To my surprise, I scored quite high on all the tests measuring entrepreneurial tendencies. GET-2 (highly entrepreneurial), Entrepreneur next door (78), and the entrepreneurial self assessment (37/50). I have discovered that I get easily bored working on routine jobs, so my end goal is to start up a Management consultancy firm. I believe the skills I have acquired in business management and the networks I have built offer a very sound footing to make plans. I believe the internationally recognized MBA is definitely a step in the right direction.
My network from previous work experience and my ability to network effectively will afford me an unending client base and referrals.. My usual style is intuitive (Richardson and Clarke (1993) but I will be combinigs an incremental approach towards realising my goal. I have had previous experience in Marketing and business management, and I focussed my MBA on strategy to provide me with a wider job market option. I plan to gain more work experience in a management consulting firm so I can learn and increase my knowledge.
From the results of the test and feedback I received from friends I scored well on drive, leadership, communication, resilience. All these are attributes I consider to be important in my entrepreneurial endeavours, and I plan to further develop these skills. My weaknesses are another matter, I don’t seem to manage my time well and I cant seem to relax and enjoy life. I took up Time management as one of the soft skills I would like to develop in my Personal development module and I am working on it. My propensity to work too hard have had negative impact on my health in time past and I realize I need to take a break from time to time.
I recently developed a plan to take a holiday at least one weekend every month. After 3 months I found this not to be effective because I constantly was busy working or reading even while on my purported holiday. I am yet to find a way to overcome this but I hope getting into a relationship and eventually getting married will put this responsibility on my spouse! I believe the knowledge and experiences shared on the Entrepreneurship module will help me in the successful implementation of my plan to start a management consultancy.
While I continue to gain more valuable work experience, I will begin to scout for likely partners with similar drives but other area of specialty which I can partner with. I also have reactivated my relationship with my mentor whom I had not gotten in touch with. I have shared my dream with him and I believe his mentorship, experience and contacts will be valuable assets in the future. I was initially sceptical about entrepreneurial tests and their measure of entrepreneurial capabilities but I was shocked to have them confirm the things I guessed about myself.
It sure does help to have a scientific measure which can serve as a guide in assessing entrepreneurial tendencies. They are a welcome complement to other measures such as feedback from friends, experience, and colleagues in assessing entrepreneurial capabilities. In my own case, they actually are serving as a trigger to embarking on my entrepreneurial journey. I must however sound a note of caution that the tests should be used only as guides and they are not predictive, self reflection along with other measures I stated earlier will provide a more holistic measure of entrepreneurial ability.
REFERENCES
Applegate, L. M. , (2001). Entrepreneurial Mindset Tool. Harvard Business School Bygrave, W. D. , Zacharakis, A. 2004. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship, 3rd edition. New Jersey: John Wiley ; Sons, Inc. Bolton, B. , Thompson, J. 2004. Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament, Technique, 2nd edition. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinmann Burns, P. 2007. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2nd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillian
