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Entrepreneurship

Introduction

EntrepreneurshipIntroduction
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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 The Entrepreneurial Perspective
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 Entrepreneurship Today
    3. 1.2 Entrepreneurial Vision and Goals
    4. 1.3 The Entrepreneurial Mindset
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  3. 2 The Entrepreneurial Journey and Pathways
    1. Introduction
    2. 2.1 Overview of the Entrepreneurial Journey
    3. 2.2 The Process of Becoming an Entrepreneur
    4. 2.3 Entrepreneurial Pathways
    5. 2.4 Frameworks to Inform Your Entrepreneurial Path
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Discussion Questions
    10. Case Questions
    11. Suggested Resources
  4. 3 The Ethical and Social Responsibilities of Entrepreneurs
    1. Introduction
    2. 3.1 Ethical and Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship
    3. 3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship
    4. 3.3 Developing a Workplace Culture of Ethical Excellence and Accountability
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  5. 4 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention
    1. Introduction
    2. 4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation
    3. 4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ
    4. 4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  6. 5 Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunity
    1. Introduction
    2. 5.1 Entrepreneurial Opportunity
    3. 5.2 Researching Potential Business Opportunities
    4. 5.3 Competitive Analysis
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  7. 6 Problem Solving and Need Recognition Techniques
    1. Introduction
    2. 6.1 Problem Solving to Find Entrepreneurial Solutions
    3. 6.2 Creative Problem-Solving Process
    4. 6.3 Design Thinking
    5. 6.4 Lean Processes
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Discussion Questions
    10. Case Questions
    11. Suggested Resources
  8. 7 Telling Your Entrepreneurial Story and Pitching the Idea
    1. Introduction
    2. 7.1 Clarifying Your Vision, Mission, and Goals
    3. 7.2 Sharing Your Entrepreneurial Story
    4. 7.3 Developing Pitches for Various Audiences and Goals
    5. 7.4 Protecting Your Idea and Polishing the Pitch through Feedback
    6. 7.5 Reality Check: Contests and Competitions
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Discussion Questions
    11. Case Questions
    12. Suggested Resources
  9. 8 Entrepreneurial Marketing and Sales
    1. Introduction
    2. 8.1 Entrepreneurial Marketing and the Marketing Mix
    3. 8.2 Market Research, Market Opportunity Recognition, and Target Market
    4. 8.3 Marketing Techniques and Tools for Entrepreneurs
    5. 8.4 Entrepreneurial Branding
    6. 8.5 Marketing Strategy and the Marketing Plan
    7. 8.6 Sales and Customer Service
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. Review Questions
    11. Discussion Questions
    12. Case Questions
    13. Suggested Resources
  10. 9 Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting
    1. Introduction
    2. 9.1 Overview of Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting Strategies
    3. 9.2 Special Funding Strategies
    4. 9.3 Accounting Basics for Entrepreneurs
    5. 9.4 Developing Startup Financial Statements and Projections
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Discussion Questions
    10. Case Questions
    11. Suggested Resources
  11. 10 Launch for Growth to Success
    1. Introduction
    2. 10.1 Launching the Imperfect Business: Lean Startup
    3. 10.2 Why Early Failure Can Lead to Success Later
    4. 10.3 The Challenging Truth about Business Ownership
    5. 10.4 Managing, Following, and Adjusting the Initial Plan
    6. 10.5 Growth: Signs, Pains, and Cautions
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Discussion Questions
    11. Case Questions
    12. Suggested Resources
  12. 11 Business Model and Plan
    1. Introduction
    2. 11.1 Avoiding the “Field of Dreams” Approach
    3. 11.2 Designing the Business Model
    4. 11.3 Conducting a Feasibility Analysis
    5. 11.4 The Business Plan
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Discussion Questions
    10. Case Questions
    11. Suggested Resources
  13. 12 Building Networks and Foundations
    1. Introduction
    2. 12.1 Building and Connecting to Networks
    3. 12.2 Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team
    4. 12.3 Designing a Startup Operational Plan
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  14. 13 Business Structure Options: Legal, Tax, and Risk Issues
    1. Introduction
    2. 13.1 Business Structures: Overview of Legal and Tax Considerations
    3. 13.2 Corporations
    4. 13.3 Partnerships and Joint Ventures
    5. 13.4 Limited Liability Companies
    6. 13.5 Sole Proprietorships
    7. 13.6 Additional Considerations: Capital Acquisition, Business Domicile, and Technology
    8. 13.7 Mitigating and Managing Risks
    9. Key Terms
    10. Summary
    11. Review Questions
    12. Discussion Questions
    13. Case Questions
    14. Suggested Resources
  15. 14 Fundamentals of Resource Planning
    1. Introduction
    2. 14.1 Types of Resources
    3. 14.2 Using the PEST Framework to Assess Resource Needs
    4. 14.3 Managing Resources over the Venture Life Cycle
    5. Key Terms
    6. Summary
    7. Review Questions
    8. Discussion Questions
    9. Case Questions
    10. Suggested Resources
  16. 15 Next Steps
    1. Introduction
    2. 15.1 Launching Your Venture
    3. 15.2 Making Difficult Business Decisions in Response to Challenges
    4. 15.3 Seeking Help or Support
    5. 15.4 Now What? Serving as a Mentor, Consultant, or Champion
    6. 15.5 Reflections: Documenting the Journey
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Discussion Questions
    11. Case Questions
    12. Suggested Resources
  17. A | Suggested Resources
  18. Index
Photo of two men talking (left); on the right is a screenshot of an app with the words New Note at the top, with options for text, snapshot, camera roll, and voice.
Figure 1.1 Phil Libin, former CEO of Evernote, discusses his product. Evernote is an app that allows users to create notes in a variety of formats and save and share them across platforms. (credit (a): modification of “Phil Libin and Loic Le Meur - LeWeb Day 1 - Dan Taylor/Heisenberg Media” by Heisenberg Media/Flickr, CC BY 2.0; credit (b): modification of “screenshot of the old Evernote iPhone app” by Jason Jones/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Chapter Outline

