Sample: Enterprise

ENTERPRISE

Entrepreneur

• Person who spots an opportunity and takes the initiative to set up a business and make money
• Financial risk – if the business fails, they will lose all their money
• Personal risk – if the business fails, they will lose their self-esteem and self- confidence
  • e.g Bob Geldof set up his own TV production company, Planet 24, when he was angry with the quality of programmes on TV

Characteristics of entrepreneur

1. Pro-active

• Do not sit around waiting for things to happen
• When they think of an idea they take action immediately
  • e.g when Mary Ann O’Brien set up Lily O’Brien’s chocolate she persuaded Superquinn to stock them

2. Independent

• Like to be in charge and working for themselves
• Prefer to be giving orders rather than taking them
  • e.g when Richard Branson was 16 he left school and set up his first successful business

3. Confidence

• Believe in themselves and their ideas
• Don’t allow themselves to be put off by what others think
• Believe their business will succeed eventually
  • e.g a number of Denis O’Brien’s businesses failed (home shopping channel on sky) but he persevered and he is now a billionaire

4. Self-motivated

• Push themselves to achieve their goals
• The drive to succeed comes from within
  • e.g Bill Gates never took a day off when he was setting up Microsoft

5. Need for achievement

• Burning desire to be successful
• Ambitious and want to get on in life
  • e.g Denis O’Brien is one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs with extensive investments

6. Risk taker

• Not afraid of taking chances even though they may fail
• They take sensible risks that have good chances of success
  • e.g Denis O’Brien was not afraid to take a chance and set up phone companies in the Caribbean and Central America

7. Ruthless

• Put their business ahead of everything else
• The business takes priority in all situations
  • e.g Simon Cowell, the music entrepreneur sacked Cheryl Cole from American X Factor when the audience reacted negatively

8. Creative

• Inventive and good at coming up with new ideas
• Need to think outside the box to be successful and to develop creative products

9. Decisive

• Make good decisions firmly and quickly
  • e.g when no manufacturers would buy James Dyson’s idea, he decided to set up his own factory

Skills of entrepreneur

1. Human Relations

• Must be good with people and know how to get along with them
• Be able to persuade people to do what the business needs

2. Time Management

• Getting the essential tasks done in available time in order to achieve the business’s goals
• May need to prioritise the most important tasks if time is limited

3. Risk Management

• Planned approach to minimising the risks a business is exposed to
  • Identify the risks facing business
  • Cost of these risks if they happen
  • Cost to protect business
  • Take appropriate measures
• Insurance – annual premium which will result in compensation
• Proper training – health and safety courses to reduce chance of accidents
• Security measures – minimise risk of theft (CCTV, security guards)

4. Decision Making

• List all the possible solutions to a problem or opportunity and chose best one for business
  • Analyse opportunity or problem
  • List possible solutions
  • Advantages and disadvantages of each solution
  • Best solution with best advantages

5. Reality Perception

• See situations as they are rather than how they might want to see them
• Realise when things are going wrong and don’t think otherwise

6. Planning

• Setting goals for their business to achieve
• Come up with methods (strategies) to ensure their goals are achieved

An intrapreneur is an employee within a business who shows enterprise by using their initiative to think of a new idea to reduce costs of increase profits

• e.g when some Microsoft workers saw the success of PlayStation, the thought of Microsoft developing a game. This lead to the creation of Xbox.

Promote intrepreneurship by:

• Culture of enterprise – facilities available to staff (research area, capital….)
• Reward staff
• Teamwork – encourage each other to think of new ideas

Importance of Enterprise in Business

• Provides the idea and the drive to set up the business
• Help businesses increase sales or reduce costs
• Creation of wealth (profit + wages)
• Government taxes used for business grants

Importance of Enterprise in Community

• Creates jobs and businesses for local people
• Local people spend money in local shops so the businesses succeed
• Motivates and encourages more entrepreneurs
• Government receives taxes and pays out less social welfare