Entrepreneur Boot camps
Abstract
For business the consumers are its most important goal. Business would like to have a good relationship and total trust with the clients and that’s the reason why they put the clients as their first priority. To make sure that a company will have a good relationship with the clients, business have to create changes that clients have been requesting for. This change depends on the needs of the client. Businesses undergo various changes depending on the situation in the industry and the demand for change by the internal and external environment. Changes in businesses are eminent, especially with different situation in the environment. The companies change their strategies because of many reasons; it can be because of poor performance against competitors, entry in new markets, bad position for a country’s economy; subsequent problems in the industry or unchanging market condition.
Changes happen because of the need for the company to have advantage over its competitors. One change that happens to business is improvements in the strategies and techniques they use. The improvements in the strategies and techniques can make the business and the employees perform better or it can create more problems for the company. It can also help the company reach its goals. One way to improve the business is to make use of entrepreneurial boot camps. The paper will discuss about the importance of entrepreneur boot camps to local businesses and how it assists a company’s goal.
Key words: Entrepreneur boot camps, business change, organization’s goal
Introduction
The real-world entrepreneur is a single composite personality who is also a manager, leader, capitalist, coordinator and organizer. Thus, although entrepreneurial, managerial and capitalist functions are conceptually distinguishable, in the real world the activities are invariably intertwined. Owing to transaction costs and other factors, entrepreneurs must perform many. Non-entrepreneurial and managerial functions and they must often provide some capital to facilitate the realization of their own ideas. Transaction-cost factors inhibit the transfer of entrepreneurial knowledge and block the formation of an external market in which entrepreneurs could sell their ideas to other participants who could realize them (Harper 2003).Entrepreneurship is critical to enhancing the innovativeness and responsiveness of businesses, to boosting productivity and to improving cost structures and trade performance. The entrepreneurial spirit may manifest itself in the development of new markets, new products, new methods of production and management, the discovery of new inputs and the establishment of new businesses and even new organizational forms (Sautet 2000).
Entrepreneurship is pertinent to the analysis of how new ideas or 'recipes' for reconfiguring objects in the material and social world can be harnessed to enhance a nation's wealth. Recognition of the pivotal role of entrepreneurship in development leads us to emphasize the importance of institutions that endanger processes of entrepreneurial discovery. It motivates people to enquire into the institutional conditions that are highly conducive to entrepreneurship and to investigate the institutional changes necessary in moving towards a more market-oriented economy. Indeed, differences in the nature of institutions and in the structure of incentives they create for entrepreneurship explain much of the variation in the wealth of nations. Although the entrepreneur may also be an inventor, there is no necessary connection between entrepreneurship and invention. The inventor produces new scientific and technical ideas, whereas the entrepreneur may perceive the opportunity to apply such new ideas commercially. The entrepreneur is not an inventor, but may be someone who decides to allocate resources to the exploitation of an invention (Kent, 1990).
Because the management function is more readily observable than the entrepreneurial function, the latter is often subsumed within the former. However, the management function is actually narrower in scope than entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur's managerial skills can have a significant impact on the outcome of a venture (Campling, Glancey, & McQuaid, 2000). An entrepreneur may or may not be born but the entrepreneurial traits can be developed within an organization. To develop such trait an organization has to undergo constant changes to its techniques and strategies. Such changes will affect the organization and its operations. A company has to make use of strategies to bring out the entrepreneur in each of their employees. One method to improve the entrepreneurial skills of an employee or any member of the company is to put him/her into an entrepreneur boot camp.
Entrepreneur boot camp
The entrepreneurial community's success has attracted capital on an unprecedented scale. The venture capital market and the market for initial public offerings have gone to unprecedented valuations. Perhaps most interesting, however, is the extent to which successful entrepreneurs have reinvested in venture funds and in angel networks (Welsch, 2003). Successful entrepreneurship is a study of the dynamic fit between a set of individuals, an opportunity derived from a particular context, and the deal that unites them. The nature of the fit requires constant vigilance. There is no such thing as an everlasting opportunity. Context changes and the opportunity becomes a trap. Deals need to be robust, but the best deals are subject to strategic behavior when their consequences are fully understood. Individuals change too. The assumption that rational, evaluating, maximizing individuals start businesses cannot begin to account fully for the instances of creative genius, self-sacrificing loyalty, and charismatic leadership (Birley & Macmillan, 1997).
