The Great Entrepreneur: 2015

Wednesday 25 November 2015

CONCLUSION

Entrepreneurs 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. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is a key driver of our economy. Wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small business started by entrepreneurially minded individuals many of whom go on to create big businesses.

Other than that, entrepreneurship creates job opportunities to other people. By creating job opportunities for people, an entrepreneur provides wealth to people and they tend to start a new business with innovation like providing the best quality product. This strengthens the economy of the country. In a nutshell, entrepreneurship is not only important for a single business, but it is also a key role in the growth of a country.

TASK 2 : 1 ENTREPRENEUR WITH 5 TRAITS

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR WITH 5 ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Biodata of Jack Ma

Name : Jack Ma / Ma Yun

Born : 10 September 1964

Age : 51 years

Occupation : The founder and chairman of Alibaba Group

Spouse : Zhang Ying

No of children : 3

Jack Ma is one of the world’s greatest living examples of entrepreneurship today. He is the man who has impacted the entire economy and internet industry of China. Jack Ma is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group and now he is officially the richest man in China with an estimated net worth of $25 billion. Jack Ma inspired a lot of people nowadays to succeed in life. The reason why we chose Jack Ma because he is a person who has strong leadership qualities such as open risk taker, failure is an option, observant, proactive and team oriented.

1. Failure is an option

Rejections and failures are synonymous with Jack Ma. We would not believe the number of times this man has been rejected and failed. In his early childhood, Jack Ma failed twice in his primary school examinations. When applying to universities after his high school, he failed the entrance exam thrice before finally joining Hangzhou Normal University. He even applied ten times to Harvard University and got rejected each time. This was only during his education.

In 1988, after graduating from university, Jack Ma entered the Hangzhou University of Electronic Science and Technology as an English teacher. In 1994 to 1988, Jack Ma has been trying to start a business twice but he failed. Jack Ma still not giving up on his effort and in 1999, he runs the business which is called Ali Baba. He started the business with a capital of 500,000 thousand yuan. Within 16 years, Jack Ma has successfully developed his business and now in 2015 he as a Chairman of Alibaba has become a famous entrepreneur in globalization and being an example of role model for all of the entrepreneur around the world. Jack Ma has proven that failure is an option for everyone to become a successful entrepreneur.

2. Open Risk Taker

Jack Ma is an entrepreneur who is willing to take the risk. Risk is a factor as a result of any organization. The greater the risk the greater the return. When he started Alibaba, he was immediately met with strong opposition from family and friends. Looking back, he realized that the biggest driving force for his then was not his confidence in the Internet and the potential it held, but more of this : “No matter what one does, regardless of failure or success, the experience is a form of success in itself.” We have got to keep trying, and if it doesn’t work, we always can revert back to what we were doing before. After successfully setting up Alibaba, Jack Ma also dare to take the risks wisely by engaging Alibaba into New York Stock Exchange with more than 20 billion in stocks for sale. There was 160 banks and thousands of broker involved in the deal. Alibaba is the largest online merchant in the world, with billion in goods and shares sold in 2013. Jack Ma has proven to be a successful entrepreneur who had the spirit to take the risk and finally succeed in business.

3. Proactive

Proactive is the creative sector to develop and empower human intellect, to plan an idea into a new concept which is expected to be useful and helpful. Jack Ma is a proactive entrepreneur . In the end of 1994, it was the first time Jack Ma heard about the internet and in the early of 1995, he was introduced to the internet by chance in America. Jack Ma sure that internet will change the world. Immediately, he had some idea to do a web page. He found that the internet business will grow in China and he decided to called his friends and explained what he are going to do. Unfortunately, there is only one supported his idea. Although Jack Ma has been through many obstacles and some of people say he will not be able to do but still he tried not to give up and work hard to achieve his dream.

