SMME NEWS - FEB 2018 ISSUE

February 2018
SMME, what you should know
SMME
NEWS
5
So, you want to be an
entrepreneur? Why?
It is because you have to?
It is because you want to?
Whatever your reason, we’re going to
go on a journey to teach you how to
become the best entrepreneur you can
be.
SMME News will help you understand
the recipe for business success, and
support you in your effort to take your
business idea and develop it into a great
business.
But before we start looking at the
specifics, we need to look at exactly
what we mean when we use the word
‘entrepreneur’, the positives and
negatives of being an entrepreneur, and
get you to ask yourself questions about
how you fit into the mould of being an
entrepreneur.
How does your definition compare to
this one?
An entrepreneur is someone who
owns and runs a small business, who
is responsible for the risks and reaps
the rewards, and is committed to
the growth and development of the
business. An entrepreneur is a person
who has created his/her own job rather
than taking one from someone else.
Did you come up any of these?
unemployed
opportunity
Now, have a look at these
characteristics:
Entrepreneurs are:
they don’t take foolish
risks, but rather look at business
opportunities and make a decision after
looking at things very carefully. This is
what we call a calculated risk.
being confident means
that you believe in yourself no matter
what, especially in the bad time!
they take responsibility
for their own lives, and often for other
people’s lives, such as people that they
employ.
they have more energy
than the average person. And they need
it, especially when starting a business
because it means long hours and lots of
hard work.
they know where they’re
going and how they’re going to get
there.
they want to win and
succeed.
they work where towards
their goals and don’t get distracted by
other things.
they get straight to the point
and do the business that needs to be
done.
they have
many skills and those they don’t have
they find someone who can help them.
They always want to learn something
new, and are always looking at ways to
make their business better.
they don’t give up easily!!
Advantages:
to do
Disadvantages:
You should always remember the
drawbacks or negatives. Are you
prepared for the things that aren’t all
that positive?
Like these:
committed
of your business
Why do some businesses succeed and
others fail?
It is important that we look at why
businesses fail because then you’ll know
what to avoid in starting and running
your own business, and thereby increase
your chance of success.
(1) Lack of management skills
Some entrepreneurs don’t have the
leadership ability to run a business.
Also, they don’t have the necessary
knowledge to manage a business.
(2) Lack of knowledge and/or
experience
Entrepreneurs need to have experience
in the type of business they want to
run. For example, if you want to start
a retail clothing business, you should
first work in a retail clothing store
to gain some experience of how the
business operates. If you don’t have the
experience, you most certainly need
knowledge of the type of business you’re
interested in. for example, if you want
to start a building business, you are
destined to fail if you don’t have a basic
qualification in the skills that you need,
such as brick laying, plastering etc.
(3) Shortage of capital
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake
of starting with too little money, or they
struggle to get money to operate their
business. Very often they underestimate
the costs involved when starting a
business.
(4) Customer credit
For many small businesses there is
pressure to sell on credit rather than
COD (cash in delivery). However,
you cannot sell everything on credit,
otherwise you won’t have cash for the
day to day running of the business.
(5) Poor planning
Many entrepreneurs do not realize the
importance of planning. A business
needs to be planned. Most businesses
that fail have not had a well thought out
plan.
(6) Over – investing in assets
Entrepreneurs need money to run the
business, but they also need assets.
Often they buy too many assets and
then do not have enough money to run
their business.
(7) Stock shortage
when a business does not have
enough stock to sell, customers can
become angry and stop supporting the
business. Another problem is that many
businesses have too much of the wrong
stock.
(8) Lack of support
Entrepreneurs need to have a lot of
support when starting a business. If an
entrepreneur does not have support
from customers, friends and family then
the business can fail.
(9) Unethical behavior
Entrepreneurs must practice ethical
behavior. This means that they must
be honest in the way they run their
businesses. Entrepreneurs who cheat
or are dishonest may score for a short
period but, over time, they usually lose.
(10) Poor financial management
A lot of entrepreneurs spend the money
the money the business makes, and
forget to put some of this money back
into the business to make it bigger and
better. Don’t spend all your profits!!
(11) Unrealistic expectations
Unrealistic business owners are business
owners who fail. Those who are
successful have realistic goals and set
their sights on what they can achieve.
Success doesn’t happen overnight, but
requires hard work and effort.
(12) Weak communication skills
A person might have the best skills and
most amazing product but if he/she
doesn’t have the communication skills
to sell it to the world, the business is
doomed.
(13) Complacency
Business is a competition, and you
must always be working to be better
than your competitors. If you become
complacent (too relaxed), your
competitors will overtake you.
Is failure bad?
Absolutely not!!
Most of the top entrepreneurs in the
world have failed at some time in their
careers. The difference is that they didn’t
look for excuses, nor did they give up.
Instead, they learnt from their errors
and tried even harder, making sure not
to make the same mistakes again.
Here are the biggest myths about
failure:
everybody to success
the journey to success
you see as success and what as failure
be afraid of failure. When you’re not
scared, that’s when you’ll succeeds
look at failure in perspective
The entrepreneurial profile
Now that you have a better idea of what
an entrepreneur is, we need to ask the
big question – Are you an entrepreneur?
