Outline and justify the characteristics and skills considered to be evident and important in entrepreneurs or those wishing to run their own successful enterprise.
An individual can make a successful entrepreneur by having good technological skills or expertise in key sections. These, though, are not the characteristics that define entrepreneurship. The key qualities include traits like creativity, an individual’s ability to keep moving despite being in some sort of hardship as well as the social skills that are mandatory to building great teams and teamwork. To be able to start a business and be a successful entrepreneur, one need to acquaint themselves with the particular skills that underpin the qualities of being a successful entrepreneur. It is as well vital to come up with entrepreneurial skills that are aligned with one’s job role in instances that one is required to come up with a business or more generally take things forward.
According to experts, entrepreneurs are individuals who are constantly willing to take risks that other people are not willing to take. Entrepreneurs are individuals who start and develop businesses that are successful (Clapp & Swenson, 2014). The major traits that define a successful entrepreneur include; an individual’s personal characteristics, their interpersonal skills, their ability to make creative and critical thinking and decisions and finally their practical skills.
The personal characteristics of an individual include their values and beliefs. The personal characteristics of an individual determine whether they have the mindset that is typical for building a successful entrepreneur. Personal traits that define an individual’s success in entrepreneurship include optimism and vision. Optimism assists an uprising entrepreneur overcome challenges as they seek models that work for them, vision on the other hand assists the developing entrepreneur know where work is needed. Consequently, an entrepreneur needs to be able to frame a vision of the big picture and talk other people into engaging with that vision. Being initiative and having a desire to control as well as having the desire for control assists one in line to building a successful entrepreneurship (Kuratko, 2016). The other personal characteristics include; drive and persistence, being able to tolerate risks, being resilient to the extent that you are able to pick up yourself when things start moving against the plan.
The other trait to a successful entrepreneur is the interpersonal skills. Being an entrepreneur, one works closely with others meaning that an entrepreneur needs to have good interpersonal skills that assist them in building great relationships with their teams, clients, partners, and more. Interpersonal skills like leadership and motivation and a good command of communication skills. Being a good listener and having good personal relations where one needs to have a high emotional intelligence. To be a successful entrepreneur, one requiress to be a good negotiator and have the skills of resolving differences among people in positive and beneficial ways. A successful entrepreneur also needs to have ethics, for instance, be able to deal with other individuals in a respectful and truthful manner.
Creative and critical thinking, as listed before, is the other trait of building a successful entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, one requires to be able to come constantly up with fresh ideas and make good decisions concerning the chances and potential projects that come their way (Nelson, 2015). Being a problem solver makes one be a good entrepreneur as one will need to be taking care of problems they are facing. To be a successful entrepreneur, one as well needs to be able to recognize opportunities whenever opportunities present themselves.
The other trait that is fundamental to making a successful entrepreneurship is to have practical skills and the knowledge that is required to come up with services and products efficiently as well as run the franchise. Goal setting, planning and organization and decision making are some of the practical skills that an individual needs to have a good command of to be able to make a successful entrepreneur of them. One needs to have talents, abilities and skills that are fundamental in achieving their goals. They need to be able to coordinate people to achieve the goals efficiently. These includes being able to make sound decisions that are relevant and consequence free, as well a successful entrepreneur needs to be confident in the decisions they make as entrepreneurship is all about risk taking.
Identify own entrepreneurial characteristics/skills, comparing them with those of an entrepreneur/s of your choice including those operating in the travel and tourism sector
The entrepreneur of choice, in this case, is Sir Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Empire. The entrepreneurial traits that Branson commanded, like having a vision for success, steered him through his entrepreneurial endeavors to the present day billionaire he is with multi-billion enterprises. Courage, perseverance and imagination are some of the traits that sustained Branson through his transformation. His family played a vital role in nurturing his independence and the spirit of entrepreneurship that he had within. Despite the family support and motivation, Branson was enduring and he was able to go through a couple of struggles. His struggles include dyslexia which made the understanding and the reading of certain concepts kind of difficult. Up to now, Branson still does not have trust in numbers as he says that he does not complicate his life with financial reports. His ability to exceed in other areas provided him compensation for the things he lacked. He developed extraordinary personal skills and he got to learn to trust and believe in his instincts.