4. Observant

Entrepreneurs who are observant can see the potential of the business to succeed. They can observe the change that is happening around. They also can detect the changes even just a little change and difficult to detect by others. Jack Ma is an observant entrepreneur. Jack Ma is observant entrepreneur because when he first time heard about the internet, he realized and believe that internet will change the world. Jack Ma took this opportunity to start the internet business and he believes that his idea will bring success to himself. Thus, he got the idea to create a website and his idea was opposed by friends and family but still he continued to believe in the power of his ideas.

Now, Jack Ma founded Taobao, Alipay, Ali Mama and so on. Jack Ma’s success proved again by the number of transactions in Ali baba.com to exceed one trillion yuan in November 2012. He was successful in his business, which is not supported by the public at an early stage. He was success with his observations that found the internet can change the world. He is now the successful Chairman of Alibaba Group and he was the first entrepreneur of China to appear on the cover of Forbes

5. Visionary

Visionary is defined as having a vision, and goals to reach. A visionary who will

plan the future with imagination or wisdom. A visionary entrepreneur will have a great vision to success in the business. They have a brilliant idea to achieve the vision. Visionary entrepreneur also dare to take risks to make plans about the future and it will not stop to be planning until it reached the vision.

Jack Ma said he would like to see Alibaba exceeding Walmart in sales in 10 years’ time. As the result, we can see that Jack Ma is a determined person and far-sighted that have persisted in believing in the future. Jack a wants Alibaba to be a platform for small businesses throughout the world. He wants to serve 2 billion consumers and help 10 million small businesses outside China sell their products through the internet. Other than that, Ma said he might want to see Alibaba surpassing Walmart in deals in 10 years' opportunity.

TASK 1 : PART IIII

8) Outcome Oriented

This means that the entrepreneurs are more interested in the final outcome rather that going through a process. In many ways it is a good thing. That is as long as the desired result is an honorable thing and that the process has integrity. You could say it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get there but not good if it has a negative effect on other areas. When they work towards gaining something, they are totally eyes focused on what they want to achieve or to keep their goals in sight, being result oriented is a great thing for them to improve the company business.

In other word, outcome oriented has the same meaning with goal oriented and result oriented. According to Wikipedia, goal oriented means "disposition toward developing or demonstrating ability in achievement situations". Previous research has examined goal orientation as a motivation variable useful for recruitment, climate and culture, performance appraisal, and selection. Studies have also used goal orientation to predict sales performance, goal setting, learning and adaptive behaviors in training, and leadership. Due to the many theoretical and practical applications of goal orientation, it is important to understand the construct and how it relates to other variables. In this entry, goal orientation will be reviewed in terms of its history, stability, dimensionality, antecedents, its relationship to goal setting and consequences, its relevance to motivation, and future directions for research. In other word, result oriented is a term used to describe an individual or organization that focuses on outcome rather than process used to produce a product or deliver a service. As such, a number of processes are used where the most effective and economical process is identified.

In this outcome oriented, we are going to share Elon Musk biography, the CEO and CTO of SpaceX CEO, chief product architect of Tesla Motors, chairman of Solar City, and co-founder of PayPal. Musk is an aggressive result oriented entrepreneur to reach his goals. Elon Musk is not a money oriented person, he always to want change the world. He is not an entrepreneur, more likely a world changer. Musk actively in design of electric cars and spaceships.

At the age of 12, Elon Musk has a clear goal and outcome for what he doing. For instance, he learned programming to program a computer game, Blastar and earned $500 . Musk is an outcome oriented person since he was young. In the summer of 1995, Elon Musk made the second and the most important decision in his life. He pursue his study at Stanford University applied physics and materials science since he is an art student. However, after 2 days, he left the school and start Zip2 with his brother .He worked from early morning until late evening. He lived in the same warehouse where he rent the office, and when he needed to take a shower he had to go to locker rooms of a local stadium.

He work hard every single day to success his internet startup because he found this is an era of internet revolution. Musk started to work on electronic payment systems that were gaining popularity, the X.com, his new startup. In March 2000, X.com merged with a Concinnity then renamed to PayPal and Elon Musk became the chairman and chief executive of PayPal.

