JCB's ( R090209) Factors Paper

The Journey Begins: A Hopeful Entrepreneur's Introspective First Step

By

JCB

(Student No. R090209)

The author's interest has already been piqued.

At first, he flew in blind to this course, only having a vague clue of what was to come. Then all of a sudden, Professor Jorge Saguinsin, the teacher of the course, ends the first session by holding a debate over the proposition: "Are entrepreneurs born, made, or lucky?" Naturally, the students of the class welcomed the task and vigorously debated the topic on the floor. The results are still to be announced.

After that, Professor Saguinsin did not left (leave) his class off the hook. He continued the discussion on his blog. And the author has responded accordingly.

Now, Professor Saguinsin wants his class to accomplish a "factors paper" or a self-assessment test with the objective of the determining each student's suitability to be an entrepreneur.

For a course that has only had one class, so much has been done and needs to be accomplished. Quite action packed. Seemingly so much potential.

Considering that there is a new assignment, the author took the task seriously. And since the primary instruction is to test oneself thoroughly, the author decided to take not just one self-assessment exam, he took three.

The first exam, which incidentally was more detailed than the rest, was the Business Development Bank of Canada's (BDC) Entrepreneurial Potential Self-Assessment Test found in: http://www.bdc.ca/EN/advice_centre/benchmarking_tools/Pages/entrepreneurial_self_assessment.aspx

According to this online exam, the author has the makings of an entrepreneur. He scored extremely high with the Motivation and Aptitude criteria, which indicated that he had valid reasons and notable competence to be an entrepreneur. The author, however, only registered an average rating when it came to the Attitude metric. And this was mainly because of his perception of some things being beyond one's control. This of course runs contrary to the essence of an entrepreneur. After all, an entrepreneur should always believe that he can control EVERYTHING. Whether this is viable or not is not the point. The idea rather is that the entrepreneur will never yield to his environment. This indeed is an eye opener for the author.

Throughout his life, the author believed that he led a gung ho life. He thought nature or his surroundings could never come up with any obstacle that he cannot hurdle. And because of this, he always believed that his instincts always and without exception took the forefront. He was wrong.

This test proved that the author's perception of living a life of being totally gung ho was a mirage. It was a personal misconception, one which he has fueled over time. And looking back, he now sees that there were significant number of times that he should have leapt but didn't because there was lack of information. Of course, the author is not saying that he should be absolutely reckless. There, however, times in life that scant data is enough to make one leap.

In this instance, the author remembers the time when he was invited to join a fledgling HR & business consultancy firm years ago.  He said no because at that time the industry was dominated by multinational organizations. And he further thought that a local firm couldn't hack it. He was mistaken. Now, that firm has thrived and become successful. Its prime mover currently has a column in one of the more established newspapers in the country. Considering these developments, the author obviously, should have leapt then, but he unfortunately didn't. So in spite of his personal perception, that he lives on instinct alone, allowing his gut to make decisions, he after all, as the poet Shel Silverstein puts it, "walks a walk that is measured and slow."  

Indeed, an entrepreneur should never manage or conduct his business solely on data alone. Information is important, but gut feeling and instinct should also play roles. And in this regard, the author is still learning to act based on a mixture of deliberate thinking and gut feeling. Hopefully, as the course progresses, the author can discover that equilibrium.

The next test that the author took was fairly simpler than the BDC exam. And it was the Mentors, Ventures, and Plans (MVP) Self-Assessment test, i.e., http://www.mvp.cfee.org/en/selfassessskills.html.

The exam asks straightforward questions which all in all are only 12. This is significantly lesser than the BDC's 50 queries. The MVP Self-Assessment test has merit because the major traits and characteristics of an entrepreneur are touched and tackled, e.g., creative thinking, planning, research, communication, team building, and goal setting. And under this test, the author scored 31 points. The website itself provides the explanation: "You already share many key attributes of entrepreneurs. If you have not yet decided to become an entrepreneur, you should give it serious consideration." [Emphasis added]

Aside from confirming the results of the first exam that the author took, the MVP Self-Assessment test, in no uncertain terms, states that he can be an entrepreneur. More important, the result of the test urged the author to seriously consider being an entrepreneur. This means a lot. Because for the first time, the author has received confirmation that he does have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Indeed, this couldn't have come at a better time.

