Becoming An Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship—Discussion Guide

Slide # 1 THINK ABOUT IT

Have you ever dreamed of inventing a product or building a business?

• If so, you have an interest in entrepreneurship.

KEY CONCEPTS

Slide #2 Entrepreneurship

• It is the starting and building of a business.
• It involves using available resources to create and operate an economic enterprise.
• It is undertaken with the goal of creating value or wealth.
• There are many types of entrepreneurship.
  • Administrative
  • Opportunistic
  • Acquisitive
  • Incubative
  • Imitative
  • Private
  • Public
  • Individual
  • Mass

Slide #3 Entrepreneurship First Thoughts

• What comes to mind upon hearing "entrepreneur"?

• Students create a word cloud with their thoughts or answer via PearDeck

Slide #4 Characteristics of entrepreneurship

• Search for innovative ideas to improve existing products, processes, and systems
• Creation of new processes, goods, and services
• Search for ideas with profit potential that satisfy the needs and wants of consumers
• Willingness to assume business and financial risks

Discussion #1: Describe a successful entrepreneur that you know.

• Some businesses value and encourage employees to develop new ideas to solve
  specific problems.

Slide #5 The entrepreneurial process

• Discovery
  • Entrepreneurs identify potential business opportunities and evaluate those ideas for competitive advantages, feasibility, and profitability.
• Development
  • After identifying a business opportunity, entrepreneurs begin developing their businesses by planning their business goals and determining the amount of capital needed to launch the enterprise.
• Resourcing
  • Entrepreneurs seek out investors, employees, capital resources, and any items that will be used to produce their businesses’ goods and services.
• Actualization
  • Occurs when the business is launched and begins to operate
• Harvesting
  • The final step is determining a harvesting strategy, which includes deciding when and how the entrepreneur will exit the business.

Discussion #2: Which part of the entrepreneurial process is the most difficult? Explain why.

Slide #6 Factors impacting entrepreneurship

• Availability of funding and the financial condition of the marketplace and the economy
• Society’s willingness to accept, support, and promote new business enterprises
• Technological advances create opportunities for entrepreneurial success.

Slide #7 Entrepreneurial trends

• Disruptive innovation in the business world has created many new opportunities
  for entrepreneurs.
• Globalization and mobile interconnectivity

• • Creation of new markets
  • Increase in social commerce
  • Led to the Internet of Things (IoT)

• Customization of products and services has created opportunities to provide unique,
  specialized products.
• Design thinking is frequently used for the ideation and development of ventures.

Discussion #3: Give examples of products created from these trends.

Slide #8 Explain the Role Requirements

• Do you have what it takes? Why/Why not?

Role Requirements of Entrepreneurs and Business Owners—Discussion Guide

Slide #9 Picture yourself in your future career.

• What are you doing?
• Who are the people around you?
• What is your day-to-day life like?
  • Some people see themselves in a big, established company, working with a large team and following set procedures.
  • Others want a laid-back, small company that feels like a family.
  • Some people prioritize family and friends over work, whereas others prefer to dedicate themselves to their careers.
  • Some want a challenge, and some want a low-stress environment.
• Many of these preferences come from your personality and your skills.
• Let’s say you have a lot of really great ideas.
• You like to think outside the box, and you want to create something new.
• Maybe you picture yourself in charge, taking full responsibility for your business and
  managing others.
• You see yourself working really hard, spending a lot of your time and effort on making your business a success.
• If that sounds like you, you might be a future entrepreneur.

Discussion #1: Ask students to give examples of entrepreneurs.

Personality traits and skills of entrepreneurs and business owners

• An entrepreneur is an individual who:
  • Identifies an opportunity to create new value
  • Develops and offers a unique product
  • Assumes the risks of starting and building a business
  • Focuses on the improvement and growth of that business
  • Receives personal and financial rewards for her/his efforts
• Not everyone can be a successful entrepreneur or small-business owner.
• It takes a certain set of personality traits and skills.

• Personality traits:
  • Vision
  • Knowledge
  • Optimism
  • Independence
  • Resilience
  • People-oriented
  • Patience
  • Integrity
  • Confidence
  • Drive
  • Passion
  • Open-mindedness
  • Achievement orientation
• Skills:
  • Communication
  • Problem-solving
  • Leadership
  • Focus
  • Salesmanship
  • Self-reflection
  • Organization
  • Money management
  • Planning
  • Risk-taking
  • Time management

Discussion #2: Ask students what additional skills and personality traits would be useful for entrepreneurs and small-business owners

Slide #10 A day in the life of an entrepreneur/business owner

• Entrepreneurs have many roles and responsibilities when starting a business.