Elon Musk want to achieve and keep his goals in sight changing the world. After received $180 million for his share from PayPal and had enough funds to pursue his interests. Elon Musk believes that the world has become dependent on oil. Internal combustion engines in favor of electric motors instead of oil. Hence Musk start Tesla.

However, Musk face a crisis, management failures led the actual selling price of the electric vehicle was almost twice as high as originally implicit price of $92,000. In addition, Martin Eberhard made a strategic miscalculation: and the release of the car had to be postponed for more than a year. Musk is not a process oriented people, Elon fired all the key players fail the project tesla include Martin, headed company himself. He cut the cost again by reducing staff, close some office and demand lower supplier price. As the result, Tesla Roadster saw the world in 2008 with a minor, less than $20,000.

Elon Musk brought innovative idea into the 21^st century and our life. Elon Musk life story shows that all his success he achieved thanks to outcome oriented. He has a clear vison, work towards gaining something, focused on what he want.

TASK 1 : PART III

7) Team Oriented

A man who prefer to work alone and stay alone is not going to become a successful entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur must be a team player, he must understand how important a great team to his own enterprise. Human uses social skills to communicate and cooperate in daily life, so as the entrepreneur, they use social skills to enhance their business, the more friends we have, the more option we have in our life.

According to smallbusiness.chron, team oriented which can mean as team player that means a businesses interested in fostering a team culture recognize and reward team players. Traits that distinguish team players are the desire to achieve consensus and involve others in decision-making, communicating openly and honestly, caring about fellow team members, being accountable for problems and trying to understand other points of view. These traits sometimes are listed in merit rating systems and become criteria for recognition, promotions or remedial training.

Team Player those who go into business for themselves but do not utilize teamwork wind up without the team but still have all the work to get done. They shoulder the whole burden for themselves, and wind up just trading their old job for a new and more demanding one – in an attempt to be self-employed. But the new venture carries greater personal and financial risks. On the other hand, team players know how to succeed by employing the physics of interpersonal synergy and dynamic relationships. One twig can be easily snapped, but a bundle of those small twigs becomes stronger than the sum of its individual parts and can be impossible to bend, much less break. The same goes for businesses, and successful entrepreneurs leverage teamwork to get the heavy lifting done without breaking stride.

Mark Zuckerberg is co-founder and CEO of the social-networking website Facebook, as well as one of the world's youngest billionaires. At his last Town Hall-style question-and-answer session, someone asked him to talk about “the exact moment” when he decided to build Facebook. He stated that one person’s efforts are never enough. The media often simplifies what it takes to build a startup, he says, making it seem like it there’s always one person with a genius idea who manages to build a great company. Instead, he argues, you need a bunch of people working on an adaptive concept together for a long period of time. You don’t need to be a prodigy to start your own cool company— you just need to be passionate and focused.

Zuckerberg knows that for any business to be successful, you need to have a great team. He says that “The most important thing for you as an entrepreneur trying to build something is, you need to build a really good team. And that’s what I spend all my time on… I spend probably 25 percent of my time recruiting, finding good people, both outside the company and inside the company, to put them in more impactful roles.” Zuckerberg’s company, Facebook treats its employees well -- free food, free dry cleaning, as well as a lot of other enticing benefits. But make no mistake -- the key attraction is the company's culture and the vision of its leader. “The right people are not those who have the right competency; they are those who have the right attitude. Some of the most successful businesses have a nontraditional, strengths-based approach to hiring -- hire the best talent first, then worry about finding the right role for them”, said by Zuckerberg

TASK 1 : PART II

4) Risk Taker

[1]Risk taker is an individual or business that tends to behave in a way that can potentially cause physical harm or financial loss, but might also present an opportunity for a rewarding outcome. Most business types that thrive on innovation will encourage a risk taker mentality among management to help support the creative process in other staff members . In the same meaning, someone who risked openly is sovereign, when he is willing to lose money or things that impact upon.

In my opinion, an entrepreneur need to be an open risk taker to become a successful in every business that they are involved. If an entrepreneur is not willing to take risk openly, he will not last long in the business because it is not easy to build a strong business. They have to start from the bottom. A business is definitely an impending bankruptcy, financial problems, etc.

