The African Renaissance Needs Entrepreneurial Fuel

Posted by admin in Entrepreneurialism on Aug 22nd, 2010 | 0 comments

In Africa, the paradigm of a united Africa is spreading like a veld fire. People are being made aware of uniting forces that they believe can benefit us all here in Africa.

The principle of synergy teaches us that 1 and 1 doesn’t necessarily make 2. I heard a story told to me by a farmer that one of his workhorses could haul a wagon with a load of three and a half thousand pounds (one and a half thousand kg), but when he uses two horses the weight doesn’t double – it triples. With two horses he couldn’t only haul double what one horse could do, he could haul triple – a wagon with a load of ten thousand pounds (four and a half thousand kg). This is synergy; one labouring with another brings about a result higher than the sum of the two working separately.

Many circumstances should be in place to accommodate any paradigm shift successfully. One of the circumstances that would contribute to assisting the paradigm of the African renaissance to succeed is economical sustainability. Economical sustainability is a very scarce idea in Africa. In Africa, we either live for the here or now or we are simply ignorant of the way we should think economically.

A paradigm most definitely worth our earnest consideration for successful transition to African renaissance is the paradigm of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial thinking frees people to embrace their autonomy and take charge of the future they want to create. Entrepreneurial thinking elicits in us the willingness to embrace responsibility that motivates us to participate in creating economical sustainability.

One wonders which one came first – poverty or a scarcity mentality? I know for certain a scarcity mentality can lead to (physical) poverty. I also believe poverty created by natural or external circumstances, like drought or dictatorial leadership, can eventually cause a scarcity mentality in people. In Africa we had our fair share of these external and natural circumstances that inhibited us to live in abundance.

Now if it’s true that we have to change our thinking, even our thinking that was formed by external and natural circumstances, how are we going to do it? How can we embrace a paradigm of abundance, like entrepreneurial thinking, to lift us up from the scarcity mentality that has made ingrained roads on the creases of our brains?

A quick answer added to this article will simply not suffice to give a clear picture of what we should do to embrace the entrepreneurial paradigm of abundance. I suggest you frequent this blog over the next couple of weeks in order to follow a line of thinking that will empower you to take hold of yourself. A line of thinking that will empower you to embrace the entrepreneurial paradigm of abundance.

I will show you, thought by thought, how we can get up from the dust, shake it from us and start to live the way we were meant to live!

The Business Limitations to Entrepreneurialism

Posted by admin in Entrepreneurialism on Aug 1st, 2010 | 0 comments

From the chancellor’s perspective, entrepreneurialism is vital for the health of the economy. He needs individuals with bags of entrepreneurialism to drive forward business into new areas and to conquer internal / external markets.

Entrepreneurs innovate to improve their financial standing and in the process they have an impact on all of our lives and increase the tax revenues the country so desperately needs

Without this entrepreneurialism drive, business would struggle and new ideas would never get off the ground. Entrepreneurialism is, in a nutshell, the primary driving force behind our lives as we know it, and without it we would all be living in the dark ages.

But for all entrepreneurs to succeed there are a number of other factors that are required beyond great ideas to make new ventures successful.

One of the major limitations to entrepreneurialism and a business aptitude is money. As is always the case in any business, money is critical to success or failure, and no matter how skilled a businessman you may be, you need funding of some sort to get things off the ground. This may be with either personal funds or borrowed funds. Lack of financial support can drive any entrepreneur into the abyss. After all, without money, the best idea in the world will remain just that – an idea.

Another significant limitation to entrepreneurialism is the marketplace. Whether that’s in the form of competition, under supply or over supply, the market dictates which ventures will succeed or fail. A good way around this is to initially examine the market you intend to enter and to conduct market research accordingly. Find out who else is operating in the market and what level of success they’re enjoying and why.

Alternatively if you’re going for a new product or innovation, it’s crucial to uncover whether that’s something that consumers needs or is likely to buy. Basing this on intuition alone is a simple way to making the wrong move in your new business venture, so make sure you invest the time and effort into getting this right.

Entrepreneurialism is no doubt important, crucially so, in the success of our economy. Without it, things would grind to a halt and employment would be significantly harder to come by. But there are other elements to business success that are of crucial importance; some of which more critical to success or failure than entrepreneurialism itself, such as proper funding and a willing /able market.

What all entrepreneurs seek is business success. They are all willing to take major risks with their capital. It is in the interest of the country and all of us that as many of these people succeed as possible in their new venture.

What the chancellor needs to do is to encourage entrepreneurs by putting in place policies that help newcomers with funding and market research. He needs to invest in education so that people with ambition can learn the new skills they need to drive their business forward. He needs to decrease red tape so that they can spend more time developing their business instead of filling in paperwork.

The Importance of Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset for the Average Business Owner

Posted by admin in Entrepreneurialism on Jul 30th, 2010 | 0 comments

So how important is it to have an entrepreneurial mindset for someone who owns a business?  Well, that depends upon if the business owner considers himself to be an entrepreneur or just someone that does not want to work for anyone else.

