Introduction
An entrepreneur process is the process by which an entrepreneur identifies an opportunity, evaluates, and develops it to produce a new product that can help him or her make some profit. The entrepreneur faces many forces in the process and must be ready to overcome all of them to emerge successfully. To emerge as a successful entrepreneur, an individual must follow several steps that will help him or her achieve his or her entrepreneurial goals.
A clear understanding of the entrepreneurship process helps an administrator in a business know his or her responsibilities. Many individuals risk leaving their jobs to go out and develop their innovations hoping that it will reward them. Before leaving the job, an individual can use the steps in entrepreneurship process to evaluate if he or she has a call to be an entrepreneur. This paper will seek to analyze the four major elements of an entrepreneurship process and how the entrepreneurship process has influenced the delivery of health care services and products.
The four major Steps of Entrepreneurial Process
The entrepreneurship process is made up of several steps but the major ones are four. These four steps are very important and an omission of any one-step leads to failure of the whole process. The first step is the identification and evaluation of the opportunity. This is the most difficult part in the process. At this stage, an entrepreneur is expected to generate some ideas that can help him or her start a business (Robert, Michael & Dean, 2006, prg.6).
He or she must also recognize opportunities for the business and study the market to find out if his or her product suits the market. The individual who plans innovate must consider consumer needs and wants. The individual must also consider his or her skills and hobbies. In addition to these considerations, the individual must also conduct surveys and questionnaires and study demographics. A combination of all these helps an individual know if his or her idea will work.
The second step is the development of a business plan. A business plan is needed to exploit the opportunity that the entrepreneur has identified. A good business plan is a detailed proposal that describes the business idea (Alan & Malin, 2007, p.34).
Here, the entrepreneur identifies a location for his or her business and decide if a trademark will be required for the business. This step consumes a lot of time bearing in mind that the entrepreneur has never written a business plan before. The entrepreneur should develop a good business plan since it will help him or her determine the resources that the business requires, the means that he or she will use to obtain those resources, and how to manage the new business.
The third step is the determination of the required resources. The entrepreneur here identifies those resources that are required for the business to start its operation. Some of the resources include finance, human resources, capital resources, and others. The present resources that are critical for the business to start its operation are determined and isolated from those that are just helpful to the business. The entrepreneur would rather underestimate in this stage than overestimate.
Management of the resulting enterprise is the fourth major step in an entrepreneurial process. This is the step in which the entrepreneur uses the resources acquired to implement the business plan. The aim here is to meet the goals of the business and develop it to a larger business. A management style and structure is implemented and the variables that affect the business are evaluated. It is also important for the entrepreneur to establish a control system that helps him or her to identify any problems and resolve them as fast as possible (TiE, 2003, p.140).
Ranking of the Steps
All the four steps in an entrepreneurial process are important but some are more important than the others are. The list below shows the four steps arranged from the most important to the least important in the entrepreneurship process.
- Management of resulting enterprise
- Identification and evaluation of opportunity
- Determination of required resources
- Development of business plan
Amongst the four steps, managing the resulting enterprise is the most important because this is the step that helps an entrepreneur to meet his or her goals. A successful evaluation of all the other steps and failure in management results in substantial loss by the entrepreneur. It is also important to note that one cannot identify and develop an opportunity without an identification of the type of business that he or she intends to begin.
This is an indication that the business is very important and poor management may mean total loss on part of the entrepreneur. The second important step is the identification and evaluation of the opportunity. The issue is not just the identification of an opportunity but also the identification of a practical opportunity and a good evaluation of the same. Identification of a poor opportunity would lead to a failure in the business regardless of the business plan that is developed and the resources that are available to implement the new venture (Jack, 2001, p.94).
Again, one cannot develop a business plan without an available opportunity. Again, one cannot determine resources without an opportunity. This places identification and evaluation of an opportunity before the development of a business plan and the determination of required resources. Determination of the required resources comes before developing a business plan because developing a business plan without the necessary resources is useless. On the other hand, an individual can hire a professional to write the business plan but cannot start the business without resources.
Personal Perspective
According to my personal perspective, the most important steps are the identification and evaluation of an opportunity and the determination of the required resources. These are the most important because from the definition of an entrepreneur, this is an individual who is capable of coming up with a new idea. Without an idea or the opportunity, the entrepreneurial process has no place to be applied. Identification of an opportunity and evaluation of the opportunity to find its viability is very important. Determination of the required resources is equally important because one cannot start a business without resources. A shortage of the resources means that the business cannot commence.
Corporate Perspective
According to corporate perspective, the most important elements are the management of the resulting business and identification and evaluation of an opportunity. This is because poor managing of the venture results in failure of accomplishment of the goals. This means that the opportunity identified and all the other processes that have been carried out are wasted. The venture would rather lack resources than waste the resources. Identification of an opportunity is important because the business cannot exist without an opportunity.
The Entrepreneurship Process and Healthcare Organizations
The delivery of services and products in healthcare organizations is very crucial. Entrepreneurship process has a great influence on this process in that, products are developed due to the presence of opportunities. The process is very important in the United States considering the current competition in managed care. It helps an organization to cut costs and to improve the quality of services and products to customers (Christine, 2003, p.16).
An individual identifies the opportunity and does some evaluation to check if it will work. The individual then develops a business plan that helps him or her to start the business at the most efficient location. The entrepreneurship skills also help the individual to determine the resources that are required by the project and how to manage the business. It helps in deciding the best healthcare services that can be used in treatment of patients and helps in locating the healthcare organizations in the best places.
Conclusion
The entrepreneurship process is the process by which an individual identifies an opportunity and develops it to help him earn some profit. The process is made up of several steps but the most important are four. Identification and evaluation of an opportunity helps an entrepreneur determine if his or her opportunity is viable. Development of a business plan helps the entrepreneur determine the best location for the business and decide if a patent is needed. Determination of the required resources helps the entrepreneur identify all the resources that the venture requires and separate those that are mandatory from those that just help the business. Management of the resulting business helps the entrepreneur meet the intended goals and advance the venture.
Reference List
Alan, L. C. & Malin, E. B. (2007). Entrepreneurship. London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 29-38.
Christine, G. L. (2003). Applying Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Organizations: A Journal of Entrepreneurship. 8(3). Pp: 8-23.
Jack, M. K. (2001). Getting Started in Entrepreneurship. New York: Wiley Publishers, 92-96.
Robert, D., Michael, P. P. & Dean, A. S. (2006). The Entrepreneurial Process. Web.
Thomas, F. D. (2003). Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to Create Successful Enterprises. New York: Wiley Publishers, 138-142.