[1] http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/risk-taker.html#ixzz3nas2

It is often said that good things come to those who take big risks. There are many of entrepreneur that are an open risk taker, and one of them are Jack Ma. His real name was change when he became pen pals with one of these foreigners when he give her tour guide for free in order to practice and improve his English . She was give him the name, Jack because his real name in Chinese was difficult for her to pronounce it .

Jack Ma is willing to take the risk of entering into the university although he had failed the university entrance exam for three times. Even so, he never served as a deterrent to his success, he then attended Hangzhou Teacher's Institute that was currently known as Hangzhou Normal University. In 1988, he become success and graduated with Bachelor’s Degree in English. Then he was offered became a English lecturer and International Trade at the Hangzhou Dianzi Univeristy . After that , he further his study in Graduate School of Business at Beijing that was founded by Hong Kong billionaire, Li Ka-Shing in 2002 and graduate in 2006 .

In 1995 , his career began when the first time he was introduced to the internet by his friend when he went to Seattle as an interpreter for a trade delegation . He tried to search the word “beer” and founded information about the word in many countries but none from China .He also searched an information about China, but it still the same resulted . He then came out an idea to create the website about China then after five hour , he received emails from some Chinese that want to know about him . Then he know that the internet is a great thing to be offered . He began his internet company by collecting twenty dollars with the help of his wife and a friend . The purpose they built their company is to create website for companies . He then give “China Yellow Pages” as their company name

In 1999, Jack Ma resigned from the company’s information technology that was established by China International Electronic Commerce Center, a department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation after a year he worked there . Again , Jack Ma take risk by gather with his 17 team and set up Alibaba as their company’s name with an initial capital of 50,000 Yuan . Later, Alibaba became one of the most valuable tech companies in the world after raising $25 billion, the largest initial public offering in US financial history . He dared to challenge the status quo, supported by many years of conventional wisdom about business and competition in the digital age . Alibaba effectively dominates the Chinese e-market , by controlling the retail platform , Tmall, the online setting , tabao and disallowing indexing the tabao . Status quo is the situation remains as it is now or previous situation . But , Jack Ma defied the expert’s advice . There was many critics question toward him whether his strategy with open-door philosophy of the world’s largest e-retailers can succeed over the long haul . Indeed , he rather to take risk by sticking to its strategy and the end , he has managed to make its business as a large market share .

5) Networked

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com), the word ‘network’ means a closely connected group of people, companies, etc. that exchange information, etc. Small Business Encyclopedia provided the definition of networking as developing and using contacts made in business for purposes beyond the reason for the initial contact. For example, a sales representative may ask a customer for names of others who may be interested in his product. So, the word ‘networked’ here means a trait which an entrepreneur needs to have in order to become a successful entrepreneur (www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/networking).

The ability to network is one of the most crucial skills any entrepreneur can have. How else will you meet the clients and contacts necessary to grow your business? But many people are put off by the idea of networking, thinking it requires a phony, glad-handing personality that oozes insincerity. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Think a moment. What does a good networker do? How does he or she act? What is his or her basic attitude? You'll probably be surprised at how much you instinctively know about the subject. You may decide, for example, that a good networker should be outgoing, sincere, friendly, and supportive, a good listener or someone who follows up and stays in touch. To determine other skills an effective networker needs, simply ask yourself "How do I like to be treated? What kinds of people do I trust and consider good friends?"

If you own a small business, networking can be an inexpensive way to promote your business. Through networking, you can discover new opportunities, build your customer base and find new suppliers and staff. You may also find investors and business partners. Networking is particularly important if you're running a home business because it can connect you with peers and help you overcome potential issues associated with being isolated. Learn more about networking ideas for home-based businesses.

Networking options are broad and continually changing. You may need to research networking trends to work out which ones best suit your business.