“I do a lot of things by gut feeling and a lot of personal experience,” Branson says. Branson believes that his lack of reliance on professionals like accountants when making his decisions is what have made him be able to take risks and go into the airline business for instance (Kirzner, 2015). He believes that trusting his instincts and decisions is what made him go into the space business and other numerous businesses that he is part of. In the current economy, entrepreneurs are continually struggling to do away with negativity and be able to rejuvenate their spirit and passion that stirred them into the ventures they are stuck in. Branson gives wise words for such entrepreneurs, including individuals like me that the obstacles and the challenges are healthy for every individual and not only for entrepreneurs. Branson believes that challenges and obstacles assist one to think outside their boxes and to be creative. As per Branson, the challenge is when one tries to follow through a grand idea. He believes that all one needs to take the risk and give it a try (Barringer, 2012). On the off chance that things go opposite to the plan, and the idea fails flat, one needs to be persistent and keep collecting their pieces and give it another try and another one until it works out. Branson pinpoints that for him to be successful; he understood that he needed to make a difference in the lives of individuals if he was to be successful.
Branson had challenges way beyond his dyslexia. He remains famous for his daredevil adventures and business risks. He was able to learn from his experiences and he was never unnerved. In most instances, the failures he went through promoted his innovation and guided him to success.
Coming up with a new approach out the chaotic and heartbreaking experiences he had gave him the ability to be in control of the numerous companies he has with minimal financial risks. At the present, Branson owns the Virgin Group, which is an empire of about 200 different companies that are managed and run differently and with varied shareholders and boards despite sharing the brand alongside the resources and the collective knowledge and experience of others within the group. Branson believes in empowering of talent and giving individuals the freedom and limited bureaucracy so as to be able to build on innovation and creativity (Branson, 2013). Branson believes in a rule-breaker kind of leadership. Branson never learned rules in his entire life and beliefs that what drives Virgin is the desire to change the game.
The entrepreneurial characteristics of Branson that have defined his success included passion and motivation. As an individual, have sufficient motivation and passion as I have areas I can work on over and over again without me getting bored. The other notable characteristic that Branson has is risk taking. Branson dared to dive deep into a future that was very uncertain and that has seen him be one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the globe according to his work, Taking Risks (2013). As a prospective entrepreneur, have always anticipated about taking risks and implementing ideas that I have always had despite them looking unrealistic and destined to fail. The other vital trait to successful entrepreneurship that Branson and I share is the trait of hard work, self-belief, and disciplined dedication. As an entrepreneur, I have to enjoy what I am doing and have belief in myself as well as being dedicated to my project just as Branson was.
Create a SWOT analysis from yourself appraisal and suggest strategies for your future development
A SWOT analysis is vital in assisting one better understand their abilities and the prospects for success of their current businesses or business ideas. The factors that are considered internal to a business of an individual or their business ideas including factors like management of personnel are evaluated under SWOT as strengths or weaknesses (Drucker, 2014). External factors like the business environment and market are evaluated as opportunities or threats depending on their nature. A SWOT analysis provides a snapshot of an individual’s business opportunity.
As a prospective entrepreneur, a SWOT analysis assists me analyze and look into the pertinent items that I will require in order to be able to fully take care of my future business services or tasks. SWOT analysis is a vital aid in the initial segment of a business prospect and it will assist me identify the vital areas that I need o focus on and be able to get a lay of the field and be able to buy in for my services.
Getting down to my individual SWOT analysis, I begin with consideration of the available strengths that will enable my prospect be successful. The strengths that can enable me to gain a competitive advantage include having adequate financial resources, proprietary technology and personally being a good team leader and team member. The weaknesses that need work so s to enable me meet my goals include; weak market image, disadvantages brought about by competitors in terms of aspects like cost as well as my lack of a clear strategic direction. The opportunities in my SWOT analysis that will probably allow me to build my position in the market and grow my entrepreneurial franchise include the expanding product line, targeting a new market, adding related services and forming strategic alliances and partnerships. The threats that I ought to consider and address include the probable entry of more powerful competitors being that it is a new market, probable changes in the client’s preferences as well as increased regulations.