 

An entrepreneur generally is a person that wants to build a business of some stature and size where as a person that just doesn’t want to be an employee usually ends up just having a small business with maybe a few employee’s.

 

If you are the type of business owner that is happy and likes having a small business then you probably don’t need the mindset of a true entrepreneur.  But if you want to have a bigger business, a business that really takes off and grows with a life of its own, then you most defiantly going to need the entrepreneurial mindset. 

 

When people start to build a business, they run into problems, challenges.  It’s just the way it is and there is not much that anyone can do to stop them, it’s just happen.  So without the right mindset, the entrepreneurial mindset, people just starting out in business end up quitting.  They quit because the start to listen to the thoughts that are running through their brain that tells them “they are not good enough” or “you can’t do that”.  And that is all crap.

 

The true entrepreneur has the mindset and the ability to control those thoughts and feelings and to move through them and to conquer them.  It has happened over and over again where a person wants to build a business but they get five feet out of the door and they get stopped because they ran into a challenge and their mindset is not solid so they quit. 

 

So go out there and start to develop yourself and build the entrepreneurial mindset needed to create businesses that grow like weeds.

Why Hbcu Presidents Need Entrepreneurial Focus

Posted by admin in Entrepreneurialism on Jul 30th, 2010 | 0 comments

 

 

National Implications:  Why HBCU Presidents Need Entrepreneurial Focus

 

 

 

 

________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

 

Public Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) presidents are being increasingly called upon to develop an entrepreneurial spirit that encourages fundraising from the private sector.  Fundraising at HBCUs is no longer the sole responsibility of development officers.  The overwhelming truth is that donors want relationships with CEOs, not managers.  So often, donors need to feel connected to the cause and the recipient.  This connection presupposes direct presidential involvement in the cultivation activities for donors.  Unfortunately, many HBCU presidents fail to engage in the donor cultivation and stewardship process that creates a continuum of giving by alumni, foundations, corporations, and other university friends who have an interest in charitable giving.  The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of presidential involvement in fundraising at HBCUs.

 

Introduction

In reviewing the literature regarding alumni giving, it was determined that predominantly white institutions have alumni giving rates that range between 20-60 percent while black college alumni giving rates typically fall below ten percent.  At a time when endowments are decreasing due to economic forces and public support of institutions of higher education is at an all-time low, it is a matter of survival that black colleges increase their giving rates (Gasman, 2003, p.22).

 

Purpose of the Article

This purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of entrepreneurial orientation of public HBCUs and university presidents and to illustrate how those orientations are related to the revenue-generating activities of their institutions and the institutions’ financial stability.

 

The Problem

Increasing the endowments at HBCUs means placing more emphasis on cultivating alumni and educating them about the importance of philanthropy.  Advancement professionals at these specialized institutions face a growing dilemma – how to strengthen university resources in a climate that has historically relied almost wholly on public funding.  Public HBCUs will eventually be forced to identify private resources to survive and thrive.  The higher education landscape is changing rapidly and both private and public institutions are searching for new revenues – requiring more entrepreneurial ways (Bowen and Shapiro 1998).

 

Background of the Problem

Changing economic conditions at the state level have reduced the amount of governmental support available to public institutions of higher education.  These shrinking revenues have added a new responsibility to chief executive officers at institutions of higher education.  Embracing an appreciation for cultivating relationships with donors is a must step for university presidents at public institutions.  This is a different and oftentimes unwelcome responsibility among HBCU institutional leaders (Birnbaum, p. 39).

The fact of the matter is simply that HBCUs have to step up to the plate in order to compete with majority institutions.  The competition is on for student enrollment, student recruitment, public funding, and now private fundraising.  The need for funds has put tremendous pressure on the presidents of HBCUs–so much that 25 percent of all presidents of these institutions left their jobs during the two-year period between 2000 and 2002. A major source of these fundraising difficulties arises from the small size of the institutions and from their less-affluent alumni bases (New York Amsterdam News 2002).

 

Presidential Entrepreneurialism

Clark’s (1998) theoretical framework is the basis for defining and understanding the entrepreneurial university.  Entrepreneurial activities comprise third-stream income sources that include 1) innovative and profit-based, self-supporting operations that go beyond traditional sources, such as business development activities and innovative retail sales operations, 2) activities that develop and enhance traditional income streams such as endowment and tuition, and 3) activities that involve both traditional and nontraditional aspects, such as distance learning, which uses nontraditional methods of teaching to gain tuition, which is a traditional source of income (Riggs, p. 30).

 

Presidents Can Cultivate Satisfied Donors and Help Fundraisers Achieve Results

 

Engaging in basic, traditional fundraising efforts will help HBCU presidents secure substantial gifts from untapped donors as well as donors who have a history of giving.  Having an appreciation for the donor’s wishes is what presidents should embrace first.  If a donor does not feel connected to an organization or its leadership, the likelihood of acquiring a major gift is minimized.  Philanthropists rely on their relationships with organizations to influence their giving.  The lack of connection between prospective donors and organizations results in unsatisfied philanthropists.  It is incumbent upon the fundraiser and the institutional leader to resolve any differences in philosophical underpinnings prior to donor cultivation.  Cultivating meaningful and impacting gifts means resolving deliberative conflicts through choices grounded in responsibilities to persons (Johnsen, p. 115).

