Republic of the Philippines

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Botolan Campus
Porac, Botolan Zambales

EC6-Module (last module)

Entrepreneur
1. a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than
normal financial risks in order to do so.
"many entrepreneurs see potential in this market"

7 Qualities The Ideal Entrepreneur Must Have For Their Small Business

Keys to Business Success

Becoming an ideal entrepreneur is something that every business owner aspires to. Small businesses are
taking charge of the business market like never before, and it is considered the backbone of the world’s
economy. Technological advancements and people’s necessity are the key factors why small business is
uplifting and more people choose entrepreneurship as their career. Today, we will discuss some of the
qualities that every entrepreneur should have to run their small business.
An ideal entrepreneur is a person that must have multiple abilities and qualities because
entrepreneurship is a very dynamic career. It is a very demanding career, and one should have the
proper attributes and qualities to withstand. Although, it is something that has a lot of scopes and is one
of the exciting careers to move forward with.
There are lot of scope and opportunities in this advanced tech world, and those aspiring entrepreneurs
can grab and establish their small businesses. According to The Hill, there are more than 500 million
entrepreneurs in the entire world.
Small businesses have more scope to succeed these days as they are profitable, and an ideal
entrepreneur always comes up with profitable ideas to start their business. There is no harm in starting
your venture as a small business because even the biggest MNCs today started with the smallest of
investments.

What Is The Role Of An Ideal Entrepreneur?

The role of an entrepreneur is diversified, especially when you are setting up your small business.
Sometimes, an entrepreneur starts running the business with no staff and employs due to lack of
resources for having dedicated staff for running business initially. The ideal entrepreneur’s role is to
make sure the venture you are running has resources and fulfills the business’s demand.
Running a small business is a very demanding job, and an entrepreneur is responsible for handling the
etiquettes of business from planning to execution to creating opportunities and ensuring success. These
are the duties that an entrepreneur needs to do for their business.

Qualities Of An Ideal Entrepreneur

Inventiveness

The small business entrepreneur needs to create innovative ideas, especially for their marketing, as they
don’t always have enough budgets. Inventive ideas like video marketing and creating video content with
creativity are something that quality entrepreneurs can generate.
Every small business has unique marketing needs, and referring to the source from Elluminati Inc on
how to create innovative videos for small businesses. It is possible to learn the kind of innovative ideas
that entrepreneurs need to generate.

Passion

Passion forces you to become an entrepreneur, but you will lack some passion if others have forced you
to be an entrepreneur. Earlier, we discussed that being an ideal entrepreneur is a very demanding job. If
you have passion for your small business, you will start fulfilling the demand without getting tired or
exhausted because it is your passion. Hence, this is the reason this quality is required to be a successful
entrepreneur.

Self-Motivated

Self-motivation is an essential quality that an entrepreneur should have these days because there will be
times when you need the motivation to continue and move forward. Business can have ups and downs,
and entrepreneurs can have self-motivation and move ahead rather than get demotivated, which can
end up losing interest. The biggest source of motivation is inside you, and hence, you need to find what
gives you energy for being self-motivated.

Persistence

An ideal entrepreneur has a quality to persist in the worst of situations and move forward is always
tested when running a small business. The complexity in business is very common, and there will be
times when you lack resources and are not able to find the resources to fill the gap. There can be a lack
of revenues, and you don’t know how to find capital. The increase in the composition is also one of the
factors where persistence is important.

Adaptability

Adaptability is the quality that all of us require universally because change is constant, and you need to
adapt to the change as time moves forward. The same philosophy goes for entrepreneurs running their
ventures. As all the controlling factors are not in our hands, there are dependencies on the exterior
market conditions for the small businesses.
The market dynamics keep on fluctuating, and an ideal entrepreneur with the quality to be adaptable
will always find a way to succeed in the fluctuating market.

Decision-Making

Decision-making is a skill that is very important because, as an entrepreneur, there will be stages when
you need to make decisions. Those are important decisions because the entire business model is
dependent on these decisions.
Whether it is a decision for technology adoption or preparing the business plan, or introducing new
products, these are the decisions that need to be taken. Also, there are many more situations where an
entrepreneur needs to know how to take the right actions by proper decision making.

