Lesson 9 Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the ability and readiness to develop, organize and run a business enterprise,
along with any of its uncertainties in order to make a profit. The most prominent example of
entrepreneurship is the starting of new businesses.

Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as
change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may
include other values than simply economic ones.

Entrepreneurship is defined as the act of starting and running your own business or a tendency to be
creative and wish to work for yourself in your own ventures. An example of entrepreneurship is a person
who is running his own business.

An entrepreneur is a person who starts a new business and usually risks his own money to start the
venture. Examples of well-known entrepreneurs include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg,
Pierre Omidyar, Arianna Huffington and Caterina Fake.

What is importance entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is important, as it has the ability to improve standards of living and create wealth,
not only for the entrepreneurs but also for related businesses. Entrepreneurs also help drive change with
innovation, where new and improved products enable new markets to be developed.

7 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur
 They're passionate. Successful entrepreneurs have a passion for what they do. ...
 They're business savvy. ...
 They're confident. ...
 They're planners. ...
 They're always on. ...
 They're money managers. ...
 They never give up.

10 Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur

1) Creativity Creativity gives birth to something new. For without creativity, there is no
innovation possible. Entrepreneurs usually have the knack to pin down a lot of ideas and act
on them. Not necessarily every idea might be a hit. But the experience obtained is gold.

2) Professionalism Professionalism is a quality which all good entrepreneurs must

possess. An entrepreneurs mannerisms and behavior with their employees and clientele
goes a long way in developing the culture of the organization.

Along with professionalism comes reliability and discipline. Self-discipline enables an

entrepreneur to achieve their targets, be organized and set an example for everyone.

Reliability results in trust and for most ventures, trust in the entrepreneur is what keeps the
people in the organization motivated and willing to put in their best. Professionalism is one
of the most important characteristics of an entrepreneur.

3) Risk-taking A risk-taking ability is essential for an entrepreneur. Without the will to

explore the unknown, one cannot discover something unique. And this uniqueness might
make all the difference. Risk-taking involves a lot of things. Using unorthodox methods is
also a risk. Investing in ideas, nobody else believes in but you is a risk too.

Entrepreneurs have a differentiated approach towards risks. Good entrepreneurs are always
ready to invest their time and money. But, they always have a backup for every risk they
take.

4) Passion Your work should be your passion. So when you work, you enjoy what you’re
doing and stay highly motivated. Passion acts as a driving force, with which, you are
motivated to strive for better.

It also allows you the ability to put in those extra hours in the office which can or may make
a difference. At the beginning of every entrepreneurial venture or any venture, there are
hurdles but your passion ensures that you are able to overcome these roadblocks and forge
ahead towards your goal.

5) Planning Perhaps, this is the most important of all steps required to run a show. Without
planning, everything would be a loose string as they say, “If you fail to plan, you plan to
fail.”

Planning is strategizing the whole game ahead of time. It basically sums up all the resources
at hand and enables you to come up with a structure and a thought process for how to reach
your goal.
The next step involves how to make optimum use of these resources, to weave the cloth of
success.Facing a situation or a crisis with a plan is always better. It provides guidelines with
minimum to no damage incurred to a business. Planning is one of the most
important characteristics of an entrepreneur.

6) Knowledge Knowledge is the key to success. An entrepreneur should possess complete

knowledge of his niche or industry. For only with knowledge can a difficulty be solved or a
crisis is tackled.

It enables him to keep track of the developments and the constantly changing requirements
of the market that he is in. May it is a new trend in the market or an advancement in
technology or even a new advertiser’s entry, an entrepreneur should keep himself abreast of
it. Knowledge is the guiding force when it comes leaving the competition behind. New bits
and pieces of information may just prove as useful as a newly devised strategy.

He should know what his strengths & weaknesses are so that they can be worked on and
can result in a healthier organization.

A good entrepreneur will always try to increase his knowledge, which is why he is always a
learner. The better an entrepreneur knows his playground, the easier he can play in it.

7) Social Skills A skillset is an arsenal with which an entrepreneur makes his business
work. Social Skills are also needed to be a good entrepreneur. Overall, these make up the
qualities required for an entrepreneur to function.

Social Skills involve the following:

 Relationship Building
 Hiring and Talent Sourcing
 Team Strategy Formulation

8) Open-mindedness towards learning, people, and even failure

An entrepreneur must be accepting. The true realization of which scenario or event can be a
useful opportunity is necessary. To recognize such openings, an open-minded attitude is
required.

An entrepreneur should be determined. He should face his losses with a positive attitude
and his wins, humbly. Any good businessman will know not to frown on a defeat. Try till you
succeed is the right mentality. Failure is a step or a way which didn’t work according to the
plan. A good entrepreneur takes the experience of this setback and works even hard with
the next goal in line.

