The Foundations of

Entrepreneurship
ESSENTIAL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

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What is an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur: one who creates a new business in

the face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of
achieving profit and growth by identifying
significant opportunities and assembling the
necessary resources to capitalize on them

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Discussion questions:

1. Why entrepreneurs start businesses?

What could be the drawbacks?
2. Which characteristics make a successful
entrepreneur?

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The Benefits of Entrepreneurship

❑ Opportunity to create your own destiny

❑Opportunity to make a difference
❑Opportunity to reach your full potential
❑Opportunity to reap impressive profits

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The potential drawbacks of
Entrepreneurship
❑ Uncertainty of income
❑Risk of losing your entire investment
❑Long hours and hard work
❑Lower quality of life until the business gets established
❑High levels of stress
❑Complete Responsibility
❑Discouragement

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The World of the Entrepreneur

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study

reports:
Men are twice as likely to start a business as
women
Most entrepreneurs turn to family members and
friends for capital
Entrepreneurs are most likely to launch
businesses when they are between the ages of 35
and 44
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Entrepreneurship-Friendly Nations

Vietnam ranks 87

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Number of Start-Up Companies in
Vietnam 2011-2016

Source: National Business Registration Portal

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 Entrepreneurial conditions in Vietnam
(GEM Vietnam 2017/2018)

(Source: GME Vietnam 2017/2018)

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Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
❑Desire for responsibility
❑Preference for moderate levels of risk – risk
eliminators
❑Confidence in their ability to succeed
❑Desire for immediate feedback
❑High level of energy
❑Future orientation
❑Opportunity | Necessity | Serial entrepreneurs
❑Skilled at organizing
❑Value achievement over money
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Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
❑High degree of commitment
❑Tolerance for ambiguity
❑Creativity
❑Flexibility
❑Resourceful
❑Willingness to work hard
❑Tenacity
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Entrepreneurial Profile:
Sebastian Martinez: Are you kidding?

https://areyoukiddingsocks.com/pages/our-story

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Most Important Qualities of an Entrepreneur

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Sources of Entrepreneurial Success

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Sources of Stress for Entrepreneurs

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Small Businesses ...

Account for 98.1 % of total businesses in

Vietnam
40 percent of Vietnam GDP, and 50 percent
of employment
(Source: Vietnam Briefing)

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 • 1. Management mistakes
• 2. Lack of experience
• 3. Poor financial control
• 4. Weak marketing efforts
10 Deadly • 5. Failure to develop a
Mistakes of strategic plan
Entreprene • 6. Uncontrolled growth
urship • 7. Poor location
• 8. Improper inventory control
• 9. Incorrect pricing
• 10. Inability to make the
“entrepreneurial transition”
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 Know your business in depth

Build a viable business model, and

test it

Develop a solid business plan

Avoiding the
Pitfalls of Manage financial resources
Small
Business Understand financial statements
Failure
Learn to manage people effectively

Set your business apart from the

competition

Maintain a positive attitude

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 Critical thinking and Problem
solving

Written and oral communication

Developing Teamwork and collaboration

skills for
your career Leadership

Creativity

Ethics and Social Responsibility

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 Structure of this textbook:

Section I: The challenge of

entrepreneurship

Section II: The Entrepreneurial Journey Begins:

discuss the classic start-up questions every
entrepreneur faces

Section III: Launching the business

Section IV: Putting the business plan to

work: Sources of Funds
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Conclusion

There are no secrets to becoming a successful

entrepreneur, but…

there are steps that entrepreneurs can take to

enhance the probability of their success.

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