Senior fundraising professional and author, Penelope Burke, addresses donor philosophy best by saying, “When a donor sits down to write a check, her heart may be racing, she may be imagining how you will react when you open the envelope, and she is certainly wondering whether her gift will have a positive impact on the work you both cherish” (Burke, p. 15).  This statement is the foundation of the fundraising profession and a concept that university presidents should note.  People give money to people, not causes.  In translation, philanthropists give careful consideration to making sizeable donations, and when cultivated by the right person at the right time, the organization reaps the best harvest. 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have only recently embraced the concept of matching donor preferences with institutional funding needs.  Approaching donors from this angle has yielded more resources for HBCUs.  Many of these schools have discovered that using presidents to call alumni produces results.  When alumni receive a call from the current president, they feel important.  They feel like their gift was truly appreciated.  Establishing such a relationship will nearly guarantee support.  In the fund development community, stewards often overlook the importance of building relationships.  It is imperative that presidents understand and respect donors. 

 

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, presidents and other upper-level administrators should embrace the understanding of fund development’s importance to institutional financial stability.  Administrators must be equipped with meaningful data that will offer insight to enhance the revenue stream from alumni and private industry.  “If historically Black colleges are to survive, they must learn how to plan effectively within the institutional context to achieve their desired fund-raising results” (Barrett, p. 7).   It is obvious that these specialized institutions must implement some method of strategic planning to develop advancement activities and strategies.

Employing a rational approach to developing and implementing a comprehensive fundraising campaign is key. Identifying institutional needs, developing plans for achieving those needs, beginning to implement those plans, and actually executing the campaigns will be critical to the survival of these institutions.

 

References

 

Barrett, T. G.  (2006, October/December). How strategic presidential leadership and institutional culture influenced fundraising effectiveness at Spelman College.   Planning for Higher Education, 35 (1), 5-18.

Birnbaum, R.  (1992). How academic leadership works:  Understanding success and failure in the college presidency.  San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass.

Bowen, W. & Shapirio, H. (1998).  Universities and their leadership.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press.

Burke, P. (2003).  Donor centered fundraising: How to hold on to your donors and raise much more money.  Chicago, IL:  Cygnus Applied Research.

Clark, B. R. (1998).  Creating entrepreneurial universities:  Organizational pathways of transformation.  Oxford, UK:  Pergamon Press.

Fundraising pressures plague HBCU presidents (2002, September 26-October 2). New York Amsterdam News.

Gasman, M. (2003).  Fund raising from Black-College alumni:  Successful strategies for supporting alma mater.  Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, 22.

Johnsen, L. L.   (May, 2005).  Understanding deliberative conflicts that confront academic fund raisers:  A grounded theory study.   Retrieved June 6, 2006, from ProQuest Information and Learning Company website:   http://www.lib.umi.com/dissertations/search.

Riggs, D. G (2005).  Entrepreneurial activities in independent college and university presidents:  A view from the top.  Retrieved May 5, 2006, from ProQuest Information and Learning Company: http://www.lib.umi.com/dissertations/search

Having “entrepreneurial Mind”

Posted by admin in Entrepreneurialism on Jul 29th, 2010 | 0 comments

Having ”ENTREPRENEURIAL MIND”

I take that by “good businessman” you mean a person who conducts their very own successful business or who is CEO of a successful company owned by others.

Nobody, in any way of life, can really succeed without these  qualities just mentioned by Johnr – say, successful public servants or successful employees or successful business owners / managers, All alike, need those same qualities.

The particular unique quality that leaps out in successful business people is their instinctive “entrepreneurial” minds. Let me try to explain this in my own way.

Tell a public servant that a bridge is about to be built across the river. The instinctive reaction is negative thoughts about public cost and logistical impacts.

Tell a successful employee the same and the reaction is something like “Great, it cuts 10 minutes off my travel time”.

But, an entrepreneurial mind automatically thinks in the flash of a second, and before any other thought, just for one example “Wow, that means land prices will rise on the other side of the river”.

You see, successful business people usually have an “entrepreneurial” mind which immediately identifies “opportunity” in any situation you care to mention. It’s a quality which can hardly be learned in management schools or from text books. It’s just a personal and very automatic way of thinking which I suspect is developed in childhood.

Figuratively speaking, successful business people got to be successful by exercising their entrepreneurial minds in spending hard time and cash working out exactly where the next bridges will be built across what rivers in this world. That entrepreneurial quality often results in successful people working “on” their business, not “in” their business.

So, in answer to your question “What makes a good and not so good businessman” and speaking broadly, I think you just look for people who work “on” their business rather than “in” their business. They are the ones with the best entrepreneurial minds most likely to really succeed..