As a leader I have a vital role in coaching others so as to do their best and in doing this I am able to assist them in coming up with better decision, find solutions to problems holding them back as well as enable them acquire new skills and as a result be able to grow in their careers. Having personally understood this, I will employ the GROW model. My goal is to gain a competitive advantage and employ my strengths in ensuring my success. My current reality is that I have no sufficient market knowledge of the industry and I should therefore work on educating myself on the market trends after which I will be fit to go. My options are that the industry of interest is made up of powerful companies with resources and therefore to find my way through I will only have to associate myself with one. Finally, my will or rather way forward is analyzing client’s preferences and come up with strategies that will enable me take care of the clients efficiently irrespective of their constantly shifting preferences.
Identify a successful organisation, which is operating in the T&T sector. Analyse its development and evaluate the factors, which have led to its success
Continuing with Branson, I look into the Virgin Group, a business empire owned by Richard Branson, and more specifically, The Virgin Atlantic, one of the top 20 world airlines. The main concepts which are responsible for the growth and success of the Virgin Atlantic include employee motivation, the organizational culture at Virgin Atlantic and the leadership at Virgin Atlantic.
The Virgin Atlantic was founded by Branson who started by selling magazines while in school. By 1970 the Virgin brand he owned started selling records by post. After building a recording empire, in 1984 Branson established the Virgin Atlantic airline. In establishing the airline, he had to take on the renowned British Airways, which Virgin Atlantic did and is evident by its growth and success over the years to become one of the largest airlines in the globe.
The leadership style that is present at Virgin Atlantic comes from its organizational culture that is set by its founder, Sir Richard Branson. Branson has successfully exercised charismatic and transformational leadership techniques. Branson’s leadership styles are often regarded upon as transformational owing to the informal technique and lack of stress on hierarchy within his enterprises. It is through this style of leadership that Virgin Atlantic has been able to record back to back profits.
The other viewpoint behind the success of Virgin Atlantic is the aspect of Branson positioning himself, particularly the adventurer trait that he has, as the brand image for all the enterprises and organizations that belong to his Virgin Group, where even Virgin Atlantic belong. As a result, owing to the tremendous influence of Branson in the business world alongside his encouragement transformational leadership model that is exercised in the various management sections of the Virgin Atlantic, the airline has been able to benefit and sustain its growth over the years since its inception by Branson. Branson is so concerned about the image of the Virgin Group and that is why he associates himself with the Group as the brand image. Branson argues that the highest paid and most important employee that he has is his public relations and communication director. Virgin has grown to be multinational with each wing doing perfectly well. This is a case where the Virgin America expands and introduces flights to Philadelphia and Portland and in turn contributes to the entire success of the Virgin which is then voted the best airline in the Travel and Leisure World’s Best Awards in 2012. Similarly, the American Virgin, Virgin America is declared the Best US Airline in the Conde Nast Travellers 2012 Readers Choice Awards for five years in a row up to 2012.
Also Study: Strategic Role of HRM in Tourism and Hospitality Industry
References;
- Barringer, B. (2012). Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures, (2012).
- Branson, R. (2013). Like a virgin: Secrets they won’t teach you at business school. Random House.
- Branson, R. (2013). Richard Branson on Taking Risks.
- Clapp, B., & Swenson, J. (2014). THE ENTREPRENEUR’S GENE WHAT MAKES A GREAT ENTREPRENEUR GREAT?. Mustang Journal of Business and Ethics, 7, 50.
- Drucker, P. (2014). Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
- Kirzner, I. M. (2015). Competition and entrepreneurship. University of Chicago press.
- Kuratko, D. (2016). Entrepreneurship: Theory, process, and practice. Cengage Learning.
- Nelson, T. (2015). Startups That Work. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 17(2), 105-108.