• • Generating venture ideas
  • Creating a business plan
  • Obtaining funding
  • Staffing the business
  • Creating business policies
  • Marketing the business
  • Building a clientele

• Entrepreneurs also need to be aware of industry trends and technological developments so they are aware of opportunities and threats.
• Trends and developments can be a source of new business ideas.

Slide #11 Responsibilities of small-business owners

• Once the business is established, the small-business owner has many more responsibilities.
  • Planning and strategizing
  • Managing finances and accounting
  • Following regulation and compliance
  • Marketing the business
  • Purchasing resources
  • Overseeing production
  • Managing employees
  • Serving customers
  • Dealing with investors

Discussion #3: Ask students what they think are the most important responsibilities of entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

Careers in Entrepreneurship—Discussion Guide

Slide # 12 THINK ABOUT IT

Careers in entrepreneurship

• Have you ever thought about owning your own business?

• Many people “invent” their careers by starting businesses.

• Owning a business can be very rewarding.

KEY CONCEPTS

Slide #13 Entrepreneurs

• Start businesses that support their passions/interests
• Are creative risk-takers with a vision
• Work hard to grow their businesses
• Often grow into large organizations

• Focus on running secure businesses
• Seek to generate income
• Often keep operations small

• Plan, organize, and manage other organizations
• Often help entrepreneurs be successful
• Aren’t necessarily entrepreneurs or small-business owners

Discussion #1: Describe a business owner that you know and explain why s/he is successful.

Slide #14 Benefits of business ownership

• • • Personal satisfaction of creating a product that others enjoy
    • Flexibility to create own work schedule
    • Ability to make a large income
    • Opportunity to gain financial independence

Slide #15 Risks of business ownership

• Uncertain income (paychecks can be irregular)
• Financial loss (from lack of profits or failure)
• Solely responsible for all work (must perform all work and make all business decisions)
• Huge personal commitment requires working long hours
  • May take a physical and emotional toll on the owner
  • May affect relationships with family members and friends

Discussion #2: Do you think the benefits of business ownership outweigh the risks? Why?

Slide #16 Many types of opportunities exist

• Home-based businesses are easily started with the help of the Internet.
• Resources and support systems are available to help plan and develop business ideas.
• It’s easy to finance with loans, sponsorships, angel investors, and scholarships.
• Tax breaks through legislative reforms have made business ownership less burdensome.

Discussion #3: What trait do you think contributes the most to the success of an entrepreneur?

Slide #17 Traits/Skills of successful entrepreneurs

• Creative, innovative
• Determination, confidence
• Take risks
• Need to possess business skills

• • Risk management
  • Sales/Marketing
  • Finance
  • Time management
  • Technical ability
  • Communication
  • Leadership
  • Decision-making

Discussion #3: What trait do you think contributes the most to the success of an entrepreneur?

Slide #18 Successful entrepreneurs are always learning

• Seek to improve their skills and educate themselves through professional development opportunities
• Watch trends in society, technology, the economy, and government to find opportunities

• It’s their passion for learning about their businesses that helps them succeed.

Assessing Your Entrepreneurial Potential—Discussion Guide

THINK ABOUT IT

Slide #18 Starting your own business can be a great career.

Discussion #1: Ask students whether or not they think they have entrepreneurial potential and why/why not.

Slide #19 Entrepreneurs are always learning

• Video: The Life of an Entrepreneur in 90 Seconds

Slide #20 Conduct Self-Assessment to determine entrepreneurial potential

• You are in charge.
• You can make the company whatever you want it to be.
• You have freedom, flexibility, and control.
• Entrepreneurs truly own the rewards of their hard work.
• Being an entrepreneur is a challenge, but having the right personality and skills can make it a little easier.
• Think about being a basketball player.
  • Anyone can learn to play basketball, but some people have skills and traits that give them an advantage.
  • If you’re tall, coordinated, athletic, competitive, and determined, you’ve got the potential to be great at basketball.
• Entrepreneurship is the same way.
  • While anyone can pursue entrepreneurship and work hard to run a business, certain abilities and characteristics demonstrate that you have the potential to achieve great success in entrepreneursh

Slide #21 Why assess entrepreneurial potential?

• Choosing to start your own business isn’t a decision that you should make lightly.
• Entrepreneurs take many risks and make significant sacrifices.
• They often put their own money on the line and work countless hours, struggling for a long time before they achieve success.
• Before becoming an entrepreneur, you want to make sure that you have the best chance possible at doing so effectively.
• When you assess your entrepreneurial potential, you can figure out what traits and skills you have that will benefit you and which ones you can work to develop in yourself.

