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Respond to the following questions:
Review the results of your first Entrepreneurship interview. Post the insights gained during the interview.
Your response should be between 250-300 words and in APA format with at least 2 scholarly references.
Interview Questions for Entrepreneurial Interview
Introduction
An
entrepreneurial interview is an essential tool for networking and provision of
information about the business and career of interest. Majority of the people
currently are more willing to start their own business as opposed to working
for other companies. What qualities are essential for promoting entrepreneurial
skills? Are entrepreneurs born or made? Informational interviews are crucial
tools in enhancing more information about what it takes to become the most
successful entrepreneur. Therefore, the study will discuss the questions to
consider asking entrepreneurs during an interview to determine their skills and
knowledge on how they started their new business. The survey interviewed Mr.
Jason, an entrepreneur.
Q: Why did you want to
start your business/purchase a franchise?
A: Becoming a business
owner enables a person to strive for new goals which motivate you in getting
out of the current economic funk. It allows one to become the master of their
destiny. Moreover, starting your own business gives you the freedom to manage
your own time and energy.
Q: How did you get
started?
A: I decided to start a business
during my university education to fill the niche in the market and make extra
capital. This experience was the basis of my knowledge on starting my own
business.
Q: What were the most
significant obstacles you had to overcome to get your business going?
A: The primary challenge
of running the business is keeping up with technology and innovations such as
moving from offline marketing to online marketing (Tidd et al., 2005). Another
obstacle is finding adequate financing to fund the operational activities and
working capital. Also, inadequate management skills make it hard in enhancing
teambuilding essential for running the business efficiently.
Q: What lessons have you
learned upon establishing your company?
A: In business, there is
no failure but learned lessons. Each experience and challenges are viewed as an
opportunity for learning and improving your knowledge and skills to avoid
repetition of similar mistakes (Shepherd, 2003). Therefore, never stop
learning. Another lesson is self-determination and trust in the personal effort
is vital to the success of the business. Furthermore, no man is an island,
always ask help to people you trust that can offer business advice and
financial support.
Q: How has your faith
played a role in your success?
A: Faith enables you not
to give up when experiencing challenges. It encompasses different
characteristics of success such as persistence, hop, hard work, and confidence
among others. Through faith, you never quit on your dreams and purpose in
achieving the goal in the business. It enables you not to allow any outliers to
affect your position and track towards success.
Q: Where and how do you
see yourself in five or ten years from now?
A: in the coming years I
want to focus on increasing the market share of the business. The company may
use both product and market diversification strategies. Also, the organization
aims at opening up global branches in other countries to increase customer base
to avoid market saturation. The firm also seeks to enhance innovations and
improving quality of services and automation of the processes to increase
efficiency and variety of products and services.
Q: What advice can you
give to others so that they too can become successful business owners in their
right?
A: Becoming successful
business person requires faith and hard work. Always have a long-term mindset
that strategically plans for the future success of the business. It implies
that as an entrepreneur you should not make permanent decisions for temporary
emotions. It is essential to wait until you levelheaded to make informed
decisions. Always have positive thoughts that focus on success as opposed to
being pessimistic. It will help you in generating the best ideas that will stir
you in the right direction. Lastly, have the right attitude for starting a
business.
Q: What tools or
knowledge would be critical for students wanting to start a business?
A: Starting your own
business requires critical thinking knowledge and skills. Logical thinking is
useful in promoting smart decision-making process. A person can analyze the
various perspectives and viewpoints and select the best alternative hence
supporting informed strategic decisions. Also, the competitive spirit is
essential for increasing the market share of the business. Financial knowledge
is more important than having capital alone. It helps you in management and
ability to efficiently organize the scarce resources to achieve efficiency.
Q: Would you be willing
to share your story with other students in the future?
A: Yes. I believe in
growing other innovative entrepreneurs to enhance competition which affects the
quality of products. Students need the right knowledge to improve their
business skills. Therefore, sharing with them may enlighten their mind and grow
their business knowledge.
Summary
The
study summarizes that entrepreneurs can be made. They can be taught skills
essential to improve their entrepreneurial decisions. Majority of the people
start businesses with the wrong mindset. Having the right reason for beginning business
will ensure that the entrepreneur is committed towards its success. Technology
is the major obstacle to the success of the company due to innovations and
changes business processes that require automation. Capital to facilitate daily
operation was also another challenge from the interview. Hard work ensures the
success of the business. Moreover, it was evident from the discussion that
sharing with other students about my business success helps in creating
competitive advantage and better decision making.
References:
Shepherd,
D. A. (2003). Learning from business failure: Propositions of grief recovery
for the self-employed. Academy of management Review, 28(2),
318-328.
Tidd,
J., Bessant, J., & Pavitt, K. (2005). Managing innovation integrating
technological, market and organizational change. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
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