This experience is inculcated through the process of accepted learning. Good entrepreneurs
know they can learn from every situation and person around them. Information obtained can
be used for the process of planning.

Learning with an open mind lets you look at your faults humbly. New information always
makes an entrepreneur question his current resolve. It also provides a new perspective
towards a particular aspect. Open-mindedness also enables you to know and learn from your
competition.

9) Empathy Perhaps the least discussed value in the world today is empathy or having high
emotional intelligence. Empathy is the understanding of what goes on in someone’s mind.
This a skill that is worth a mention. A good entrepreneur should know the strengths and
weaknesses of every employee who works under him.You must understand that it is the
people who make the business tick! You’ve got to deploy empathy towards your people.

Unhappy employees are not determined and as an entrepreneur, it is up to you to create a

working environment where people are happy to come. To look after their well-being, an
entrepreneur should try to understand the situation of employees. What can be a
motivational factor? How can I make my employees want to give their best? All this is
understood through empathy.

Keeping a workplace light and happy is essential. For without empathy, an entrepreneur
cannot reach the hearts of employees nor the success he desires. Empathy is one of the
most important characteristics of an entrepreneur.

10) The customer is everything A good entrepreneur will always know this; a business is
all about the customer. How you grab a customer’s attention is the first step. This can be
done through various mediums such as marketing and advertising.

It is also important that you know the needs of your customers. The product or service which
is being created by your organization needs to cater to the needs of your consumers.
Personalising a business for consumers will also boost the sales.

The ability to sell yourself in front of a potential investment when it comes in the form of a
customer is also required. Being ready with the knowledge to please a customer, is a way to
have a successful business.

It isn’t necessary that every entrepreneurial venture is a huge success. In addition to a

brilliant idea, viability is an equally important aspect of a business, which is where having a
business education can play an important role. All these characteristics of an
entrepreneur can be instilled in an individual

Job options
Jobs directly related to your degree include:

 Accommodation manager
 Catering manager
 Chef
 Conference centre manager
 Event manager
 Fast food restaurant manager
 Hotel manager
 Public house manager
 Restaurant manager

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

 Air cabin crew

 Business development manager
 Customer service manager
 Fire risk assessor
 Health service manager
 Human resources officer
 Marketing executive
 Retail manager
 Tour manager
 Tourism officer

What is travel and trade in tourism?

 Travel Trade is a tourism term referring to tour operators, travel agents, receptive operators
and wholesalers. These professionals organize and contract to buy travel products to sell to
groups or individuals.

What is a travel trade?

 Travel trade includes online travel agents, receptive tour operators, tour operators,
wholesalers, and travel agents. Located in the country they are selling to, the travel trade have
an intimate knowledge of the travellers' interests and motivations, and promote tourism
experiences and vacations.

What is the role of travel trade in tourism?

 The travel trade sector supports the bookings and sales in the other sectors. The people that
work in the travel trade make reservations for accommodations, tours, transportation, food and
beverage and/or for attractions.

What is an example of travel trade?

 These include tours, sightseeing, airport transfers, restaurants, accommodations, and other
components for groups, fully independent travellers (FIT), or both.

11 challenges sustainability entrepreneurs in tourism face

Ordered by importance (number of mentions), here the main challenges which our panel considers the
most likely to threaten entrepreneurial success linked to tourism and sustainability.

1 Communication and marketing

Getting communication and marketing right is – in the eyes of our panel – the main challenge for
sustainable tourism entrepreneurs to tackle. Telling people what you do and how you do it without using
false claims and greenwashing is an art by itself. It requires storytelling skills and a good sense of how
you can communicate “sustainability” through that story.
Because “sustainability” is an internal, managerial concept, it might sell well in your business to business
communication and negotiations, but isn’t very suitable for communicating with visitors or guests. The
challenge is to understand your consumer market and to find ways to tell your sustainability story by
making people feel good about themselves.

In fact, as entrepreneur your story can become as important as what you sell. You want to be perceived
as authentic, but not as game spoiler or eco-police. You’ll want to encourage without preaching. A real
juggling act.

2 Funding
Doing good things and at the same time doing well financially can be a tough challenge for sustainability
entrepreneurs, but there is no way around it. It starts with collecting the necessary funds for setting up,
which for small operations can be risky, especially in highly competitive markets such as tourism.
Investors will expect a return, which might not always work well with the entrepreneur’s desire to focus on
sustainability – a strategy which tends to pay off in the long run. Making it through the first 2-3 years,
financially, is by far the biggest challenge of any entrepreneur.

