Technopreneurship Activity: January 2017

1. Why do we need an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur is important to our society because they can change the way we live and work. If successful, their innovations may improve our standard of living. In short, in addition to creating wealth from their entrepreneurial ventures, they also create jobs and the conditions for a prosperous society.Here are some of the reason why entrepreneur is important and is needed in our community:

1. Entrepreneurs Create New Businesses

Path breaking offerings by entrepreneurs, in the form of new goods & services, result in new employment, which can produce a cascading effect or virtuous circle in the economy. The stimulation of related businesses or sectors that support the new venture add to further economic development.

2. Entrepreneurs Add to National Income

Entrepreneurial ventures literally generate new wealth. Existing businesses may remain confined to the scope of existing markets and may hit the glass ceiling in terms of income. New and improved offerings, products or technologies from entrepreneurs enable new markets to be developed and new wealth created.

3. Entrepreneurs Also Create Social Change

Through their unique offerings of new goods and services, entrepreneurs break away from tradition and indirectly support freedom by reducing dependence on obsolete systems and technologies. Overall, this results in an improved quality of life, greater morale and economic freedom.

4. Community Development

Entrepreneurs regularly nurture entrepreneurial ventures by other like-minded individuals. They also invest in community projects and provide financial support to local charities. This enables further development beyond their own ventures.

5. The Role of States

Regulations play a crucial role in nurturing entrepreneurship, but regulation requires a fine balancing act on the part of the regulating authority. Unregulated entrepreneurship may lead to unwanted social outcomes including unfair market practices, pervasive corruption, financial crisis and even criminal activity.

6. The Bottom Line

The interesting interaction of entrepreneurship and economic development has vital inputs and inferences for policy makers, development institutes, business owners, change agents and charitable donors. If we understand the benefits and drawbacks, a balanced approach to nurturing entrepreneurship will definitely result in a positive impact on economy and society.

2. Differentiate Entrepreneur, Technopreneur, Intrapreneur, Innovator, Manager?

By definition, Entrepreneur is someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced.

An entrepreneur supplies risk capital as a risk taker, and monitors and controls the business activities. The entrepreneur is usually a sole proprietor, a partner, or the one who owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture.

Meanwhile, an intrapreneur is an inside entrepreneur, or an entrepreneur within a large firm, who uses entrepreneurial skills without incurring the risks associated with those activities. Intrapreneurs are usually employees within a company who are assigned to work on a special idea or project, and they are instructed to develop the project like an entrepreneur would. Intrapreneurs usually have the resources and capabilities of the firm at their disposal.

On the other hand, Technopreneur is a new age entrepreneur who makes use of technology to come out with something new to make some innovation. Once the person succeeds in it, s/he exploits his/her achievement in the market to make money. A technopreneur operates business differently from any other businessman.

Then, in the diffusion of innovation theory, innovator/s is the group which is the first to try new ideas, processes, goods and services. Although least numerous (typically 2 percent of the population) the members of this most venturesome group are urbane, have money (to take risks) and higher education, are attracted to change and new experiences, and use multiple information sources for making a purchase decision. Innovators are followed by early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards, in that order.

And lastly, manager is an individual who is in charge of a certain group of tasks, or a certain subset of a company. A manager often has a staff of people who report to him or her.

As an example, a restaurant will often have a front-of-house manager who helps the patrons, and supervises the hosts; or a specific office project can have a manager, known simply as the project manager. Certain departments within a company designate their managers to be line managers, while others are known as staff managers, depending upon the function of the department.

3. What are the things to be considered in starting/creating a business?

In a down economy, thoughts of self-employment spread like wild-fire. This may be especially true if you are not currently employed. Starting your own business and being your own boss can be incredibly satisfying and fulfilling, however, here are some important things to consider before jumping in (or quitting your day job).

1. The idea. For every good idea you have, there are hundreds of people out there who have the exact same idea…did someone else already beat you to the punch?

A prudent approach is to research your idea from top to bottom looking to see if your idea already exists. If it does, it’s certainly not the end of the world. Simply ask yourself if you can find a unique angle or a different, better approach to the idea.
Investigate the economics of the idea. Is there a good business case or model? Are other people that are pursuing the same concept making money?
Finally, you will want to know if the idea is legally protected. Is there a patent issued or pending?

2. The plan. Create a business plan. Many people skip right pass this step and end up backtracking. Creating your business plan at the beginning will help guide your vision and direction as you continue along you entrepreneurial journey. Think of your business plan as your blue print…you wouldn’t just start building a house without a plan would you?

3. The business entity. Deciding how to legally structure your business can become very tricky. They each have their pros and cons and it’s best to talk to your lawyer or CPA to decide which is right for you.

4. Who’s on your bus? Jim Collins said it very eloquently, “You are a bus driver. The bus, your company, is at a standstill, and it’s your job to get it going. You have to decide where you're going, how you're going to get there, and who's going with you.” Can you drive the business alone or do you need employees?

5. Customer appreciation. Who is your target market? Before you can even begin creating a marketing strategy, you will need to define your target market. Your target market is the specific group of people that your company has created products and services for.

6. Creating your website is one of the most important things you can do for your business. Whether you are creating a brick and mortar store or an online business, the website is your virtual storefront, your online salesperson and the first interaction a potential customer might have with your company. You want it to be an accurate representation of you and your products or services. Using Google Apps, you can also create email addresses for you and your team that end in your domain name.

7. Your Debut. What is your go-to-market strategy? How will you get the word out and create buzz? Start with the basics and build from there. Understanding the basics of marketing is essential in getting your name out and gaining clientele. If people don’t know your products exist, their benefit or where to get them, how will they ever buy?

8. Financing. How will you fund this business of yours? How will you get paid, and do you know how to maximize your tax benefits? Finances and accounting can be one of the most tedious and intimidating aspects of running your business, but it doesn't have to be. Knowledge is power so start reading up on how others have done it and research the tools that are available to help you!

9. Are you a know it all? The number one piece of advice we hear from successful entrepreneurs is that they wish they had known that they didn’t need to know everything before they got started. Starting a business is a fluid activity. Unexpected things are bound to come up, so do yourself the favor of checking things out before you jump in but be prepared to deviate as needed and go with the flow.

10.Where is the nearest emergency exit? An exit strategy is very important and will help drive all of your goals and aspirations. If your business becomes a huge success (of course it will!), do you plan to sell it to make a large profit? You need to operate your business from day one with the mindset that you could potentially sell it later. That means documenting everything, keeping good records, getting signed contracts whenever possible and keeping up good relationships with clients and vendors.

These 10 things to consider are to help you grasp what you’re about to dive into but the most important thing to remember is that you can do it - with all of the tools available to you, you can make the successful leap to entrepreneurship and owning your own business.

4. "The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow" (Rupert Murdoch) Do you agree with this quote?

Yes. I agree with this quote. It is indeed true that our society nowadays is changing in a fast pace, with the world slowly making a lot of progress on the technological side. And with this, the way of living is also changing. The survival of the fittest is now more intense and it doesn't matter anymore if you came from a rich or poor family or if you are well educated or not. What matters now is the determination and the will to succeed with whatever goals a person wants to achieve.

5. What do you think will be the next big thing on the technological business for the year 2020?

I think that in the year 2020, the world of technological business will expand to great lengths and will be more advance especially in the world of gadgets. Also, businesses that focuses on food industry and food manufacturing will be more advanced because the facilities that produces these products will be upgraded. Also, businesses, in general, will be more applicable in the online world through means of online business or selling products through online. To sum it all up, the world of business will greatly improve and will expand in the online world.

Technopreneurship Activity

Tuesday, January 17, 2017