Entrepreneurial Assessment

Urban Innovation21

Perseverance - is not giving up. It is persistence and tenacity, the effort required to do something and keep doing it till the end, even if it's hard.

Calculated Risks - A chance of exposure to loss or injury that might be undertaken after its advantages and disadvantages have been carefully weighted and considered.

Many business operators need to take a calculate risk to expand their business activities into a new competitive arena.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/calculated-risk.html#ixzz3ZVL2fT4x

What Motivates Entrepreneurs?By  Ryan May

What Motivates Entrepreneurs?

Some entrepreneurs continuously struggle to bring a single idea or product to market while others seem to be able to do it almost effortlessly, time and again. Household names like Steve Jobs, who achieved a legendary level of success with Apple, Pixar and NEXT, serve as examples of these global business auteurs.

But there are exponentially more men and women who successfully and continuously launch thriving businesses that may not achieve the same level of global recognition but remain highly profitable just the same.

How do they do it? Given the repeat success many enjoy, you can pretty much count luck out. And while a wide range of leadership abilities go into the mix, at the core is an innate drive toward success.

The greatest challenge for a serial entrepreneur is figuring out how to rekindle the initial hunger, passion and dedication that fueled their first venture.

To do so, many surround themselves with connections who’ve supported them in the past, often leaning heavily on trusted partners for crucial financial, professional and emotional support. To continuously draw from these people, the entrepreneur must inspire an organic dedication among his or her followers.

Often viewed as optimistic and idealistic, the entrepreneur possesses a level of commitment and a vision that are easily observed. They’re inventive, aggressive, confident, tireless, highly (and often severely) competitive, and possess an intense level of focus.

But what inspires such a fierce level of commitment?

Answer: Wealth

Money seems to be the common denominator among serial entrepreneurs. Taking a quick glance over a list of The World’s Billionaires compiled by Forbes, a large percentage are entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison and Amancio Ortega. These men account for the top 1 percent of the world’s wealth and have achieved their standing as self-made entrepreneurs.

Creating Opportunity

  by: Jim Rohn, Source Unknown

An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life.

To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it.

And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money.

Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future.

And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.

Important Leadership Skills

Commitment, resolve and perseverance – driving every aspect of the organization toward a singular unified purpose.

Risk-taking – breaking conventions and developing new products and services to establish marketplace dominance (and possibly even create a unique market).

Planning – though a leader typically doesn’t get too involved in the details, he or she must orchestrate a high-level plan that drives everyone toward the unified goal.

Motivating – an effective leader must be able to encourage contributions from the entire organization, navigating the specific motivators of each individual or group to push the right buttons and inspire employees at every level to achieve not only their personal best but the best for the organization as a whole.

Communication skills that rely on active listening – far more than just being able to speak and write persuasively, leadership communication skills incite others to work toward the stated goal in line with the path the leader has chosen.

Possessing or obtaining the skills required to successfully achieve business goals – bringing a unique knowledge set to the table or acquiring it personally or through employees and other subordinates.

What Makes These Individual Skills So Important?

First, a distinction needs to be made: the difference between a leader and a manager. A leader is someone who does the right thing, whereas a manager does things right. Or to put it another way, management is an occupation, leadership is a calling.

Please complete all Parts the Business Plan (Parts I, II and III, including financial spreadsheets)

The Business Plan is divided into three parts:

Part I: Executive Summary (where we ask you to briefly outline your business idea);

Part II: Detailed elaboration on the business idea at greater length; and

Part III: Financial information (5 required financial spreadsheets:  (1) Sales Forecast; (2) Income Statement; (3) Balance Sheet; (4) Cash Flow and (5) Break Even Analysis).

PART I: Executive Summary

What, briefly, is your business?

What problem is your business seeking to solve?  

How does your business solve this problem?

How will your business benefit your customers?

What is your mission statement (we realize this is subject to change)?

PART II: Sales, Marketing, and Operations

Write as much as you want in this section, however, please remember to be concise.

Sales and Marketing Describe your product or service. (avoid technical terms and

abbreviations unfamiliar to the general public).

Describe and quantify (size, growth rate) the addressable market segment that you intend to target. This must clearly identify your market niche.

Who are your major competitors? Describe and quantify their market penetration.

What are the unique aspects of your product or service that provide you with a sustainable competitive advantage?

Who is going to sell your product and how will they reach the end customer? Include key relationships, strategic alliances, marketing partners and channels to your addressable market.

Operations What positions will you need to fill and how will you hire?

How will you manage back-office operations e.g. payroll, purchasing, receivables, payables, IT, etc.?

Describe your top management team and their qualifications, background and experience.

 

Who are your key Advisory Board members and what are their qualifications, background and experience?

PART III: Finance What additional property, plant or equipment will you need

for the business and why?

How much capital will you need to launch or grow the business?

What are your sources of funding?

How much revenue will your business generate in its first 12 months? 24 months? Justify your sales forecast.