Social Skills

Social skills are something that will help you to be one of the active players in the market. Remaining
behind closed doors never helps any entrepreneur, and you cannot get that reputation and recognition
in the market. Social skills will allow you to share your knowledge and can make strong connections in
the business market.

The helping hand nature of an ideal entrepreneur will always create a good impression. Entrepreneurs
that are always keen on sharing knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs and guiding them have good
social recognition. Hence, social skills are very important these days for creating a good impression and
reputation for an entrepreneur.

Key Intakes

Entrepreneurship is something that most people feel is a cakewalk, but it is not true. The above qualities
you have gone through might have given you the idea how demanding and dynamic the
entrepreneurship career is. If you go through all the qualities of an ideal entrepreneur, you will get one
thing in common: growth

The entrepreneurs that keep growing and hustling will never fail. Some of the qualities like punctuality
and resilience are also very important, and that is something entrepreneurs always have. The qualities
mentioned herewith are very important for small business entrepreneurs.

Final Words

Entrepreneurs are the ones who are always keen on creating new opportunities, and to create those
opportunities, they must have some qualities and skills to hustle. More importantly, they do not need to
care about themselves only, and as an entrepreneur, many people will depend on you, and you need to
take care of them.
An entrepreneur needs to be active and understanding in all aspects viz. socially, professionally,
emotionally, personally. Hence, maintaining a healthy balance in all aspects requires good qualities in an
entrepreneur. Small business entrepreneurs need to be constantly active and must have a growing and
competitive attitude. Thus, adapt and improve to grow further and scale your business to newer heights.

Types of Entrepreneurs

The social Entrepreneur: This type of entrepreneur offers products and services with the
overall intention of creating social good.

The Serial Entrepreneur: This type of entrepreneur would set up businesses and bring them to stage of
development. The business is then sold or handed over to a successor or group of successors.

The Lifestyle Entrepreneur: This type of entrepreneur would choose a business that would reflect their
passion simply such as a hobby or favorite sports rather than pursuing profit.
The Solopreneur: This type of Entrepreneur operates alone and manages all aspects of the business,
made possible with the use of ICT tools. ICT Tools make multitasking easier.

The Buyer and the Seller:

A buyer is a person that acquires possession or rights to the use or services in exchange for
payment usually money, while the seller is the one that offers products and services in exchange
for payment.
Safe and Responsible Use of ICT

