Enterprise

What is Enterprise? An attempt to start An attempt to start

something new; something new; with vision and with vision and confidence and confidence and entrepreneur will entrepreneur will take the initiative take the initiative and the risk to and the risk to profitably exploit profitably exploit this opportunitythis opportunity

Entrepreneur Applies enterprise

to setting up a business, who takes the risks in setting up the business

Intrapreneurship A person that is enterprising within a business An intrapreneur works for an org and comes up

with new ideas/ new ways of solving problems/ ways of saving money or increasing revenue

e.g. an employee decided to cut costs in making matches by putting the flint on only one side of the matchbox or any employee that comes up with a new product idea e.g. Apple i pod

Gov dept: a more efficient service e.g on line tax payment; Manu co.adapting a machine to make it safer; within a service industry (del)

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs…

Confident Believe in their ability to successfully put ideas into practice,

even when others have doubts Flexible

Able to respond to changes and adapt their plans to work toward their objective or to revise the objectives

Realistic They are able to judge what they can achieve and not to get

carried away with over optimistic plans which will fail Prepared to take moderate risks

They are willing to take risks to succeed in a new business after assessing the degree of risk involved

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs Decisive

They are able to make good decisions within a short period of time so as not to miss out on an opportunity when it arises

Energetic They are able to work hard and with enthusiasm

over long periods of time to ensure that things get done on time

Innovative/ creative They can think of new ways of doing things or new

product ideas or new materials that could be used to make a product more successful

Other Characteristics Being a leader Being future focused Being resilient Being motivated

Enterprise skills Inner control

The ability to remain objective and disciplined when doing business. Able to manage the stress that may come from the pressure of work or difficult situations that may arise

Planning/ setting goals The ability to set out a programme of what they will do in

the future in order to achieve goals or objectives (goal setting, prioritising, time mgt

Risk taking (assessing and managing risk) The ability to estimate the level of risk involved in a

project and to decide if it is worth taking that risk to get any benefits that might arise if the project is successful

Enterprise skills

Decision making The ability to make good decisions within a short

time frame. This involves being able to see all of the options available in a situation and to weigh up the benefits and consequences of each before choosing the one which will give the best overall result

Human relations (managing people) The skill which allows an entrepreneur to deal

successfully with other people and to build good working relationships. (communicating, motivating, leading and managing people

Other Enterprise skills Innovation Recognising and overcoming

barriers to communication Stress management Time management Using feedback Reality perception

Enterprise in action: Home A family grows

organic vegetables in their garden to provide their own food and ensure a healthy diet

The children in a family set up a rota of household chores to be done so that everyone shares the workload

Enterprise in Action: Schools

A group of transition year students organise a basketball blitz for the new first year students to help them get to know one another

A teacher sets up a drama group after school so that pupils can write and perform their own plays

Enterprise in the Community Setting up a group

who visit and read to older people living alone in the area

Fundraising by the people in an area to build a community centre which is badly needed

Enterprise in Business A city centre launderette owner

starts a new service collecting bags of laundry from people at their offices early in the morning and returning them cleaned and ironed before the end of the working day

Two design graduates start a new business producing insulated cloth bags to keep cold drinks while people are drinking them

Enterprise at work (intrapreneurship)

A machinery salesman notices that customers have high levels of wastage of materials and suggests a way of improving his company’s machines to reduce wastage for customers. This change boosts company’s sales and gives them an adv over competitors

Enterprise in the Public Sector

The gov set up the IFSC on a derelict dockland site in dublin as a low tax centre for international banks. More than 11,000 people are employed which has attracted hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses into the area

The city and county councils which organised concerts and other cultural events in their parks around the country in recent years are a good example of enterprise by local authorities

Importance of Enterprise Things get done Needs of society for goods and services are

met Jobs are created Higher standard of living Taxes are collected Business world able to respond to change New products & services are introduced Confidence in society about its ability in the

future

Reasons for the growth in enterprise in Ireland The gov offers incentives and

assistance Positive attitude to enterprise

(cultural change) Ireland has embraced new

technologies Availability of an educated workforce The number of MNC’s in the country