CHAPTER 4

Entrepreneurial Characteristics Competencies

“The only reason why I have successful businesses is because I had more failures. The vast majority of
people are not Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Almost everyone is always wired to make mistakes. I see
failure as a fine tuning of your entrepreneurial journey. The next attempt is always much better. You
must view failure as a friend or teacher.”
-Jojy Azurin
Regional Director, Freelancer.com
LEARNING OUTCOME
1. Identify and differentiates the different characteristics and competencies of an entrepreneur.
2. Evaluate oneself and plan courses of action to help one’s entrepreneurial characteristics and
competencies;
3. Elaborate the demands for entrepreneurial success in most successful businessman.
THE 10 ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. Opportunity seeking persistence
2. Persistence
3. Commitment to work
4. Demand for quality and efficiency
5. Risk taking
6. Goal Setting
7. Information seeking
8. Systematic planning and monitoring
9. Persuasion and networking
10. Self-Confidence
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
1. Leadership and management abilities
Managerial leadership is the ability to plan, organize, direct and control the organization
towards the goal and objective of the organization. It requires conceptual skills in defining the
direction of the business and the development of plans and programs that will work effectively.
The mission and vision of the organization must be set up based on his investments and interest.
The human skill deals with how the leader will relate himself with the people around him and
those that he will encounter in the course of his business. Managers must treat their workers
with dignity and honor. They are aware of their needs and problems and workers are treated as
partners in the growth of his organization. Leaders motivate people to excel in their respective
field and pay them commensurately with their efficiency and performance on the job.
2. Positive and risk takers
The entrepreneur as a positive risk take, enjoys the challenges of putting his money and time
into test. He calculates the various alternatives open to him and careful in the choice of actions.
The entrepreneur gathers complete data and makes complete analysis before making decisions.
The entrepreneur makes things happen rather than wait for the things to happen. They look at
opportunities and make an immediate actions before others plunge into the business venture.
They are confident in their intelligence and abilities and optimistic that results will be positive.
3. Self-confidence and positive outlook
The entrepreneurs has strong belief in his capacity to make a difference in their chosen field.
They believe that achievements are guiding principles in man’s success as faith drives them to
do better. The entrepreneur believes in the lord Almighty that his talents are God given gift that

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 he must use for the well-being of mankind. His faith in God drives him to work with great
enthusiasm and perseverance to reach his target goals.
The entrepreneur looks at the bright side of the business. Threats are converted into
opportunities and he thinks of successes rather than failures. Positive outlook generates profit
and money that makes him richer. The poor becomes poorer because they do not think of how
to make money. Their put their destiny to the BATHALA or the BAHALA NA attitude as
tomorrow is another day. The entrepreneur thinks of how to make money.
4. Innovativeness and forward looking
The blazing path to entrepreneurial success is the courage to make innovations in products or
service. The entrepreneur refuses to stop at his achievements. He looks forward in creating
new things, something different from others. He thinks of new technology that will create new
and better things for the customers. He introduces innovations that will usually satisfy human
needs and wants. He satisfies new market demand for new and better products.
5. Natural intelligence and decision making skills
The entrepreneur’s natural intelligence is an important requirement in making effective
decisions. The entrepreneur has to make decisions as he cannot make things happen without
making a wise choice of alternatives. Creativity and innovativeness carry with it the power to
make decisions as he needs to satisfy customer needs for new and better products and service.
The success of any business venture rests with good decisions. The entrepreneur has to
increase market demand. The customers’ wants and needs for better product change over time
and the entrepreneur has to make decisions that would fit in this market demand. The
entrepreneur has to follow a logical process in making decisions.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
The entrepreneurial skills and competency factors are the following: negotiating, planning, risk
assessment, purchasing, accounting, recruitment, training, selling, controlling and dealing with
emergencies.

The Entrepreneur as a Missionary

The Entrepreneur as a missionary who perceives opportunities inherent in the exchange of goods with
great desire for profit. The entrepreneur creates an environment in which success is possible and the
possibility of failure is controllable. The entrepreneur is at work whenever he takes risk and invests his
personal talents and resources to make something new or different as customers like to buy new and
improve products.

Entrepreneur is Goal-Driven
An entrepreneur is goal-driven and self-confident as he exercises the locus of control. He sets high
goals ands strives to attain the projected target and accomplishments. He extracts compliance with set
goals and activities to avoid the risk, he foresees while planning the activities and programs in the
operation of the enterprise. He accepts challenges and responsibility for results. He makes sure that
people work based on specified work programs and schedules.