Slide #22 What affects entrepreneurial potential?

• Many aspects of your life can affect your entrepreneurial potential:
  • Personality traits
  • Work and lifestyle preferences
  • Educational background
  • Skills
  • Risk preferences

Discussion #2: Ask students to share what kinds of questions they think might be included in online self-assessments.

Slide #23 Methods of self-assessing your entrepreneurial potential

• Take an online assessment.
  • You can find plenty of online self-assessments that will indicate whether or not you would be a strong entrepreneur.
  • These surveys will ask you to answer questions about your personality, preferences, and abilities.
  • Answer as honestly as possible.
  • Take the time to think deeply about how you truly feel, not how you think you should feel or how you want to feel.
• Talk to those who know you well.
  • It is important to get an outside perspective because it is easy to be biased about your own abilities.
  • You might not be able to have a clear, objective view of yourself.
  • Talking to your family, friends, teachers, supervisors, and others who spend a lot of time with you can help you to understand yourself better.

• Shadow an entrepreneur.
  • If you can, observe an entrepreneur in action.
  • See whether or not his/her daily duties and responsibilities seem interesting and exciting to you.
  • Try to envision yourself in his/her shoes, and see how it makes you feel.
  • If you cannot observe an entrepreneur in person, do research about famous entrepreneurs and what they do to be successful.
  • Compare yourself to them, and see whether or not you have any traits or skills in common.

Discussion #3: Ask students to share examples of entrepreneurs whom they could shadow or research.

Product Opportunities—Discussion Guide

Slide# 24 THINK ABOUT IT

Do you ever have ideas for new products or think of ways your favorite products can be improved?

• Whether you know it or not, you are identifying product opportunities.

• In a business environment, these ideas would be analyzed, evaluated, and pursued.

KEY CONCEPTS

Slide# 25 Example: Hunt a Killer

• A non-virtual activity born in the 2020 Pandemic

Slide #26 Product opportunities

• Identifying product opportunities helps a business ensure success.
• New products are often the lifeblood of business organizations.
• To remain profitable, businesses regularly seek viable opportunities to develop new products and improve existing ones.

Slide #27 Innovation is key

Product innovation

• The creation of new products and services
• Significant improvements to existing goods or services
  • Design
  • Components
  • Materials
  • Software
  • User-friendliness
  • Functionality
• Example: Smartphone technology has significantly improved the capabilities of existing mobile-phone products.

Discussion #1: Describe a new product or product improvement you have seen and explain the business potential the idea may possess.

Slide# 28 Example: UPS

• Explore the origins of a major parcel shipping company

• Explore how they've improved over time

Slide #29 Process innovation

• The creation of new or significantly improved production or delivery methods
• Examples of production innovation:
  • Automated equipment
  • Computer-assisted design
• Examples of delivery innovation:
  • Drones
  • Radio-frequency identification (RFID) assisted tracking systems

Slide #30 Ways to identify opportunities

• • • 1. 1. Brainstorming
         2. Conducting market research
         3. Studying trends
         4. Determining gaps in the market
         5. Studying product limitations
         6. Studying problems affecting society and industry
         7. Developing or using new technologies

Discussion #2: Give an example of a current product opportunity that exists in the marketplace due to product limitations, problems affecting society and industry, or the capabilities of new technologies.

• A needs analysis assesses how well products meet customers’ unknown needs.
• By conducting personal interviews and observing customer use of products, a business can identify highly specific customer needs.
• In response, the business is likely to make product improvements or create new products.

Slide# 31 Ways to identify opportunities cont'd

• Video: How to be an entrepreneur

• Ideas come from heartbreak, annoyances, aggravations, etc.

Discussion #3: What current problem(s) do you have in your life? How could it be solved?

Slide #32 Pitfalls of product opportunities

• Unfamiliar market
• Pressure to rush to market while opportunity exists
• Creation of products with little to no market value

Discussion #4: Describe a new product that has been unsuccessful in the market and explain what may have contributed to its lack of success.

Techniques for Generating Product Ideas—Discussion Guide

THINK ABOUT IT

Slide #33 Generating product ideas

• Every product you see was invented or created by someone.

• Some products are totally new and some are improved versions.

• Anyone can explore ideas and create new products.

Slide# 34 Example: Poo-Pourri

• This entrepreneur failed multiple times before finding success

• What led to her success?

• What are some key takeaways from her story?

KEY CONCEPTS

Slide #35 New products help a business succeed

• New products are created to meet changing market needs/wants.
• New and improved products give a business an advantage over competitors.
• Short product life cycles require continual improvement or replacement.
• Obsolete goods and services must be replaced to remain in business.