Once you begin networking, it's likely you'll start to receive invitations to more events from people you meet. Before you know it, your networking group will be growing (www.inc.com/john-boitnott/the-most-successful-entrepreneurs-have-these-5-traits-in-common.html)

One of the most successful entrepreneurs which have networked trait is Richard Branson. He is a good example of an entrepreneur who begins his business in music industry. By 1969, Branson was living in a London commune, surrounded by the British music and drug scene. It was during this time that Branson had the idea to begin a mail-order record company called Virgin to help fund his magazine efforts. The company performed modestly, but made Branson enough that he was able to expand his business venture, adding a record shop in Oxford Street, London. With the success of the record shop, the high school drop-out was able to build a recording studio in 1972 in Oxfordshire, England..

His first artist on the Virgin Records label, Mike Oldfield, recorded his single "Tubular Bells" in 1973 with the help of Branson's team. The song was an instant smash, staying on the UK charts for 247 weeks. Using the momentum of Oldfield's success, Branson then signed other aspiring musical groups to label, including the Sex Pistols. Artists such as the Culture Club, the Rolling Stones, and Genesis would follow, helping to make Virgin Music one of the top six record companies in the world. So, it is clear that the networking between Branson and the artists enable him to widen and expose his recording company as one of the most successful business in the world (www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520#early-life).

6) OBSERVANT

Observant is an adjective word which can be defined as good at noticing things around you. In other word, observant can be said as sharp-eyed (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com). You have to stay sharp, and that requires that you are constantly learning. Industries constantly change and evolve and only those that are also growing through constant learning will stay ahead. You will always have competitors breathing down your neck trying to surpass you. There will always be someone claiming to be the next greatest thing. If entrepreneurs had the ability to see what was hiding around each turn it would make it much easier but unfortunately that is not the case. There can be surprises around every corner, even with a well thought out plan and strategy. Having observant traits as an entrepreneur will gives you the ability to respond quickly in any situation. This allows you to make decisions that will navigate you out of trouble and allow you to thrive in environments that would sink those that aren’t adaptable.

We can take Tony Fernandes as an example of entrepreneur who possessed this characteristic. Although he did not have any knowledge or experience in the aviation industry, he got his interest to get involved in this field. He managed to become an entrepreneur that admired by many people in this country. The success of his now are the result of the inspirations he got from his observation from the advertisement of budget airline Easyjet while he was in London. From there, he had the idea to set up an airline business. Other than that, it can be seen clearly that Tony Fernandes is an observant entrepreneur when he can anticipate situations that may arise. He bought Air Asia in December 2011 from the owner of the DRB-Hicom and taking RM 40 million of the airline debt. He set the vision of Air Asia is to become the largest low cost airline in Asia.

Friday 20 November 2015

TASK 1 : PART I ( INTRODUCTION)

1.0

  Entrepreneurial Traits

1) Visionary

Any success in life must begin with a vision. A vision is the ability to see what others cannot see. It is being able to have a picture in the mind of exactly the result that is intended to produce. The visionary entrepreneur is able to see exactly what his or her business is going to look like in every detail when it is finished.

What does it mean by finished? A business is an investment. We are building an asset. And any asset whether it is, a stock, real estate, or a business must have an exit strategy before we start. Once our business is working exactly how we envisioned it, in every detail, we are either going to sell it, or we are going to keep it, which means we are buying it yourself. And if we buy our own business, we do better make sure that it is worth the price that we pay for it.

Let's look at the difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur. A business owner starts a business to be his or her own boss or to create a secure job for him or herself. They usually start a business in his or her own field of knowledge. Rarely does a business owner have a vision of what they want for their life, let alone for their business. So, they end up working in their business day in and day out, and they end up being nothing but an overworked and underpaid employee.

An entrepreneur on the other hand, builds a business because it is exciting and challenging. It requires every part of them to make it successful. They have a picture, a clear vision of how that business is going to work in every detail and the result it is going to produce. They never work in their business; rather they work on their business. An entrepreneur rarely starts a business in his or her own field of knowledge. They put the right system in place to make their vision become a reality. An entrepreneur looks at systems. They don't get tied up in the day to day activities of their business. This frees them up to start new businesses, and either sells existing their businesses, or takes them public.

This is why an entrepreneur like Donald Trump can run as many as 50 businesses at one time. This is because he is a true visionary. Donald John Trump who is born in June 14 1946 is an American real estate developer, television personality, business author and political candidate. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization, and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's career, branding efforts, lifestyle and outspoken manner helped make him a celebrity, a status amplified by the success of his NBC reality show, The Apprentice.

As an example, three people have come to Donald Trump's defense following his stormy week - namely his children Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric. The trio gave the presidential hopeful a ringing endorsement as a 'true visionary' and an 'incredible dad'. In a statement they told People: 'Our father, Donald J. Trump is a true visionary and a great mentor. He is a brilliant negotiator with a proven track record of getting things done. 'Most importantly, he is an incredible dad and role model. He raised us to work hard and strive for excellence in all that we do.

2) Failure is an Option

No matter how many times we chant “Failure is not an option,” our rational mind is going to whisper, “Want to bet?” Because stuff happens, and any entrepreneur who thinks she or he controls all the contingencies is delusional. It’s our mind set about the stuff that happens that makes all the difference. Going into a venture trying convince our self that failure is not an acceptable option can not only hamper our creativity in planning for contingencies, it also makes it much harder to bounce back from failure if it happens. Change that mantra to “I will not allow myself to be a failure.” Now we are setting our intention on an outcome we can control, because we are the only judge that matters here. Projects fail, businesses fail, people fail to do the things they promised or wanted to do. But no one is a failure until they choose what they want to be.

Dato’ Aliff Syukri is an entrepreneur that believed failure is an option to make his business success. He is well known by his tagline ‘Terlajak Laris’. It was his marketing strategy to promote his product. Failure makes him have more experience and that experience made his to lead the company today. He started his business since he was seven years old and his spirit is present to do a business when he see his schoolmate has 50 cents of pocket money while he was only has 20 cents of pocket money. In getting capital for his business, he has been going to the bank to make some loan but he was rejected by the bank. He is still not going to give up and he tried to get a loan from his friends. He finally collected RM 100,000 from the initial loan and the money accumulated as a result of his business at the market for 2 years. It is enough to help Dato’ Syukri build his own brand named D’herbs.

3) Open Culture

''Open Culture'' is a concept according to which knowledge should be spread freely and its growth should come from developing, altering or enriching already existing works on the basis of sharing and collaboration, without being restricted by rules linked to the legal protection of intellectual property. In a context of globalization, the consequence is that all citizens should have equal access to information.

Open culture can be seen from entrepreneur Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar, he did a lot of charity work and welfare particularly in the state of Perak and Kedah. He always think about the interest of public before making any decisions in business. He also reaching out to the community by contributing to social responsibility. For example, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar sponsored tuition classes for Malay students and gave a contribution of RM 1mil for Tsunami Fund. Other than that, every year he give sponsors to the Muslims in Malaysia who are unable to perform the haj.

Next, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar also donate a million of his money to charity project every year under Yayasan Al-Bukhary to suppport the efforts of Islamic Art and Culture. He opens Al- Bukhary tuition to the poor students around the country. He also the one has many contributions in the global development.

REFERENCES

http://www.advancingwomen.com/entrepreneurialism/35341.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3170736/Under-fire-Donald-Trump-gets-ringing-endorsement-true-visionary-great-mentor-children.html

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242602

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232452

http://www.incomediary.com/business-startup-lessons-elon-musk

http://www.ciac.ca/en/open-culture-definition-en

Notter, J., & Grant, M. (2011). Open Culture: Decentralization. In Humanize: How people-centric organizations succeed in a social world. Indianapolis, Ind.: Que ;.

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=WP2HSFiwmnQC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=what+is+meant+by+open+culture+businessman&source=bl&ots=2axajXVFVy&sig=gUVxjp8odKXzhHPpmWhv7r40-Xs&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://bobmaconbusiness.com/?p=6436