So, to be able to establish successfully a new business venture, an entrepreneur has to go through and be guided by the rigid stages of the entrepreneurial process. The first one is the identification and evaluation of opportunities. This is like the screening stage. An entrepreneur is surrounded by many promising opportunities and he has to examine each one of them to be able to make the right choice.
After choosing an opportunity, the entrepreneur must then define this opportunity in business terms – that is the second stage of the entrepreneurial process which is developing a business plan. Writing the business plan is very crucial because this will serve as the entrepreneur’s road map. If the road map is not correct, then the entrepreneur may be out, driving nowhere. A classic article by William A. Sahlman is a good guide in writing the plan.
Determining resources required is the third stage in the entrepreneurial process. Every business venture needs some particular resources to be able to push through. Required resources must be clearly identified and eventually be acquired at the lowest possible cost. But still, we have to put in mind quality because “Quality + Low Cost = Efficiency”.
And finally the last stage of the entrepreneurial process is the management of the enterprise. Managing a new entrepreneurial venture differs from that of an existing operation. An entrepreneur-manager is faced to a very different circumstance from a normal corporate manager. However, today, with the era of entrepreneurship flourishing, the entrepreneurial spirit and effort is now being brought in existing corporate structures. This is better known as “intrapreneurship”. Plain managers of corporations are now becoming intrapreneurs – who have the qualities of an entrepreneur but are just living within the corporate world.
Without knowledge of things I have mentioned earlier, being an entrepreneur will really be viewed to be an easy, carefree career path to enter in. First, it does not require a high academic qualification. Yes, this is true. As matter of fact, a number of the more successful entrepreneurs of the modern times are high school dropouts – to name a few are Robert Forman VI, founder of Continental Airlines; Rex David Thomas, founder of Wendy’s international restaurant chain and Carl Henry Linder, founder of American Financial, a diversified holding company. But looking closely at these entrepreneurs’ successes, I can say that to be a real successful entrepreneur, we have to have some qualities developed within ourselves which can make us successful in the venture we have chosen – qualities that may even be more important than a college diploma or a master’s degree. Entrepreneurs are those who are full of bright ideas, who dream great dreams and are not afraid of taking chances. They simply are full of energy and life to just remain playing the slow, predictable game of the corporate world. I mean to say that real entrepreneurs crave for independence and they would not just be contented with just agreeing and following whatever the boss of the corporation says. As my professor in my Entrepreneurship class, Mr. Ramon Duremdes Jr. said, “Think big. Start small.” – this is the mind set of a real entrepreneur.
Honestly, I am not the business-minded type. Often times I play it safe, afraid of pushing my luck. But in my mind, I dream great dreams. I know that deep within me is a part that makes me also an entrepreneur, which I can develop through time. And, who knows, maybe years after I graduate from
