Entrepreneurial Process, Essay Example

Abstract

The entrepreneurial process is a strictly defined series of phases for a reason; the very nature of entrepreneurship involves risk, and risk is lessened through careful planning and a clear view as to what to expect. The steps of the process will be set out, defined, and ranked by import, both in individual and more corporate modes of entrepreneurship. Lastly, a look will be taken at how the health care field continues to be affected by entrepreneurs within it.

The Four Steps of the Entrepreneurial Process

The first step in the process is that of identifying opportunity. No matter the field pursued or ambitions of the entrepreneur, the service must essentially fill a need not yet accommodated or only partially or inadequately met. For this to be effectively done, there must be a true entrepreneur to begin with, someone who, alone or in collaboration with others, sees a gap in goods or services of which most other people are unaware. Equally exercised in the field of entrepreneurship is not the actual creation of a service or product, but a sense of how improving it will create a new market. This step is in essence the classic “light bulb” going off. The entrepreneur sees a vacuum in commerce and is inspired to fill it.

Then comes the initiative. This step may be likened to the engine in a vehicle, for it is the machine by which the idea can be manifested. There can be no entrepreneur without initiative; such people are then merely dreamers. “Many people love the idea of having a great cup of coffee in a nice coffee shop, but Howard Schultz actually did something about it when he started Starbucks” (Dyck, Neubert, 2008, p.176).

The third phase in the process is that of formulating a plan. The business or service the entrepreneur has in mind to create may be of obvious value or less promising in terms of immediate popularity, but either case demands research and direction. In terms of beginning the actual entrepreneurship, this step is where ideas become fully concrete, and an excellent strategy in hand is a vital tool for the entrepreneur looking to garner support, financially and otherwise.

The last step calls for a mobilizing the resources available and securing those additionally required. This step typically centers around the money; no matter the business starting out, whether its marketing homemade cookies globally or a nursing rehabilitation center located in the home, expenses will arise at once and a budget must be devised which takes into account an uncertain future. This step, however, involves more than just money. It should incorporate every element of support the entrepreneur can conceive of needing, to forestall problems which may slow down the success of the new service.

Breaking Down the Entrepreneurial Steps

Ranking

While it is evident that each of the four steps in forging an entrepreneurship are crucial, there are gradations of import to be noticed. As this assessment follows, it must be noted that a lower ranking in no way implies that the step may be dismissed; it’s more that the essence of entrepreneurship is a unique quality, and more dependent on certain approaches than other forms of commerce.

The second step of initiative is actually the cornerstone to the entrepreneur. As stated, millions of people have truly excellent ideas all the time which, if acted upon, could prove immensely rewarding to them and to the public as yet unaware of the need to be met. Initiative shapes idea into reality, far more so than even more concrete actions like developing a plan may. Initiative translates into determination and a conscious effort of will. It means that the good idea will now have energy and purpose behind it, to give it dimension and render it an actual business.

Coming next in order of import, then, is that idea. This gets less regard only because, as essential as it is to the entrepreneur, perceiving of an opportunity is a very ordinary affair. An ease in identifying a need to be met or a product to be devised is within most of us; we do it all the time, and it may be further argued that the idea as such is less important than the initiative simply because solid initiative can make a successful entrepreneurship out of a mediocre inspiration. Turning again to the Starbucks corporation, a singular fact emerges: there was no real shortage of coffee houses to begin with, and the identified need was not particularly inspired. It was the drive to establish a specific and universal brand which forged the empire.

True to the original order, developing a plan remains third in the process as a step and in import. This is best viewed when it is set aside the step of mobilizing resources, which takes fourth place, for the latter is utterly dependent upon the former. To begin with, no realistic plan can be devised without at least a general awareness of what resources are and may be available; the plan in a sense incorporates this last step within it, as resources will largely dictate the opportunities for marketing, business expenses, salaries, rents, and all other financially-based variables.

For example, a woman may choose to start a business braiding hair from her home. Her initial plan, then, is one of encouraging word-of-mouth trade alone. Consequently, she requires virtually no resources to mobilize. Both steps in this woman’s case, however, will alter as her business grows, and she can match new plans on marketing she develops with the resources now coming in to fund them. “The small-scale business is in tune with the local environment and culture, and…makes best use of the local resources” (Kumar, 2008, p.151).