1. • Keep passwords to yourself and not share them with anyone, even with your close
friends. • Always log out and log off your account on any the device that you are using. •
Always lock your computer when you walk away from the screen.
2. • Always be polite and use appropriate language. • Do not access, create, store or
distribute files that could be thought of as offensive, indecent or cause hurt or upset to
anyone.
3. • Do not look at anyone else’s files without their permission. • Know that bullying by
the use of text, multimedia messaging, email or on social sites is unacceptable and may
lead to very serious consequences.
4. • Do not share your personal information or other people’s. • Be wary of emails that
ask you for any personal information. • Check with an adult about anything you see that
concerns you or report it to a teacher.
5. • Do not put any personal details about other people into emails, posts, comments or
updates. • Never meet up with anyone offline that you have only met online without a
parent or trusted adult.
6. • Think carefully about the places you go online and keep focused when on learning
tasks. • Take good care of the ICT equipment you use. Understand that if you are
irresponsible in the use of ICT, you may lose your access to it.
7. • Understand that you may be able to use your own device or mobile phone in school
only at agreed times. If you use it in class without permission, your device may be
temporarily confiscated and your parent will be informed.
8. • Only copy / upload / publish / distribute materials that are appropriate. • Only take
images or video of other pupils, friends or staff with their full knowledge and permission.
• Do not copy / upload / publish / distribute images or videos of others without their
permission.
9. • You should not copy materials, music, videos or pictures from the internet and use
them in your own work unless they are copyright free. • Remember that anything you do
can be traced back to you including your browsing history and content that you may copy
/ upload / publish or distribute.
10. • Information Technology covers a broad spectrum of hardware and software
solutions that enable organizations to gather, organize, and analyze data that helps them
achieve their goals. It also details technology-based workflow processes that expand the
capacity of an organization to deliver services that generate revenue.
11. ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY • Information technology (IT) has
become a vital and integral part of every business plan. From multi- national corporations
who maintain mainframe systems and databases to small businesses that own a single
computer, IT plays a role.
12. ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY • The reasons for the omnipresent use
of computer technology in business can best be determined by looking at how it is being
used across the business world.
13. • For many companies, email is the principal means of communication between
employees, suppliers and customers. Email was one of the early drivers of the Internet,
providing a simple and inexpensive means to communicate.
14. • Over the years, a number of other communications tools have also evolved,
allowing staff to communicate using live chat systems, online meeting tools and video-
conferencing systems. Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephones and smart-phones
offer even more high-tech ways for employees to communicate.
15. • Organizations need to maintain enough stock to meet demand without investing in
more than they require. Inventory management systems track the quantity of each item a
company maintains, triggering an order of additional stock when the quantities fall below
a pre-determined amount.
16. • These systems are best used when the inventory management system is connected to
the point-of-sale (POS) system. The POS system ensures that each time an item is sold,
one of that item is removed from the inventory count, creating a closed information loop
between all departments.
17. • The days of large file rooms, rows of filing cabinets and the mailing of documents is
fading fast. Today, most companies store digital versions of documents on servers and
storage devices. These documents become instantly available to everyone in the
company, regardless of their geographical location.
18. • Companies are able to store and maintain a tremendous amount of historical data
economically, and employees benefit from immediate access to the documents they need.
19. • Systems Storing data is only a benefit if that data can be used effectively.
Progressive companies use that data as part of their strategic planning process as well as
the tactical execution of that strategy.
20. • Management Information Systems (MIS) enable companies to track sales data,
expenses and productivity levels. The information can be used to track profitability over
time, maximize return on investment and identify areas of improvement.
21. • Managers can track sales on a daily basis, allowing them to immediately react to
lower-than-expected numbers by boosting employee productivity or reducing the cost of
an item.
22. • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems capture every interaction a
company has with a customer, so that a more enriching experience is possible.
23. • If a customer calls a call center with an issue, the customer support representative
will be able to see what the customer has purchased, view shipping information, call up
the training manual for that item and effectively respond to the issue.
24. • 1. Globalization • 2. Communication • 3. Cost effectiveness • 4. Bridging the
cultural gap • 5. More time • 6. Creation of new jobs
25. • While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also
created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and
middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become
unemployed.
26. • Though information technology may have made communication quicker, easier and
more convenient, it has also bought along privacy issues. From cell phone signal
interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private
information becoming public knowledge.
 27. • Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since
technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant
learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure.
28. • While information technology may have made the world a global village, it has also
contributed to one culture dominating another weaker one. It is now argued that US
influences how most young teenagers all over the world now act, dress and behave.
29. • Languages too have become overshadowed, with English becoming the primary
mode of communication for business and everything else.

Benefits of using ICT

Access to Markets: E-commerce as this is commonly referred to has greatly minimized the need for
physical infrastructure for trade to take place. Platforms like Jumia give entrepreneurs access to
markets in all parts of the country and all over the world.

Virtual and efficient business coordination: Technology has completely revolutionized the

manner in which businesses operate today especially businesses operating in a niche market.
These businesses use of apps and often times do not require the physical presence of the business
owner and can often times be efficiently run virtually such as Uber.
Advertising and Marketing Communication: With the emergence can be reached with advertising
messages via a tweet on twitter, a post on Facebook or videos on Youtube etc at way cheaper rates.

Increasing revenue streams and Saving Time/Money: Technology has provided new and exciting
opportunities to increase revenue. Such opportunities include the provision of movies and games for
relaxation at a fee. For example, Netflix

Teleconferencing: Important meetings can also be held via video conferencing technology systems
which allow 2 or more locations to communicate via simultaneous 2-way audio and video
transmissions, eliminating the logistics of travelling, saving time and money. It is also common
practice to reach out to audiences by streaming seminars, conferences and programs live on the
internet.
This put forth, goes a long way to affirm that in the current day and age ICT goes hand in hand with
most forms of entrepreneurship that are presented to the market.

