater personal freedom, comes greater uncertainty about the future, particularly in relation to finances.  Greater personal freedom also means a less structured environment, in which greater self-discipline is required in order to thrive.  Entrepreneurs are willing to accept these risks, however, because of their absolute conviction that they have what it takes to overcome any odds.

If these three ideals do not motivate you, then the very thought of becoming an entrepreneur should be extinguished.  If a big personal cash payout seems to be glaringly missing from the list of major objectives, it is because it is not a primary motivating factor.  These three major goals are not shared by all and are inappropriate for many.  Only those that find these objectives to be self-evident should embrace entrepreneurship.

What Characteristics Make an Entrepreneur Special?

Passion is what entrepreneurs must have, first, and foremost.  They must live and breathe for their business enterprise.  They are zealots about their business models and evangels for their products or services.  They have to be.  If they weren’t, the stress and financial pressures of running a fledgling business would completely wipe them out.  The sheer magnitude of the odds that are stacked against entrepreneurs requires a special kind of irrational exuberance to overcome.  Without passion, resources will never be enough and they will quickly dissipate into thin air.  But your passion will always find a way, even when probabilities conspire against your dream.  Entrepreneurs have unshakable confidence in and enthusiasm for their business ventures that contagiously spreads to their business team.

Laser focus is another hallmark of entrepreneurs.  Many people are creative, but lack discipline.  Entrepreneurs, however, have both qualities.  When a company does not focus, it is planting seeds for future problems. An entrepreneur identifies a path towards a solution and follows that path, notwithstanding the frequent temptation to take sideroads leading to seemingly newer, more exciting destinations.  The entrepreneur knows that most of the journey down the chosen path is checkered with drudgery, yet continues down the path unswervingly, confident that there will be a reward at the end.  The entrepreneur also knows that the side roads along the way may appear appealing at first glance, but will quickly become as checkered with drudgery as the originally chosen path and likely lead to a dead end. 
Focus is power. It creates a powerful perception of resolve in the minds of your customers, employees and competitors. 

Courage is a defining trait of entrepreneurs.  To understand the odds against success and still forge ahead, knowing many battles will be lost en route, requires a certain amount of fearlessness.  Entrepreneurs are purposeful in their tactics and can think on their feet.  Yet they regularly face daunting challenges whose failure to overcome will spell certain disaster for their business ventures.  Their ability to face these challenges without fear enables entrepreneurs to succeed where others cannot.

Entrepreneurs also are leaders.  Contrary to the popular belief that entrepreneurs are mavericks who prefer to be lone wolves, entrepreneurs are visionaries that can inspire and lead their colleagues.  There are few things more compelling than people who are passionate about their work, have the discipline to achieve success, and are fearless in their outlook.  An entrepreneur builds teams and instills confidence in others.

And, of course, an entrepreneur always is thinking ahead, perpetually in motion towards well-defined goals.  Diligent pursuit of progress is a hallmark.

How Can a Student Get on The Path of Entrepreneurship?

As discussed, the fundamentals of entrepreneurship can be learned.  But like anything else, it takes discipline and practice.  That means training your mind to consider the various problems you face as a student and instead of focusing on the downside, identify the opportunity that lies within. 

For example, if predicting test questions accurately is a problem, consider developing a system that makes this easier.  Perhaps a database of all prior test questions with the best answers could be developed, with a subscription fee business model.  Perhaps the database could be expanded to all colleges so that it will be more comprehensive and can appeal to a large subscriber base. 

Chances are, the problems you face will also be faced by others and the more people impacted, the greater the opportunity. This is how new entrepreneurial businesses are formed — by searching for pandemic problems that currently lack solutions.  Keep in mind that Google was founded by students; Facebook was founded by a student; and even Microsoft was formed by Bill Gates as a student.  The opportunities to be an entrepreneur are all around you right now, if you take time to examine the challenges you face and filter them through the prism of business. 

Leadership

Once you have established a business and grabbed the available opportunities by the horns, naturally, you have to manage it effectively.  And that means drawing upon your capabilities to lead – a defining characteristic of an entrepreneur, as already discussed.  So, what does it take to be a good leader, besides the obvious traits of being passionate, disciplined and courageous?  In today’s world, it also means being compassionate, transparent, objective, and humble. 

It used to be that companies were evaluated solely on two metrics: (1) their ability to produce cash flow; and (ii) their ability to innovate.  But now, companies are also evaluated on how they perform as corporate citizens.  A company’s willingness to do things for the public good and be socially responsible is a core element of performance.  Compassion is important.  As an example, ExxonMobil is producing record profits and is churning out new technologies as fast as ever.  Yet they are being vilified in the marketplace because of a perception that they are being greedy and failing to have compassion for the middle class’s predicament of having a difficult time paying for fill-ups at the gas station.   Certainly, this is not good for sustaining corporate value.  Young entrepreneurs need to consider the need to be socially responsible if they are to lead the way to the future.

Transparency is also critically important.  Both investors and the market make their decisions related to your business partly because of trust.  People are always willing to pay a premium for peace of mind and integrity.  To build trust, an entrepreneur needs to be transparent.  Anything hidden from view will cause suspicion and undermine trust.  That means that corporate decision-making, financing, and operations need to be visible to key stakeholders.  Sometimes it’s hard to be transparent, as this can make you feel vulnerable.  But good leaders are straightforward and willing to be placed under the microscope as needed.