The same principles of mutual dependence between these steps is as well manifested in larger entrepreneurships. The nature of any service or business is inherently changing all the time, and the new one may have to adapt to smaller income than anticipated as its neighbor may need to adjust his development plan because his resources are unexpectedly large. While a sensible account of available resources is needed for the entrepreneur starting out, it will soon become a shifting element as soon as the business opens its doors. Consequently, the mobilizing of resources carries the least actual import in the four-step process.

Individual Impacts

While it is understood that each entrepreneurial enterprise must attach different degrees of import to each step of the process, it seems evident that, with individual entrepreneurs, the step of initiative remains paramount. The reason for this is basic: the lone entrepreneur is without a support system for the specific enterprise.

The circumstance of the solo entrepreneur is such that often initiative and determination alone will make a reality out of the original concept, and against daunting odds. The stereotype of the “dreamer” is not without basis here, for such individuals are in a sense risking a great deal and, as a commitment to the idea typically requires an all-out effort, usually with no back-up plan. For this person, initiative must bear the weight of a frequently unsteady burden.

Beyond this, the other steps align as before. The spark of the idea must be in place first and, with that stressed import attached to the determination factor, the lone entrepreneur should then give nearly equal attention to the steps of creating a plan and gathering resources.

Corporate Impacts

The process steps shuffle here somewhat, as a corporate entrepreneurship both adds elements of ease and presents different challenges.

Most important in this scenario is the traditionally acknowledged first step of identifying the object. For an entrepreneurial venture to have corporate scope, the need to be met in relevant field must be isolated in ways other than randomly; more will be at stake because more people and a greater investment will be called for. There must be a sound, practical basis beneath the perceived gap in the market.

Then, as the enterprise is collaborative in nature, originality of insight, as in identifying an issue, is not always the most important factor in eventual entrepreneurial success: “…Being a first mover is not necessarily the best strategy in rapidly changing technical environments in which the dominant design for production is unclear” (Nordqvist, 2010, p.207).

The idea established, the step of plan development is clearly indicated as next in import, as a team dynamic most particularly relies on an agreed-upon strategy. After this the step of initiative comes into focus, chiefly because even the most solidly founded idea can become diffused in a group situation, and the original determination of the entrepreneurship be weakened. Last would come the mobilizing of resources, as here the united effort would render this step least difficult.

Entrepreneurship in Health Care

“…The cognitive ability to recognize a health care opportunity is deeply rooted in an individual’s experience and understanding of the complex organizational, regulatory, and social networks within which health care organizations reside” (Blair, 2007, p.172). In this remark lies the impetus for a massive role entrepreneurship is playing in health care, specifically that of nursing professionals who are taking it upon themselves to leave hospital environments and provide services to patients through smaller, private venues.

Vast numbers of hospital patients return after discharge for reasons by no means requiring a hospital stay. Often rehabilitative therapies or even simple, maintained monitoring of the post-hospital condition are called for, and nursing entrepreneurs, singly or in concert with colleagues, are creating these new facilities.

Similarly, the enormous complexity of the corporate structure of the average hospital is serving to impede the physician’s care, certainly in the minds of many doctors. They are increasingly distancing themselves from these structures and, in an entrepreneurial manner, establishing practices specifically located and designed for both the needs of patients not sufficiently addressed there, and to better allow them to provide the skills they most wish to employ. In the health care industry, the entrepreneurial element is as crucial for the entrepreneur’s well-being and goals as it is for the community being served.

References

Blair, J. D. (2007.)  Strategic Thinking and Entrepreneurial Action in the Health Care Industry. San Diego, CA: Emerald Group Publishing.

Dyck, B., and Neubert, M. (2008.) Management: Current Practices and New Directions. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Kumar, S.A.  (2008.) Small Business and Entrepreneurship. New Delhi, India: I.K. International Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

Nordqvist, M. (2010.) Transgenerational Entrepreneurship: Exploring Growth and Performance in Family Firms Across Generations. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.