Internet Safety
Internet safety requires you to have a firm comprehension of the Internet, what’s on it, how it’s
used, and how it operates.
It also emphasizes understanding the lesser-known areas of the Internet, like code, webpage
interactions, and secure connections.

In general, you can break down Internet safety into two categories — behavior and knowledge.

If you’ve never had to teach Internet safety before, we recommend starting with
seven behavior ideas that work in middle school and high school:

1. Verifying someone’s identity

2. Verifying a link is safe
3. Identifying an online scam
4. Protecting privacy
5. Creating and using passwords
6. Identifying cyberbullying
7. Becoming a good digital citizen

Internet safety is truly an expansive space, and it requires a knowledge component as well — the
kind of knowledge that helps you use safe technology.

That includes:

1. Understanding code
2. Using ad blockers
3. Identifying secure connections
4. Using virtual personal networks (VPNs)
5. Understanding your data and its value
6. Knowing when your data is being collected
7. Understanding how your data is used to advertise

Information gathering Information gathering is the act of conveying or relaying or

communicating the message to the audience, it refers to the activity of researching news items
for the purpose of broadcast or publication, this activity is commonly done by
journalists/reporter. ICT is a useful tool in information gathering.

The Advantages of Online Survey Research vs Traditional Surveys

As many of the benefits of doing things online, there are many advantages of online survey
research. Online surveys are an innovation to the older, traditional surveying methods.
They are a faster way to help businesses make better decisions when it comes to their products
and serving their customers’ needs. Rather than taking weeks or months, businesses can
get market research data almost instantly online.

While there are many free resources to measure market potential and product interest, they do
not empower businesses to understand their core customers.

After all, consider these key concerns: have you defined who your target market is? Its likes, its
interests and habits? How do your customers find your brand? How do they interact with you?
Do you have an idea to test?

After you get the results, what will you do with them?

One of the best ways to answer all these questions is through online channels, however, there
are a lot of different ways to reach people; all have their pros and cons. Online surveys are the
leading method to address the above and a wide variety of other questions. They have a much
greater potency to traditional surveying methods.

That’s what makes them innovative in nature.

Online Surveys Vs Traditional Surveys

Online surveys have modernized the traditional survey route. This route consists of mail-in
surveys, hard paper surveys and phone interviews. While these kinds of surveys have held value
in the past, they have become outdated and inferior to the online survey. That is because they
face issues that online surveys are virtually immune to.

Additionally, online surveys have paved the way for more conveniences and positive traits of
market research as a whole. Before we explore the advantages of online surveys, let’s peruse
some of the disadvantages traditional surveys have cast.

The Disadvantage of Traditional Surveys

Traditional survey methods are being phased out and for good reason. During the inception of
market research, they served their cause, but in the digital era, they are out of date. They carry
too many disadvantages, especially when compared to their modern equivalents.

Here are a few drawbacks of traditional surveys. These are unique to them and are not existent
in online surveys:
1. Far too much time to reach the respondent (it’s called snail mail for a reason)
2. Mail-in surveys are not guaranteed to be opened, completed and sent back
immediately.
 3. Hard paper responses are handwritten, which are vulnerable to smudges and smears.
4. Understanding hard paper survey responses is at the mercy of the respondents’
handwriting.
5. Phone interviews are susceptible to participants hanging up, cutting the interview
without warning.
6. Phone call surveys are usually treated as spam; no one answers.
7. Respondents may feel uncomfortable to answer questions with minimal anonymity.
8. Impossible to screen respondents, select the right ones and have only them take the
survey.
9. Less certainty of returned responses.
10. Unlikely to be answered if the questions are controversial.

Advantages of Online Survey Research vs Traditional Surveys

While traditional surveys are laced with inconveniences and issues, online surveys provide a
better experience for the businesses sending them and the respondents alike. The benefits
online surveys provide are what make them an innovation to their older counterparts.