For quite some time now, the author, even before enrolling in his Entrepreneurship course, has been asking questions. Up to when will he be an employee? Up to when will he be subservient? When can he have the guts to become an entrepreneur? When can he finally plunge into the exciting but unguaranteed realm of entrepreneurship? How will he fare in a world virtually unknown to him?

All these questions, though valid, are mind numbing. Thinking about them altogether gives the author fits. But, with the result of the MVP Self-Assessment test, he now knows that he should seriously think about being an entrepreneur. The outcome of this exam provides the author with some degree of confidence which he never possessed before. He now sees the world of entrepreneurship not as frightening mystery, he views it as a frontier full of promise and waiting to be conquered.

The last test that he took was designed by Entrepreneur Alliance.Org. And this exam can be found in: http://www.entrepreneuralliance.org/index.php?id=108

Again, this test is not as extensive as the BDC exam, but it has merit, too. And after taking this particular quiz, the author scored a 94 out of a possible 100.

But, it wasn't the high score which made this test special; it was the presence of some questions not present in the previous ones. For instance, the exam asks if the author's family will be supportive of his decision to be an entrepreneur. And corollary to this, one query asks whether the author is ready to work 50 hours per week on a regular basis. These are important considerations because the author now has a family of his own. The absence or possible dearth of quality time with family will be an issue.

Due to this test, the author realized that being an entrepreneur, at this stage in his career, will affect his family. Most likely, this radical shift will force the author to spend more time rearing his nascent company, whatever it may be.

But, being family man, spending time with the family is primordial and paramount to the author. There's nothing on this Earth that is more important to him than being with his wife and son. Thus, if he should decide to be an entrepreneur, he will have to consult his family. If they won't support him, then he'll have to wait until the time that they would say yes. Of course, this does not preclude the author in trying to sway his family to believe in the advantages of having one's own business. Patient persuasion shall subsist.

After taking all of these tests, one glaring finding became apparent and undeniable: the author does have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The author would readily rejoice except all these means nothing if they cannot be proven. As far as he is concerned, rating high on a test doesn't necessarily make one an entrepreneur. No amount of psycho-evaluation or interview can predict if a person can indeed become an entrepreneur. And there is no oracle that can say that a person who rates high in these tests can become the next Henry Sy.

The first step therefore for the author is to accept with utmost humility that he has a lot to learn when it comes to being entrepreneur. In this regard, he must try to absorb as much as he can from his Entrepreneurship course. He then should be observant of the latest developments in world business and politics. The author must also look at international and local economic trends. He should remember to pray to his God. And of course, wishing that lady luck or the Fates be kind to him wouldn't hurt as well. It is only when the author does all of these can he indeed start his journey on being an entrepreneur.

All in all, the author, through the series of tests that he has taken, has learned so much about himself. If it were not for these exams, then he would most likely have developed more false notions about himself. Now, he knows his potentials and weaknesses. He has been grounded in reality. This is important because before trying to soar, the author must know the soil that he is stepping on. And only after doing that, only after being exposed to his faults, frailties and foibles can the author indeed soar. By being cognizant of weaknesses, the author will know how crucial it is to stay afloat, because if he fails, he'll hit the Earth with a big thud.

The author in a short span of time was forced to look into a mirror. He was virtually coerced to be introspective. Normally, he would detest such tyranny, but in this case, he'll make an exception. He's glad that through this course, he has learned more about himself. And it is not every day that this can happen. This alone makes the author grateful.

So much has been learned and realized. And the author accepts all of these with humility.

This course, as mentioned at the onset, now commands the interest of the author. He's ready to be directed.