Discussion #1: Have you ever had an idea for a new product? What was it?

Slide #36 Product ideas come from many places

• Businesses study trends in fashion, entertainment, technology, and lifestyles.
• Research about changing demographics helps identify current and future customer needs.
• Listening to customer feedback helps identify what products or services customers want and need.
• By studying the limitations of current products, new accessories or substitute products are discovered to complement or replace existing products.

Discussion #2: Describe a new product idea you have seen and explain where you think the idea may have originated from.

Slide# 37 Example: Tile

• Tile was created out of aggravation of constantly losing items

• Money was raised through a different source to help boost product views and sales

Slide #38 Pitfalls of idea generation

• It’s difficult to “think outside the box” when something has been done the same way for a long time.
• Employees can be reluctant to accept the risks new products pose.
• Employees can also be afraid to face criticism of their ideas.
• Idea generation can fail when a group is too large, lacks diversity, or veers off topic.

Slide #39 Techniques for creative thinking

Lateral thinking techniques approach an issue from new illogical directions to develop new ideas.

• Brainstorming involves spontaneously identifying as many different ideas as possible during a certain time frame.
• Mind mapping involves drawing a main idea in the center of a page and then drawing lines to other words or phrases that are related to the main idea.
• When brainwriting or braindrawing is used, individuals take turns building on everyone’s ideas until a page is covered with sketches or words.
• Free association is a mind-wandering technique used to let your mind flow from one idea to another.
• In forced associations and forced analogies, two completely unrelated ideas are connected to create new ideas.

Slide #40 Logical approaches

• In attribute listing, a product’s characteristics are listed and studied to improve them.
• Morphological analysis combines a product’s details to develop new ideas.

Discussion #3: Describe any creative-thinking processes you have used and what the outcome was.

Generating Product Ideas—Discussion Guide

THINK ABOUT IT

Slide #41 Every great product started as an idea.

• But where did that idea come from?

• You may have heard stories of famous inventions or creations that happened by accident.

  • Popsicles were first invented by an 11-year-old boy who accidentally left a soda outside on a cold night with a stirring stick inside.

• Not all new product ideas happen by chance.

• There are techniques that people—including you—can use to generate ideas for a product or a new business.

Slide# 42 Example: QuikFlip

• This entrepreneur has a great story behind the creation of his product

• This was creativley showcased during his SharkTank pitch

KEY CONCEPTS

Slide #43 Idea generation is the process of thinking up or creating new plans, schemes, and thoughts.

• It is important because without it, it would be a lot more difficult to improve existing processes and come up with new ideas. It identifies an opportunity to create new value.
• Using idea-generating methods gives you a structured, proven way to encourage creativity.
• These techniques help you “think outside the box” and open your mind, encouraging flexibility and original thoughts.
• However, idea-generating methods and techniques can be time-consuming.
• They are challenging, especially when people aren’t used to using this way of thinking.
• Working in idea-generating groups can lead to distraction or going off topic.

Discussion #1: Ask students to give examples of great ideas that they have had. How did they come up with these ideas?

Slide #44 Examples of idea-generating techniques

• Brainstorming
• Free association
• Forced questioning
• Synectics
• Forced relations
• Forced analogies
• Attribute listing
• Morphological analysis

Discussion #2: Ask students if they can think of any problems that might occur while using idea-generating techniques.

Slide #45 How to implement idea-generation methods and techniques

• Use a facilitator.

• • A person who leads discussion and manages communications
  • Helps everyone understand what each other is saying and helps the group
    achieve its goals
  • Makes sure there is structure and purpose to idea generation
• Ask good questions such as:
  • What problems do people face on a daily basis?
  • How has the market changed recently? How do you think it will continue to change?
  • What are the needs of your target customer?
  • What are your competitors doing?
  • What customers or market segments have been neglected? What products
    do they need?
  • What are your weaknesses? How could you eliminate them?
  • What recent new products have or have NOT succeeded? Why?
• Set goals.
  • It is important to make sure that idea-generation methods are focused on a goal that you hope to accomplish.
  • This will help give people direction and make sure it is productive.
• Utilize a creative environment.
  • Eliminate distractions and equip people with the tools they need to be creative.
  • Make sure everyone is comfortable and relaxed, yet focused and alert.
• Involve the right people.
  • The more diverse ideas and opinions you can get, the better.
  • You don’t want to involve so many people that it becomes impossible to communicate or get anything done.
  • Make sure everyone who is involved has a unique and valuable insight.

Discussion #3: Ask students to provide additional ways to successfully implement idea-generating methods.