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Fundamentals for Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur: From Business Idea to Launch and Management

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Description

  • Copyright 2016
  • Dimensions: 6" x 9"
  • Pages: 288
  • Edition: 1st
  • eBook (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-396699-2
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-396699-2

This is the complete, up-to-date guide to creating a successful new venture. Using real-life examples, it helps you assemble every piece of the puzzle: you, your team, your opportunity, your business concept and revenue model, your resources, and your successful launch, execution, and growth.


The authors illuminate entrepreneurial mindsets, motivation, attitudes, and leadership, and cover the entire process of starting a company, from idea through your first four years of operations. You’ll learn how to recognize, define, test, and exploit opportunities; transform ideas into revenue models that earn sustainable value; demonstrate viability to funders; establish a strong ethical and legal foundation for your concept; and build a thriving team to execute on it.


You can use this guide’s entrepreneurship techniques and approaches in many ways: to build a profitable new venture, to succeed as a self-employed professional, to make a non-profit or public agency more successful, or even to transform your current organization!


Entrepreneurship: From dreams to outcomes
Defining success for yourself—and achieving it

Designing concepts for profitability and growth
Planning your high-potential business, step by step

Innovating in product/service development and marketing
Delivering something new that your market will value

Building your entrepreneurial venture, one person at a time
Developing great teams—and avoiding common hiring mistakes

Mastering the essentials of entrepreneurial finance
Revenue models, financing options, metrics, and growth

