Key Concepts and Common

Competencies
Lesson 2
 Entrepreneurship is a science of converting processed ideas
into a remarkable business venture.

Entrepreneurship is also a capacity for innovation,

investment and expansion in new market, products and techniques.
This definition implies that an enterprise is at work whenever an
individual takes the risks and invest resources to make something
unique or something new, designs a new way of making something
that already exists, or creates new markets.
Competencies
This can be considered as the capability, capacity and
ability of the learner in handling situation in various areas in
business operations such in marketing, management,
production or technical and financial.
 In starting a business, learner should seek
entrepreneurial competencies such as:
1. LOCUS OF CONTROL: Entrepreneur must know how to determine the
state to which a person agreed that their actions can directly affect a
situation, or that they can control a result. Learners have discovered
that founders of successful entrepreneurial organization have a high
internal locus of control.
2. SPECIFIC GOAL SETTING: Entrepreneurs should be
motivated to set goals particularly business growth
objectives, have been found to increase firm growth
resulted in the firm performance and innovation. Set goals
of all types have repeatedly been found to lead to greater
performance and highlighting the importance of setting
goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and
time-bound.
3. SELF-EFFICACY: Entrepreneurs must believe in their
own ability or self-confidence. Learners with high self-
efficacy will persevere even in the face of setbacks, will
take negative feedback more positively and use feedback to
improve their performance. It must set difficult goals, and
will exert more effort over a longer period of time. Learners
consider that when entrepreneurs have high self-efficacy,
that there is a strong relationship between this motivation
and firm high increase of growth.
4. LAYERS OF COMPETENCY: Entrepreneurs should know
the group of attributes, some of which are applicable to all
entrepreneurs, while others are occupation/industry specific.
Universal competencies occupying the bottom portion of the
pyramid and specific competencies located near to the top.
However, this is not to give priority to one competency over
the other-it is simply to depict the layers of competencies that
are beneficial for entrepreneurs in different industries and
occupations.
5. NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT: Entrepreneurs must have
a high need for achievement take responsibility for
outcomes. Engage in activities that have a moderate degree
of consequences and require skill and effort. This
competency has also been found to predict firm founding
and the successful performance of organization.
6. AMBITION: Entrepreneurs must be motivated, persistent,
and persevere even in the face of situational challenges.
Engage in activities that have a moderate degree of
consequences and require skill and effort. This competency
has also been found to predict firm founding and the
successful performance of organization.
7. WILLINGNESS TO LEARN: Entrepreneurs should
have a strong willingness to learn often pursue
opportunities to acquire new skills and competencies.
They initiate personal career development and often
secure the feedback to help them make good career
decisions. Personal effectiveness competencies are
adapted from the Consortium for Entrepreneurial
Education.
8. STRONG INITIATIVE: Entrepreneurs must have a
high initiative are often driven to work hard. They
frequently work independently to achieve task master,
regardless of the extra effort necessary to do so. They
take initiative to set a specific, time bound and
challenging goals. Oftentimes, they are very confident
in their capabilities to perform well and enjoy seeking
out challenging opportunities.
9. ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY: Entrepreneurs must
learn how to be a highly flexible and adaptable often deal very
well with a unique ability to choose actions even without all
necessary information. These types of learners are innovative
and creative, often developing novel solutions to complicated
problems. They can manage change well, often generating new
goals and actions to deal with undesirable events.
10. WILLINGNESS TO TAKE THE
RISKS: Not only are successful learners
willing to take consequences, they can
also identify and calculate risk. They are
skilled at developing new plans and
scenarios. These types of learners take
evaluated risks, and learn from past
failures.
11. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: Learner with strong
interpersonal skills has skills of working well with
people from different backgrounds. They are very
insightful with regards to the behavior of others –
understanding motives and actions, quickly aware of
strong relationships, and both verbal and nonverbal
behaviours.
INDUSTRY WIDE
COMPETENCIES/WORK
COMPETENCIES
Adapted from The National Consortium
for Entrepreneural Education
These are the entrepreneurial skills needed in order to achieve objectives and
goals of the organization:

1. NETWORKING/COLLABORATION: is the ability to build professional relationships,

assists learners with leveraging contracts, initiating collaborations, and partnering
with business contacts. Learners with strong networking skills are perceived as
trustworthy. They can negotiate with competitors, establish buy-in with partners,
and identify mutual goals.
2. CREATIVE/CRITICAL THINKING:
Learners who engage in creative thinking
are able to both generate innovative
solutions and use relevant information to
understand the “greater picture”. They can
analyze problems and create innovative
solutions. They can easily identify what is
missing from current product streams and
have imagination, creativity, and empathy.
3. ORGANIZING: Successful
entrepreneurs plan and prioritize work to
ensure time is managed effectively. They
can work methodically and effectively
allocate time and resources. When goals
are not met, they take necessary steps to
get projects back on-track.
4. CHECKING, EXAMINING, &
RECORDING: The ability to maintain
confidential records, easily locate and
complete appropriate forms and
paperwork, detect errors, and make the
necessary corrections is vital to
successful entrepreneurship.
5. PLANNING: Entrepreneurs must be
specific about the direction of their
venture and the strategy they will adopt
to achieve their short goals both long and
short objectives. Successful entrepreneurs
assess risks, estimate costs, and
determine the potential for profit and loss
before beginning a new venture.
6. BUSINESS PRINCIPLES:
Entrepreneurs must understand the basic
principles of business. Being well
versed in market knowledge, economic
principles, and ethical practices are
essential entrepreneurial knowledge.
7. COMPUTER COMPETENCY:
Entrepreneurs must be competent in the
use of basic computer hardware (e.g.
Printers,copiers, PCs) and software (e.g.
spreedsheets, word processing). A
successful can easily communicate and
prepare documents electronically.
8. WORKPLACE COMPETENCIES:
Workplace have been defined as “the
application of knowledge, skills, attitudes,
values, and behaviours in the workplace.
Workplace competencies develop from
the synthesis of an individual’s skills,
knowledge, and abilities with on the job
tasks and work related experiences.
9. HIIGH-GROWTH, HIGH_VALUE
ENTREPNEURSHIP: Entrepreneurs typically offer
incentive compensation, manage business operations,
build a strong entrepreneurial culture around
determination and high work ethic, and form effective
boards of directors and advisors. Skilled Marketing-
Entrepreneurs capable of successfully building their
“brand” and matching marketing strategies to their unique
innovation are more likely to succeed in launching a high-
growth high-value entrepreneurship.
10. INNOVATION & CREATION:
Successful entrepreneurs apply their
creativity to the formulation of inventive
systems and products. They have an
“opportunity orientation” – assessing in
trends, identifying small niche or group
of markets, and seeking out opportunities
to improve services and products.
11. MARKETING: Successful
entrepreneurs are competent in both
executing strategies that promote their
products and establish client/customer
relationships. They conduct market
analyses, set pricing objects and
customer objections into sales
acceptance.
12. BUSINESS OPERATIONS:
Entrepreneurs performs business
operations that are able to both carry
out daily operations, such as
scheduling manpower and
maintaining inventories of goods and
management human capabilities.
13. RISK ASSESSMENT &
MANAGEMENT: Entrepreneurs can handle
risk management and can take into account
legal actions. They can handle uncertainty
by mitigating rates, protecting intellectual
property, and determining liabilities. They
stay informed of business laws and
regulations and bound to determine ways to
prevent themselves against failure.
14. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: As a
skilled manager of funds and assets is an
entrepreneural necessity. Entrepreneurs are
knowledgeable in assessing financing
needs, determining risks, and identifying
sources of funds. They are competent at
accounting and funds management,
managing cash flows and preparing
estimated and projected balance sheets.
15. PROBLEM SOLVING & DECISION
MAKING: Entrepreneurs who are skilled
at problem solving and decision-making
are critical thinkers. They can generate,
evaluate, and implement solutions to
difficult problems. They locate and utilize
relevant information, and when necessary,
generate alternative solutions.
10 COMPETENCIES FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

1. Integrity – An entrepreneur has a positive snse of

values and personal beliefs, creating in making
business decisions, influencing in making the
desired actions they will take, particularly when in
difficult or challenging situations
2. Conceptual Thinking – the
entrepreneur is prepared to use new
approaches and comes up with new
ideas that may enhance work. It will
lead to radical change and significant
improvements. It also takes time to
listen to new ideas without pre-
judgement.
3. Risk Taking – the entrepreneur
understands that risk taking means
trying to anticipate future problems
thus solve new problems that may
arise in the business organization.
4. Networking/Collaboration – the
entrepreneur understands that
networking can provide access to
information, collaboration and
profits; and that careful planning and
preparation help achieve desired
results.
5. Strategic Thinking – the
entrepreneur understands that
thinking using strategies can help
achieve goals in the organization.
Strategy means ways to accomplish
something in relevance to the aims
and objectives.
6. Commercial Aptitude – the
entrepreneur keeps himself updated
with developments in the locality;
seeks out best practice; and identifies
and determines opportunities that are
not common to others.
7. Decisiveness – the entrepreneur
resolves issues as they arise in an
unavoidable situation and responds
flexibly to deal with changing
priorities set by the upper authotities.
8. Optimism – the entrepreneur
persists in pursuading goals despite
hindrances and problems; performs in
the hope of success rather than fear of
failures; and manages difficult
situation.
9. Customer Relation Service – the
entrepreneur develops and builds trust
and long term relationships with
customers; collates an expectation of
high level of customer service; and
maintains regularly exceeds customer
expectation.
10. People Centered – the
entrepreneurs create commonality
among stakeholders, see and value
the best in others. They build the total
capability of the people involved.
They always consider the principles
of inclusiveness in planning and
dealing with others.