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[Lei Lei]

Starting Your Own Business

Part IB

Do You Have What It Takes?

FICTION: To be an entrepreneur, you must be born that way.

FACT: Anyone can learn to operate like an entrepreneur.

What are the similarities of successful entrepreneurs?

Persistence

Desire for immediate feedback

Inquisitiveness

Strong drive to achieve

High energy level

Goal-oriented behavior

Independent

Demanding

Self-confident

Calculated risk taker

Creative

Innovative

Vision

Commitment

Problem solving skills

Tolerance for ambiguity

Strong integrity

Highly reliable

Personal initiative

Ability to consolidate resources

Strong management and organizational skills

Competitive

Change agent

Tolerance for failure

Desire to work hard

Luck

How many of these traits do you possess? For the traits you do not possess do you have people around you that do, that you can include in your plans?

What is Creativity? Can you improve your creativity? YES! How?

Creativity is being able to create new ideas and ways to solve problems that provide cool opportunities. Gather as much information as you can (read, talk with experts, etc.); brainstorm over time. Just think about the problem or issue until an idea comes to you.

Characteristics of Creative People

Bright

Adaptable

High self esteem

Challenge-oriented

Idea-oriented

Inquisitive

Curious

What is an Innovation?

The classic definitions of innovation include:

1. the act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
2. the introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
3. a new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
4. the successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
5. change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
6. the process of making improvements by introducing something new[

Where do innovative ideas come from?

Unsatisfied customers

Demographic changes in society

Luck

Imagination

Vision

Problem-solving

Remember:

Look for new ideas

Keep it simple

Start small

Is your product or service for here in America or for Haiti? What does Haiti need to assist it to economically stand on its own once again? What product or service could be provided to Haiti (the country) or Haitians (the people)? How can we make this happen? How can we secure it?

Try, try, try again. Imagine, if one million people said or thought like you did and brought your product or provided your serivce, How much money would you have made? Where would you be now?