A corollary to transparency is objectivity.  A good leader makes decisions based on facts and a well-thought out and plainly articulated strategy.  The rationale for all decisions must be clear to viewers and fully defensible based on objective criteria.  Trust isn’t just based on being able to see everything that happens – it is ultimately based on the objectivity of decisions.

Of course, if you do get things right and are able to grow an excellent business by being a true leader, humility is important to maintain your following.  Customers, investors and employees stick with you not just out of respect for your accomplishments, but because they have become loyal friends.  Your ability to share credit with others, provide a helping hand, and support others is what creates your personal and corporate brand.  It is not a coincidence that most of the most revered business leaders are also philanthropists.  Warren Buffet, despite being the richest man in the world, is quick to give credit to others and still lives in the same middle-class house that he purchased decades ago.  Humility, rather than taking away from your accomplishments, helps build them.

Before you can become a leader, you must first focus on growing yourself.  After becoming a leader, success is all about growing others.  Here are some of the other elements of a successful leader:

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Leaders have a clear vision and ensure that others not only see the vision, but also live and breathe it. 

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Leaders create environments where people can be truly committed.

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Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self-confidence.

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Leaders exude positive energy and optimism that gets under everyone’s skin.

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Leaders have respect for all people.

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Leaders give credit to others…. and often take the blame when something goes wrong.

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Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency and credit-giving

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Leaders act with integrity in spite of the difficulty.

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Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.

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Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action.

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Leaders balance risk and reward.

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Leaders see mistakes as learning opportunities.

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Leaders are firm but fair.

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Leaders are enthusiastic.

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Leaders get everyone involved.

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Leaders are tough…yet tender.

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Leaders inspire learning by setting the example.

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Leaders celebrate.

My Experiences

I’d like to say a few words about my own experience as a CEO.  I cultivated a very vision-driven organization into a tightly-focused company whose employees all knew precisely what was expected of them, and always delivered exactly what they promised.  I gave people at all levels specific tools and metrics, and enforced fact-based decision-making.  Managers at all levels in my company honored these commitments, engaged in disciplined meetings, focused on decisions and measured progress against stated objectives.  I surrounded myself with some great performers who delivered results.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. Thank you for your time, and for your commitment to make a difference in the lives of others through entrepreneurship.  I wish all of you continued success in the future, and look forward to when our paths cross again.  I am confident you will achieve your goals.  I am sure you will rise to the challenge, and transform you passion into profits. 

Always remember, that no matter how steep the pass, or how discouraging the pace, I implore you to never give up on your goals.

So there are many facets of leadership that you must embrace as a young entrepreneur, in addition to the hard work of living the life of an entrepreneur.  This is not an easy path, but almost anything worth having is worth fighting for.  I encourage all of you to consider entrepreneurship and show that Montgomery College can continue producing the great companies of tomorrow.  I hope for some of you, the path begins today.

One of the things I appreciated, only after graduating college graduation, was that my school employed professors, who had “real world” experience. I cannot tell you how many times we heard a professor say, “Okay, that’s what the textbook tells you. Now, let me tell you how it works in the real world.”

Textbooks only give students a foundation on which to build later in a real job. Often times, the real world does not follow the procedures set forth in or look/act anything like those models in the textbooks, making it difficult to adjust. You expect one thing in a new job but discover another, feeling lost as to how to proceed.

The Florida Schools in partnership with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) are introducing some of the “real world” into the Florida schools. Beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, high school students in the Florida schools will be able to sign up for a major course in entrepreneurship at participating schools.

In June 2006, then governor Jeb Bush signed the A++ Education Act, which offers 442 additional major coursework in the Florida schools. The entrepreneurship course is one of these offerings.

The importance of teaching such a course to secondary Florida schools’ students is not lost on businesses that complain across the nation that high school graduates are not prepared to enter today’s workforce upon graduation. The Florida schools’ entrepreneurship course will teach students vital business skills that will benefit the entire community and economy. With business being primarily knowledge-based, knowing how to use technology and employ critical thinking skills are essential for Florida schools’ graduates. As well as providing this training, the new Florida schools’ entrepreneurship course will create a new awareness for the students.

The NFTE was instrumental in the development of the entrepreneurship program for the Florida schools. The group is committed to providing entrepreneurship education to low-income and minority youth. They believe that introducing entrepreneurship to high school students gives them greater motivation to stay in school in order to do more with their life after graduation. Entrepreneurship offers hope and an opportunity for many students, who feel that there is nothing for them after high school except minimum wage jobs. It gives them the knowledge and confidence that they can do more.

The nationwide program of the NFTE has shown that entrepreneurship coursework at the high school level decreases the drop out rate and increases the number of students who go on to college. Their claim has been documented by Harvard Graduate School of Education in a multi-year study on the influence of NFTE coursework on school engagement. The NFTE currently has high school coursework programs in 47 states and 16 countries with over 150,000 courses worldwide, and there are 23 Florida schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School District that already successfully use the entrepreneurship program.

With the signing of the Act in 2006, the Florida schools have become the model for school boards across the nation. Florida schools’ officials have been receiving telephone calls from as far away as Arizona and California. Other states wish to emulate the Florida schools and their new entrepreneurship program to bring the “real world” to their high school students, as well.