Factors Paper: Ma. Rosario Christine K. Abrugena

ABRUGENA, KRISTINE C.                                                                                         April 2, 2012   "What qualities of an entrepreneur do you possess?" and "What qualities of an entrepreneur are not yet with you?" Entrepreneurship is at all times associated with the word innovatiion wherein new ideas are expected to be generated and developed. Doing business does not only entail creating jobs but also providing more convenience and better satisfaction to prospective customers. A successful entrepreneur possesses various qualities that truly aids in the materialization of a business. There are a number of top qualities that characterizes a successful entrepreneur and this includes the following - disciplined, confident, open minded, self-starter, competitive, creative, and determined, has strong people skills & work ethics and has passion.   I am positive that I possess some of the qualities mentioned above. For one, with all the responsibilities coupled with the diverse learning I come across especially way back in college and presently at work, I have already instilled the value of discipline. As an Entrepreneurship major, I somehow felt what it was like building up a business from scratch to handling the operations, marketing, selling and taking care of the books as well as dealing with the other directors of our simulated corporation. In all those aspects, observance of discipline is essential. With the exposure on the different functions in the business, I came to understand and I continue to bear in mind that being disciplined is knowing how to handle a sustainable business, not rushing things and not only focusing on costs and returns but also on how the market reacts. I start at thinking about the things where my business can excel which will eventually pave the way to positive a bottom line and acceptable returns. With the nature of work I am in the present moment, I have learned to exude the right amount of confidence. Being a part of the marketing group in a banking institution wherein I face the senior officers and the owners of top corporate clients, handling conversations confidently is an integral part. In business, displaying confidence attracts the people because they too will tend to put their confidence on your product or service.   I think that in terms of entrepreneurship, I have not fully gained the quality of being a self-starter but I have the determination to work things out and achieve my goals. This supports the fact that I am being excellently appraised in my current work. I think that confidence and determination goes hand in hand as it complements each other. As I assess myself, I can lead and be a self-starter in a smaller scale but I still have something to improve on in long range business planning. I always get the feeling though of wanting to start something so much but then I do not have the resources yet to begin it. Further, I can say that I have strong work ethics which I believe will largely contribute to attaining my objectives. On the other hand, I cannot completely describe myself as open minded in relation to entrepreneurship because I lack creativity. It is not often that there are new ideas which constantly come up. I may find an opportunity but I do not have absolute valour or an ironed-out plan yet to implement during such opportunity. Because of that, I am not yet able to characterize my stance as competitive enough. Besides that, I do not have sufficient capital yet to start my own business. But then when I reflect about things, I realize that business does not have to come out very big nor grand. I find generating innovative ideas as a challenge.  I think that mediocrity is not an option in entrepreneurship and failure to develop products to address and entice new market will definitely put the business down. Lastly, despite displaying confidence, I still have to improve on my people skills. I would like to reach a point where it would not be too much effort to please people and be able to deal with them while exhibiting exceptional public relations.  3.0