1.1 Entrepreneurship Today
1.2 Entrepreneurial Vision and Goals
1.3 The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Phil Libin, cofounder and former CEO of Evernote, once said there are “lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason . . . it’s to change the world.”1 Evernote is an example of an entrepreneurial startup. Its goal is to make our lives more organized and increase our personal memory abilities by storing necessary and desired information on the Evernote app. Evernote is designed to capture information through note taking (including pictures, web pages, drawings, and even audio), track and organize this material, and then save and archive the information. Evernote Corporation describes itself as “not only an organization, rather it is a family of professionals who are creative, innovative and experienced in their respective fields.”2

Around the globe, individuals, communities, and organizations advocate for and support the entrepreneurship movement. Many colleges and universities offer courses, degrees, and competitions for entrepreneurship teams. Communities provide support through services such as incubators that foster planning and startup activities. Organizations like UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development holds a Youth Entrepreneurship Competition annually.3 That is where student Chloe Huang, in 2017, submitted her idea for an algae energy pavilion to the Education for Sustainable Development competition. Huang recognized the problem of lakes suffering from oversaturation of algae and saw a solution in converting the algae into a biofuel, creating green energy while alleviating an environmental problem.4

In the examples of both Libin and Huang, the entrepreneurial products focus on the use of technology and improving life, but they also represent two vastly different approaches to entrepreneurship. Libin’s focus was on improving quality of life by allowing users to track and organize information in their business and personal lives, whereas Huang focused on a global environmental issue to sustainably improve water quality. Each idea solves a problem that many people might not even have noticed. Becoming aware of problems that need to be solved, then solving the problem to make our lives easier or better, is part of the entrepreneurial perspective.

Footnotes

  • 1Robin Wauters. “Evernote CEO Phil Libin: ‘My Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs? Don’t Do It.’” The Next Web. April 27, 2012. https://thenextweb.com/video/2012/04/27/evernote-ceo-phil-libin-my-advice-to-aspiring-entrepreneurs-dont-do-it-video/
  • 2“Evernote SuccessStory.” SuccessStory. June 24, 2018. https://successstory.com/products/evernote
  • 3UNESCO. “Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development.” n.d. https://en.unesco.org/gap
  • 4Chloe Huang. “Algae Energy Pavilion.” Entrepreneurship Campus. August 1, 2017. https://www.entrepreneurship-campus.org/ideas/14/7404/
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