The entrepreneur is a Marketing Man

The marketing environment is identified by the entrepreneur and thus, he marshals his resources to
pursue the opportunities and makes immediate action to exploit his personal gain. The needs and wants
of customers are properly identified and these are the propelling reason for him to take the opportunity
to make profit. He takes the lead for innovation and makes modifications to make the customer aware
that his product or service is more superior to those offered by others.

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The Entrepreneur Starts Small to Become Big
The entrepreneurs start small but with their managerial talents and persistence , they exploit the
opportunities available for their disposal. At the early stage, their growth orientation is for expansion of
their operation and they persistently pursue approaches that differentiate them from other managers.to

MANAGERIAL SKILLS THAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR

Being hardworking and industrious are no guarantee in the making of business activities while they play
an important role in the success of the enterprise. While many successful entrepreneurs have not gone
to business schools to acquire managerial theories in the management of the enterprise, they have
developed managerial skills through share observation, or an inherent leadership ability and
intelligence.
The entrepreneur has the following managerial skills:
1. The ability to plan and conceptualize.
Conceptualization and planning go together. Good concepts need to be put in the planning
table to avoid the risk factor. The entrepreneur is able to forecast the future by seeing to it the
risk involve are properly controlled. He must be able to visualize the direction of the business
towards successful takeoff. He must see that the products or service, the pricing strategies, the
cost of production, and the inventory will generate reasonable profit and return of investment.
The take off point of any business is the generation of profit based on plans and programs.
2. The ability to organize the resources of the enterprise.
A good business organization is based on around people and resources. An entrepreneur works
with others and needs people with the same values and working ability. Efficiency and
effectiveness in the work arena are the working of people with dedication and talent to do the
job properly. The material and physical resources must be put in place. Waste of time and
money has no place in a good organization. The entrepreneur must be able to give specific
direction and work activities that will redound to efficient delivery of the necessary services to
customers and clients.
3. The ability to direct and motivate people in his organization.
People are like machines that need oil that will make them work smoothly and efficiently and
effectively. Machines will bug down if no oil is put into its chamber while in operation. The
same principles work with people. They need proper compensation and innovation for them to
deliver the necessary output. Compensation and benefits are no guarantee for effective
performance while it may serve as important ingredients. The entrepreneur must be able to
communicate ideas and plans to his subordinates with sense of humility. Good communications
and human relations will drive people to be motivated to perform their task with pride.
4. The ability to control
Controlling the whole operation is a difficult task for the entrepreneur. Safeguards and control
mechanism could put in place with carefully crafted policies and procedures. Such policies and
procedures must be carefully disseminated and understood by all who will implement them. If
the implementation stage, check valves through monitoring and feedbacks mechanism must be
worked out through reports and at times conference with key people. The progress of
operation and other activities related to finance and marketing must generate the necessary
reports as bases for more plans and actions. Controlling cost and none essential expenses will
save important profit that could be invested in profitable operations.
5. The ability to manage time
Time management is every essential ingredient to the success of an entrepreneur. Because of
the numerous activities to attend to the entrepreneur must be able to log on his time schedule
so that important activities could be attended on time. Meeting and conferences occupy most

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 of the time of entrepreneurs. They must be scheduled properly that they will not complicate
with important paper works in the office. Some entrepreneurs who burn themselves out with
stress die early and do not see the fruits of their labor. They must have schedule for his family,
his religion and enjoy some personal pleasure that will eliminate the stressful task of managing
his business.
6. The ability to adapt to the changing environment of business
Business today is fast changing with the advent of technology and innovation. The new
entrepreneur must be able to adapt to this changes in the business landscape for him to go with
the time of progress and expansion. Consumers’ tastes and preferences are gradually changing
to better quality products and services. Competition is shifting to more affordable quality
products and entrepreneur must be aware of this changing customer demand. Changes are
applicable adaptability should be given attention to gain continuous customer patronage.
While the above discussions are the theories and elements of good management, an
entrepreneur without formal training should attend seminars advance schooling to get further
into the realms of better management theories that will help in the operation of the enterprise.
Learning is not the sole property of those in school.
The entrepreneur, before launching into the field of business, must look forward to the
challenges of the entrepreneurial life. The decision to go into the business requires not only
investment in money and time but hard work and intelligence in order to succeed. The positive
qualities of the individual are needed to start an investment.

THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS

1. Identify the problem
The risk involved in the management of the business has to be identified and analyzed
before solutions could be made. Relevant data and information must be organized. The
core objective is to minimize the risk fact or involved as wrong choice of alternative would
result to production or operation losses.
2. Gather the data that brought the problem
Good and intelligent entrepreneur must be able to get the data that brought about the
problem. The solution to the problem is dependent on the data available at hand. Correct
information would give better solutions. False and irrelevant data would not give the best
solutions.
3. Analyze the data.
Not all information are relevant to the solution of the problem. Some data must be
discarded. It must focus on the problem at hand. It must be timely gathered and the
information is based on actual situations prevailing in the business environment. The
internal and external sources must be analyzed to find out which are relevant in formulating
alternatives solutions.
4. Formulating alternatives solutions.
The entrepreneur makes various alternatives solutions to the problem at hand. These
solutions are subject to a series of analysis and he may need outside opinion. He may
subject the alternatives to further study before making decisions until he finds the right
alternative course of actions.
5. Selecting the best alternative course of action.
After all the alternative courses of action had been analyzed, the entrepreneur makes the
Decision. The decision has to be implemented with the less possible risks in terms of money,
Time, effort. It must take into account the available manpower and material resources,
Supported with financial logistics.

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 6. Implementing the best alternative.
The modern entrepreneur utilizes group efforts in solving business problems. Problems and
solutions are best arrived when people who will be implementing the decisions are properly
consulted and their opinions and ideas are taken into account before the final decision is
implemented. Group effort is required in planning effective strategies for implementation.

ENTREPRENEURIAL MANAGEMENT DEMANDS

Many successful entrepreneurs in the Philippines and those in the foreign countries are not
making of known schools of management. Most entrepreneurs came from scratch and have
acquired managerial expertise in making business empires through shared hard work and
dedication. They possess characteristics and intelligence to make things happen rather than
wait for things to happen.
While schooling and learning management could guide the making of successful
entrepreneur, the individual talent and intelligence coupled with strategies akin to other
people are totally inherent to the entrepreneur.

The demands for entrepreneurial success are common in most successful businessman.
1. The entrepreneur is alert to opportunities and perceptive to make things happen.
The entrepreneur looks at things much ahead of other people. He sees things in
different way and develops strategies to make things happen the way he perceived it to
be. An entrepreneur is a starter but makes sure that what he started, he pursues until
he succeeds in making it happen.
2. The entrepreneur has the health and endurance to work long hours.
The dreamer entrepreneur could not stop working until he finds solutions to his
perceived idea. He spends 75 percent of his 24 hour time thinking and working until he
gets to the realization of his dream. He is willing to sacrifice personal pleasure in his
quest for the true meaning of his ideal set up of the business enterprise.
3. The entrepreneur of flexibility and change.
The entrepreneur does not have a one-track mind. He finds new avenue or course of
action as he senses some danger zone with on his plans and programs. He makes easy
revision but he makes sure that the track on hands is still towards the direction he wants
to achieve. He crafts new alternatives solutions and devises ways to make a difference.
4. The entrepreneur is self-assured.
The entrepreneur could not easily be rattled by problems or uncertainties. He has great
trust in his capability to develop new things. His intelligence and self confidence is
always at high level. He is guided also by his faith in God that his good intentions and
actions deserve to be finished.
5. The entrepreneur seeks others’ opinion or makes researches.
He believes that a person who asks questions could only be fool for a minute but one
who asks no question could be fool for a lifetime. He seeks the advice of other
professionals that will help make things happen. He indulges in research activities to
find new solutions.

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Case 4 Petra’s Cosmetics: I’ll Walk Alone

Service in the military is a tradition the Bayaua family of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan is very proud Of.
In fact, Sergio Bayaua was an officer with the rank of major in General Emilio Aguinaldo’s army during
the Philippine Revolution against the Spaniards in 1898. His son Donato served as an officer in the
Philippine Army during the American regime and fought the Japanese in 1942. Donato’s son, Fernando,
also became an army officer and retired as a colonel. These three prominent members of the Bayaua
clan were recipients of medals awarded for their bravery in combat. Friends and neighbors regard them
as exemplary role models for their children and they think of them as the epitome of machismo.

Just recently, however, Fernando’s sense of family pride was pricked when he discovered that his
teenage son, Pedro, was exhibiting unmanly behavior. Fernando became furious when he saw Pedro
applying make-up on his face. Later, Fernando also found out that his son displayed interest in
cosmetics. Fernando’s classmate in high school, Miss Rosario Mariano, confided to him that his son was
able to convince her to buy cosmetics in the amount of P12,500. It also turned out, later, that Pedro
was able to convince nine ladies to buy from him.

With Pedro’s interest in selling, he opted to enroll in a business course. He tried to support himself
by selling cosmetics. This he did instead of applying for the cadetship course at the Philippine Military
Academy, the alma mater of his father. Fernando was disappointed enough to think that his son would
not be successful in anything that he does.

When Pedro graduated from college, he thought of formally starting his career in entrepreneurship,
just like his uncle Teodoro. Pedro though of the great emotional strain that torments his father.
Nevertheless, he decided to learn the nuances of how to successfully operate a cosmetics retail shop.