With global enterprises and entrepreneurial behavior, hierarchy does not and cannot suffice. Being part of a supportive community becomes the basis for repeated, mutually beneficial transactions. Contracts are incomplete and often only marginally enforceable through judicial processes. Legal systems and ethical systems are often in conflict. Therefore, to interact effectively and efficiently, individuals must sense that they are part of a community that cares, protects, and ensures legitimate behavior on the part of others. Trust, caring, agreed-upon standards for performance, and agreed-upon sanctions are the oil that lubricates the friction inherent in free exchange. Building a sense of community is a leadership task. Such a community is created and linked by the technology that is evolving (BhidÉ, 2003).Challenges for the future are mutually reinforcing. Scholars and practitioners who attempt to deal with one of the challenges without understanding the others do so at their own peril. Entrepreneurship creates the technology and is enabled by it. Communities that form across traditional boundaries enable globalization and enable growth through entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs build community by managing networks rather than hierarchies and by reinforcing the community through celebration and reinvestment in other community members' new ideas. They share the rewards of innovation with customers, suppliers, and other partners in the enterprise in order to assure cooperation (Gilder, 1992).
The entrepreneur boot camp intends to help the business in moving into the next level wherein the business will be able to form a better business planning foundation. The boot camp also intends to teach anyone who undergoes it, the art and science of maintaining a business venture. The boot camp will make sure that the person who undergoes it will have a better knowledge of how the business will position itself, how to find the right capital for the company and how to avoid common mistakes made by business people. The entrepreneur boot camp can give assistance to the company in looking for potential investors.
Framework of the study
The research will make use of the descriptive method to evaluate the importance of entrepreneur boot camps to local business. Descriptive research tries to explore the cause of a particular event or situation. It also wants to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study (Creswell, 1994). The descriptive approach is quicker and more practical in terms of financing (Potter, 1996) Moreover, this method will allow for a flexible approach, thus, when important new issues, probabilities, and questions come up during the duration of the study, a further investigation and confirmation may be allowed. Lastly this type of approach will allow the researcher to drop unproductive areas of research from the original plan of the study.
The research is also exploratory in nature and based on the study of positivist phenomena, therefore the researcher intends to use a positivist methodological approach. This stems from the fact that the study is empirically grounded and is being undertaken to gain more understanding of the issue from an objective point of view. This point of view is being taken to minimize personal prejudice and bias (Burton & Steane, 2004).This research is partly based on quantitative research method so as to permit a flexible approach. The choice and design of methods are constantly modified during data gathering based on continuing analysis. This will give way for creation of an investigation of important new issues, concerns, probabilities and questions as they arose. In addition, this study also employed partly qualitative research method, since this research intends to find theories that would explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research (Anderson, 1998).
To attain information the researcher has two major options one is primary data collection another is secondary data collection. Primary data will be the responses of employees who have an idea on the importance of entrepreneur boot camps to local business. The survey method will be facilitated through the use of survey forms and questionnaires. This will include inquiries on the general characteristics, particularly the socio-demographic information of the selected research participants. Quantifiable inquiries will be likewise contained in the survey forms and questionnaire regarding the impact of the importance of entrepreneur boot camps to local business and on the current business practices and approaches as compared to the traditional business management strategies (Brewer & Ware, 2002). The criteria that were used to select the business organization were the firms and companies that have long been operating in their respective industries. The secondary data will come from the academic materials and research publications that are significant to the research. The secondary source of data will come from research through the internet; books, journals, related studies and other sources of information. Acquiring secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already condensed and organized. The additional information will also be used to support as well as contradict the findings of the study.