Limited knowledge about or access to adequate finance, sponsors, grants or funds are factors which can
make entrepreneurial success in sustainable tourism a challenge.

3 Finding the right people to join the team

Finding the right people to join the team is the third main challenge sustainability entrepreneurs in tourism
face, according to our virtual expert panel. The reason is that entrepreneurs influence their business
through their vision and character, often make decisions instinctively and true to their convictions. Finding
business partners or associates who believe in the idea, follow the vision and know how tho channel the
entrepreneur’s drive and energy into operational success – a challenging task.

It can be hard for entrepreneurs to make room for partners and to delegate tasks, because of fear of
being let down. As one panelist noted, there is a tendency towards not relying on the skills of your
colleagues.

Unlike cash flow, relationships are hard to control. Reliable professional relationships which last for more
than 2-3 years are crucial for building a business. But even the strongest supporters might move on and
leave years of close collaboration behind.

4 Unsupportive business partners

Linked to the challenge of finding the right team, if your suppliers or other business partners are
unsupportive, or (if you are an intrapreneur at a larger organization) senior management does not fully
support your ideas, then your work as sustainability entrepreneur in tourism won’t have full impact.

In the case of supply chains, this has a lot to do with size and purchasing power. Start-up businesses
often find it difficult to influence the supply chain, or to implement new ideas and press for behavioral
change. It is possible, but will take time.

5 Limited access to knowledge

Insufficient (access to) knowledge is the fifth reason why succeeding as sustainability entrepreneur in
tourism can be a challenge. As one panelist mentioned, tourism is for passionate people, but not for
amateurs.

Learning about sources, supply chain and processes on top of all the other tasks start-up businesses face
can be tough. The challenge grows where training is not available, or where women are denied access to
training opportunities.

Almost all entrepreneurs in tourism lack access to latest research, studies, examples and benchmarking
opportunities.

6 Weak strategy or business plan

Entrepreneurs are almost always passionate people, but not always good at sitting down and writing up a
business plan to support their ideas, and which will later help them to monitor their performance. This can
become a challenge when short-term planning takes priority over long-term strategies.

Our panel advises entrepreneurs to test your business plan with people you trust and who won’t be afraid
to tell you what they really think.

7 Unrealistic expectations
Thinking big is what successful entrepreneurs are good at. The challenge is that your idea might be
ahead of its time, and your market not quite ready for it – which can lead to disappointment. To succeed,
sustainability entrepreneurs in tourism need to be flexible and adjust expectations to the realities which
surround them. Patience, energy a sense for the right timing will get you there.

8 Lack of infrastructure
Even if as entrepreneur you have the knowledge, skills and energy to implement sustainability solutions at
your business or destination, you might find yourself slowed down by a lack of facilities and infrastructure.
A classical example – also mentioned by the panel – is recycling. If your community or region has no
recycling facilities, then you as business owner who wants to recycle as part of your sustainability strategy
will find it hard to succeed.

9 Authenticity: staying true to yourself

Considering the amount of potential pitfalls, no wonder that entrepreneurs often find it challenging to keep
their head clear of all the clutter and to maintain their integrity.

It takes a lot of conviction and inner strength to stay true to your beliefs if competitors imitate your best
practices, reduce your competitive advantage and force you to focus on business survival.

10 Maintaining competitive advantage

Linked to challenge number 9, entrepreneurs are innovators. Sustainability innovations can generate
good competitive advantage for your business. The challenge is to maintain it, especially if you sell your
idea to the broader tourism business community. This puts entrepreneurs under pressure to continuously
keep innovating, which can be stressful.

Another threat to competitive advantage and success as sustainability entrepreneur in tourism is when
your competitors are offered incentives which you don’t enjoy. If this is your case, good communication
and storytelling will be more important than ever.

11 Time management
Lastly, sustainability entrepreneurs are sought-after as motivational speakers and panel participants,
which poses a challenge. Every minute they spend talking about their work in other places means a
minute lost for business management and development.

What is the role of entrepreneurship in tourism industry?

Entrepreneurships in this industry mainly focus on economic development of tourist areas, aim to
create new sustainable businesses by increasing the capacity and willingness of enterprises to organize
the business and manage risks.

What are the issues faced by entrepreneurs in tourism industry?

Most of the hotel entrepreneurs considered financial management as the most important challenge
followed by problem solving and interpersonal skills. The main challenges facing the hotel industry in the
County include: shortage of competent manpower, financial constraints, high competition and
problems with suppliers.

What is the role of entrepreneurship in the tourism and hospitality?

In this context, its connection with entrepreneurship takes into account the economic development of
tourist areas, aims to create new sustainable businesses by increasing the capacity and
willingness of enterprises to develop, organize a business, to manage risk and profit.