Here are several significant advantages that online surveys provide over traditional surveys. As
you can see from the below, they are an overall net positive for saving money and time. Let’s
dive in:
1. Anonymity in spite of the demographics information
2. Ease of screening participants
3. Ease of allowing only the targeted demographics to participate
4. Cost savings, as providers often charge businesses per completed survey
5. Faster results, since it is digital; answers are submitted immediately to the survey
platform
6. A significantly better reach
7. The ability to meet all quotas
8. Potentially better targeting
9. Reduced survey bias from “interviewer effect”
10. Convenience to participants
11. Potential for better results
12. Faster results analysis
13. Better results visualization
14. The application of logic, so that participants don’t answer irrelevant questions.
15. The ability to incentivize participants

The Power of Online Research

Online surveys work hand in hand with online research. As constituents of the same medium,
the internet, or the digital space at large, it is far easier for them to work in tandem with one
another.

Here are the ways in which businesses can pair online surveys with secondary online research:
 Monitor brand performance
  Determine market opportunity
 Define or explore a customer persona
 Test marketing campaigns, ad ideas or product concepts
 Discover new ideas
 Determine consumer sentiment or opinion
 Evaluate customer satisfaction
 Understand Voice of Customer (VoC)
 Perform competitive analysis
 A/B testing

All of these topics involve a large population that you may want to study (e.g. Pet owners in the
USA) and may be broken down in characteristics (or variables) of that population (e.g.
consumers who purchase pet toys, people who are aware of my brand, monthly spend on pets,
by gender, age, location, etc).

Since it is impossible to survey the entire population due to technical restrictions, cost, and
time, we collect data by running surveys based on a sample—a carefully selected subgroup of
the population we want to target.

Getting the Most Value of Market Research

Market research is no easy feat; it involves an ongoing operation into various areas of a market.
This includes the industry a business caters to, the industry’s trends and changes, a business’s
competitors and most importantly, its customers.

As market research depends on both secondary and primary research methods, it would be at a
great loss without surveys. Surveys allow you to delve deep into the minds of customers while
gathering more about who makes up your target market. As such, surveys have evolved from
analog to digital. Online surveys now make up the lion’s share of surveys due to their many
advantages and gains.

As such, they are the dominant surveying method in today’s age.

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of online surveys?

Online surveys are a faster way to help businesses make better decisions. Rather than taking
weeks or months, you can get market research data near-instantly online. There are also cost
savings, better results visualization and more.
What kind of market research can you do online ?

You can monitor brand performance, determine market opportunities, define or explore a
customer persona, test marketing campaigns, ad ideas or product concepts. You can also
determine consumer sentiment or opinions.

What can online surveys help you do?

Online surveys can help evaluate customer satisfaction, accumulate the VOC(Voice of
Customer), gather thoughts on product ideas, find industry trends via customers themselves
and much more.

Should you survey a large portion of a population?

Since it is impossible to survey an entire population due to technical restrictions, cost, and time,
proper surveys should collect data by running the survey on a sample—a carefully selected
subgroup of the population you want to target.

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of online surveys?

Online surveys are a faster way to help businesses make better decisions. Rather than taking
weeks or months, you can get market research data near-instantly online. There are also cost
savings, better results visualization and more.

What kind of market research can you do online ?

What can online surveys help you do?

Should you survey a large portion of a population?

Communicating and Collaborating Using ICT

Tele collaboration is the systematic process of communicating process of communicating and
working with other people from different locations through online or virtual means.

Some examples of web-based collaboration tools include the following:

1. Channel me-allows parties to view a website simultaneously while chatting online.
2. Entri- for writing and sharing documents
3. Wiggio- for group work
4. My simple Surface- online whiteboard to share ideas
5. Hackpad- note taking and writing outlines
6. Synchtube- Watch videos and chat in real time
7. Dabbleboard- virtual whiteboard; basic version is free
8. Wizehive- share files, manage projects, track activity
9. Skype in the classroom- allows online sharing or resources among students and teachers
10. Thinkbinder- makes possible the creation of online study group
 11. Vyew- meet and share content in real time or anytime
12. Scribblar- a multi-user whiteboard, live audio, image collaboration, text chat, and more.

Activity 1:

a. Search on Analyzing Information Using ICT.

b. Answer the following questions:
1. How will you safely use the computer when you are online?
2. What was the most difficult part in conducting an online survey?
3. How can an electronic spreadsheet help an entrepreneur run a business?
4. What did you like about your online collaboration activity? Explain
5. Which do you prefer, slide presentation or movie maker?

Prepared by:
Prof. Violeta a Vega