Methodology
Questionnaires were used to collect the primary data that will be used in the research. Questionnaires collect data by asking people to respond to exactly the same set of questions, and they are often used as part of survey strategy to collect descriptive data about opinions, behaviors and attributes, where data collected are normally coded and analyzed by computer (Saunders et al., 2003). Accordingly, the selection of questionnaire is stimulated by the research questions and objectives, as well as the resources that are available. In making a questionnaire, one should consider the wording of individual questions prior to order in which they appear, and the order and flow of questions should be rational to the participants (Daymon & Holloway, 2002).).After a questionnaire is made, it was disposed to the participants. The respondents were given ample time to provide answers to the different questions. The respondents have different response regarding the issue of entrepreneur boot camps and how important it is to local business
Majority of the respondents agreed that the entrepreneur boot camp provides lesser need for the local businesses to use additional technologies to provide product or service. This group of respondents is 43.20% of the respondents. Another group of respondents strongly agreed with the statement. They were 34.95% of the respondents. The smallest group of respondents was undecided with the statement. They were 21.84% of the respondents. This shows that the respondents believe that with the company engaging in an entrepreneur boot camp the need for newer technologies may be lessened. The entrepreneur boot camp helps the company minimize its expenses and add more budgets to other important things in the company. Majority of the respondents disagreed with the idea that the entrepreneur boot camp doesn’t promote operational effectiveness. 50.87% of the respondents had this in mind. Another group of respondents strongly disagreed with the statement. They were 40.87%. A smaller number of respondents were undecided on the statement. They were 6.09%. Those who agreed with the statement were 2.17%. This shows that entrepreneur boot camp can bring operational effectiveness to local businesses. It shows how valuable such thing is if it is used properly. 36% of the respondents believe that entrepreneur boot camp could serve as an innovative tool for acquiring competitive advantage. 31% of the respondents disagree with the idea. 16% of the respondents strongly agreed with the idea. Moreover 10% of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement. There were 7% of the respondents who were undecided with the belief that entrepreneur boot camp could serve as an innovative tool for acquiring competitive advantage.
The respondents know that entrepreneur boot camp could serve as an innovative tool for acquiring competitive advantage. They have seen the purpose of such technique and they believe that through it the company can gain competitive advantage. 50% of the respondents believe that the entrepreneur boot camp will make it easier for local businesses to conduct their business transactions. 30%of respondent strongly agrees that the entrepreneur boot camp will make it easier for local businesses to conduct their business transactions. A part of the respondents are neutral or undecided on the statement. They were 20% of the total number of respondents. The respondents believe entrepreneur boot camp helps in providing means in making the business transactions easier. They think that the entrepreneur boot camp will help in solving the local businesses’ problems on conducting business transactions and it will help them in solving the transaction related woes they have. The entrepreneur boot camp help the local business alter the way business transpires; this leads to faster delivery of services.
43% of the respondents believe that entrepreneur boot camp helps in making sure clients save time from visiting branches to handle business activities without having to wait for the company’s staff. 37 % of the respondents strongly agree to such statement. 20% of the respondents were neutral or undecided on the idea that that entrepreneur boot camp helps in making sure clients save time from visiting branches to handle business activities without having to wait for the company’s staff at service counters. The respondents believe that with the use of entrepreneur boot camp less time would be used. The clients can transact their business with business without thinking about the different activities that they have to go through in a certain business. They also don’t have to waste some of their time in going to a certain branch and go through long lines. They also don’t have to worry about waiting for the business staff at service counters if the staffs are attending to other people or are busy doing something else.
Discussion and future research
The respondents believe that with the company engaging in an entrepreneur boot camp the need for newer technologies may be lessened. The entrepreneur boot camp can bring operational effectiveness to local businesses. It shows how valuable such thing is if it is used properly. The respondents know that entrepreneur boot camp could serve as an innovative tool for acquiring competitive advantage. They have seen the purpose of such technique and they believe that through it the company can gain competitive advantage. The respondents believe entrepreneur boot camp helps in providing means in making the business transactions easier. They think that the entrepreneur boot camp will help in solving the local businesses’ problems on conducting business transactions.
The entrepreneur boot camp help the local business alter the way an operation transpires; this leads to faster delivery of services. With the use of entrepreneur boot camp less time would be used. The clients can transact their business with the organization without thinking about the different activities that they have to go through the company. They also don’t have to waste some of their time in going to a certain branch and go through long lines. They also don’t have to worry about waiting for the business staff at service counters if the staffs are attending to other people or are busy doing something else. Future research can be done on how to improve the entrepreneur boot camp and what other things can be used to improve the company.
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