The only way you can answer this
question is if you know who you are.
We will guide you in finding out more
about yourself by asking you questions,
and making you think about some
important aspects of what makes you
who you are.
The purpose of this section of the unit
is not to judge you, but rather to help
you know yourself better, you don’t have
to share any of your answers, so be as
honest as possible
To start, answer these rather difficult
questions in your mind:
expected of you in starting up a
business?
business success depends on your own
efforts?
are involved in running you’re on
business?
your own business?
kind of personality?
So, who is the real you?
Skills
This is the ability to do something well
Experience
This is what happens when we gain new
knowledge or skills by watching others
or by being involved in activities.
Interests
This is a subject that you like to read
about, speak about, hear about or
finding interesting. It is unlikely that
you will be interested in something that
you cannot do well. That means, that in
order to run a successful business, you
should be interested in what you are
doing.
Aptitude
This refers to your natural talents and
ability. Everyone has a range of skills
and aptitudes – they are things that
you naturally do well. Knowing your
aptitudes will help you make the right
decision when choosing what business,
you want to go into.
Values
These are personal beliefs that tell you
what is right and what is wrong. Values
are important when it comes to making
decisions and choices in life.
Personality
This is the part of your character that
others see. It is the total picture that
others have of you
by the way you behave at work, on the
sport field or in a social setting.
When looking at the personalities of
successful entrepreneurs, most of them
have the
following main personality traits:
skills, through training and education
From this list, think about the traits you
already have and those you will need to
develop or improve upon. Risk yourself
from 1-10 on each element, with 1 being
very weak or missing completely from
your personality, and 10 being strong
and always present in your behavior.
Indicate your rank by writing the
number in the blank space provided.
Human relations: Interest in others
and the ability to get along with
them is essential for business success.
Entrepreneurs must take interest
in customers and get along with
employees.
Rank
yourself………………………………
Initiative: This is the driving force
behind small businesses. Entrepreneurs
should be able to come up with new
ideas or methods and be ready to put
them into action. Entrepreneurs are
always on the lookout for new and
better ways to do things. Entrepreneur
are creative problem solvers.
Rank yourself……………………………
High energy: Long hours and extra
effort are needed to start any business.
Entrepreneurs need plenty of energy
to sustain both the interest and effort
needed to be successful. Entrepreneurs
become restless when delayed and
prefer quick actions and results.
Rank yourself…………………………
Self-confidence: Entrepreneurs believe
in themselves and have confidence
in their own abilities to succeed. As a
result, they aren’t afraid to take risks.
Rank yourself…………………………
Desire for profit: Entrepreneurs work
hard, take risks and would rather own
their own a business and work to make
a profit than a monthly salary.
Rank yourself………………………….
Determination: Entrepreneurs do not
give up when faced with a problem.
Rank yourself………………………….
Risk Taking: Entrepreneurs do not take
foolish risk. They look at a business
opportunity intelligently and weigh
up the risk involved before making a
decision.
Rank yourself………………………….
Self-Discipline: Entrepreneurs have the
drive to work 6 days a week for 10, 12 or
14 hours a day. If success means having
to get up at 6 a.m. every morning,
they’re up and moving at that hour.
Entrepreneurs make the most of the
waking moment.
Rank yourself…………………………
Master of Skills, Training and
Education: Successful entrepreneurs are
well trained. They see mistakes as a part
of the learning process.
Rank yourself…………………………
Using resources well: Entrepreneurs
know how to put the right people
and things together to do a task. By
effectively combining people and jobs,
they are able to achieve their business
ideas and objectives.
Rank yourself…………………………
Creative and innovative: Wealth is
not just about the physical things you
have, but also includes human creativity.
Entrepreneurs always look at new
ideas in search of opportunities. To the
entrepreneur there is always a better
way.
Rank yourself…………………………
Independence: Entrepreneurs want to
make their own decisions about how to
run their own business. Entrepreneurs
also hold themselves accountable for
their own decisions and actions – they
do not blame others when things do not
work out as they had planned.
Rank yourself………………………….
Not all entrepreneurs are born
with these characteristics. They are
developed through life experiences and
training and simply doing….
What’s surrounding you is nothing
compared to what’s in you.
Know yourself, then you will know
when it’s time for you to change.
Take a journey to the inner you. After
all, your greatest or worst enemy is
yourself.
The importance of knowing yourself
before attempting to know anything else
is obvious.
At this stage you are aware of your
strengths and weaknesses. You
know what it takes to be a successful
entrepreneur. Develop and improve
your weak traits, excel your strengths.
Conclusion
You have just been through a journey of
self-discovery.
On this journey you have identified
your strengths and weaknesses, and
looked at whether you are prepared for
the journey
of starting your own business. You
should now have a good idea of what
the ideal entrepreneur
is like, and how you fit into this mould.
Just remember that you are not
necessarily going to be
the perfect entrepreneur. You’re going
to make mistakes, but that’s all part
of learning and becoming a better
entrepreneur.
You now know which areas you need to
work on, and you’ve
got a plan on how you’re going to deal
with these areas. So, stick at it, and
success will follow!