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why This Book, What It Is All About, and Who We Are     xi
The Why     xi
The What     xiii
The Who     xvi
Chapter 1: What Is This Thing Called Entrepreneurship?     1
Introduction     1
The Entrepreneur     1
Entrepreneurial Dreams and Their Outcomes     2
There Is No One Narrative     4
Collective Dreams     6
Why Entrepreneurship Became Important     6
Challenging Assumptions—Entrepreneurship Is for All     7
Entrepreneurial Environments     9
National Innovation Systems for Entrepreneurs     10
    Incubators and Accelerators     11
Entrepreneurs: Made or Born     12
Who Is an Entrepreneur?    12
The Entrepreneurial Personality 13
Entrepreneurial Mindset     14
Defining Entrepreneurship: It All Depends     16
Opportunity Recognition     17
Entrepreneurial Goals     19
Different Goals for Different Folks     20
Other Definitional Issues     20
The Self-Employed as Entrepreneurs     22
    The Context for Self-Employed Entrepreneurs     22
A False Dichotomy     25
Do Goals Differentiate?     26
    A Mini-Case Example     27
Opportunity and the Entrepreneur     28
Exercises     29
Advanced Exercises     30
References     31
Chapter 2: What Is Being Successful: Well It All Depends     33
Why Examine Success?     33
    Case Example from Finland and Sweden     33
Defining Success     37
Defining Failure     37
Measurement Issues in Defining Success (and Failure)    39
Success in the Entrepreneurial Context     40
How Some Firm Founders See Success     41
How Entrepreneurship Researchers View Success     42
An Ancient Narrative on Obtaining Success     44
Success and Opportunity     44
Tying Success to Entrepreneurial Goals     45
Is Success Wealth?    46
The True Secret to Success: Networking     47
    Rules for Networking     49
Finally, Success Is Having Fun     50
Case Example from Italy     51
Conclusion     54
Exercises     55
References     55
Chapter 3: Getting a Good Idea and Making It Work     57
Overview     57
The Idea     57
Idea Generation     58
    Concept Benefits: Needs, Wants, and Fears     59
    Examples of Needs, Wants, and Fears     61
    Thinking out of the Box: Not Everything Needs a Hammer     62
    The Role of Creativity     63
The Concept     65
    The Conceptual Event     66
    A Case Example of the Conceptual Event     67
The Entrepreneur as a Dreamer     68
Generating Ideas     70
    Creating a Viable Business Concept and Business Model     71
    Looking for Trends and Counter Trends as Concept Sources     72
    Brainstorming: The Good and The Ugly     74
Timing: It Is Not First to Market     74
Designing a Concept for Profitability and Growth     75
    Building a Viable Business Concept     76
More Thoughts on Concept Development     78
Some Commentary on Franchises     79
The Concept Feasibility Worksheet Exercise     80
Exercise: Can You Describe the Concept?    82
References     84
Chapter 4: The Basics About Marketing You Have to Know     85
An Overview     85
Why Know Your Market?     86
What Is Marketing?    87
    Basic Marketing Terminology     87
Marketing Research: Doing the Work Upfront     91
    Market Research: Start Personally     92
    Examples of Walking Around Research     96
Developing Effective Marketing Strategies     97
    Mobile Devices and Marketing     99
    The Internet: The Best and Worst for a Venture     99
    Using the Internet and Cell Phone Apps     101
Selling: The Challenge     102
    Typical Problems in Selling Anything     102
    Selling to the Internet Generation     104
    Marketing in the Social Media Age     105
Advertising     106
Public Relations     107
Branding     108
Exercises     109
References     109
Chapter 5: It Is All About Building a Better Mousetrap: Product and Service Development     111
Overview     111
Product/Service Innovation     112
    Entrepreneurs Versus Inventors     113
    Stage-Gate Model of Product Development     114
    Using Stage-Gate Model     116
Types of Innovation     120
    Focus Innovation     121
    Innovation Impact     123
To Innovate or Not: That Is the Big Question     123
    Commercialization Is Key     125
    Defining New: In the Eye of the Beholder     125
Building on the Past     127
    Reinventing an Industry’s Products: Examples     127
    E-Commerce: Using Innovation in Marketing and Distribution     128
Industry Change as Opportunity for Product/Development     130
    Examples of Industrial Change Fostering New Models     130
Spotting New Trends for New Products/Services     132
Basic Conditions for Successful Products and Services     133
Case Study of New Product Development in a New Venture     134
Patents, Trade Secrets, and Copyrights     138
Exercise     138
References     139
Chapter 6: Finding Team Members and Building an Entrepreneurial Organization     141
Overview     141
Building the Venture One Person at a Time     142
    The Entrepreneurial Team     142
    Other Issues to Consider     144
    Outsourcing     145
Finding New Employees     146
    Big Hiring Errors     147
    Characteristics of a Good Hire     148
    A Mini-Case Example     150
Whom to Hire or Not, Whom to Fire or Not     151
    Saying “No” to an Applicant     152
    Firing an Employee     152
To Be a Family Firm or Not to Be     154
    What Is Firm Owning Family?    154
    Family Goals Impact Hiring     155
    Long-Term Impact of Hiring Family Members     156
Compensation, Benefits, and Stock Options     156
Building an Entrepreneurial Team Structure     158
    A Line Structure for Entrepreneurial Teams     159
    Project Approach to an Entrepreneurial Team Structure     161
    Informal Structure: Key to a Successful Entrepreneurial Team     161
New Firm Governance     162
Legal Structure Decisions     163
Final Thoughts on Entrepreneurial Management     165
Exercises     166
References     166
Chapter 7: Everything You Really Need to Know About Entrepreneurial Finance     169
Entrepreneurial Finance: An Introduction     169
Building an Entrepreneurial Financial Strategy     170
    Entrepreneurial Finance: Not Just Venture Capital and IPO     171
    Building a Sustainable Revenue Model     172
    Cash Flow: A Numerical Scorecard     174
    Determining Cash-Flow Needs     175
    Timing and Cash Flow     177
    Money Comes in Four Forms     179
Finding Money and Investors     182
    More Money Sources     183
    The Myth of Needing Deep Pockets     185
Understanding Investors and Bankability     186
    Capital     189
    Debt Financing     191
    Banks     192
    Venture Capital     192
    Angel Investors     193
    What Investors Look for in Any Venture     193
Bootstrap Financing     194
    Advantages to Bootstrapping     195
Crowd Funding     196
Exercises     198
References     199
Chapter 8: How to Grow or Not to Grow Your Venture: That Is the Management Challenge     201
Growing Your Venture: An Introduction     201
What Is Business Growth?     201
    Developing a Workable Growth Strategy     202
    Growth and Success     203
    Mini-Case on Growth by Replication     204
Describing Growth Versus Defining Growth     206
    Some Descriptions and Issues     207
Growth and Competition     216
Growth as Metamorphosis     218
Conclusion     221
Exercise     221
References     222
Chapter 9: Planning: Should You, When Do You, and How Do You?    223
Overview of Plans and Planning     223
Why Plan?    225
    Hooked on a Feeling     227
When Do You Plan?    228
How Long Will It Take?    229
For Whom Do You Plan?    230
What Goes into a Business Plan?    232
Detail Content of a Written Business Plan     232
    Executive Summary Content     233
    Marketing Plan Content     235
    About Competition     237
    Management and Organizational Plan     238
    Financial Plan Content     240
General Comments Concerning Plans     242
Final Words on Planning and Success     242
    Mini-Case on Chocolate Pralines     243
Index     247

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