“How does an entrepreneur think while running their business?”, “Can I think like an entrepreneur too?” Through this session, you will be able to answer these questions!
Problems of Entrepreneurs
Can you think about what are the problems that an entrepreneur would face on a day-to-day basis?
List all the problems an entrepreneur may face.
1. E.g : Not knowing how to get customers to buy.
2. E.g : Customers bargaining and not paying the correct price for the product.
Problem-solving
Problem-solving is the process of thinking, through which entrepreneurs can come up with many solutions to improve their business. This process starts with first recognising what the problems are. Once the problems are known, there are many ways in which an entrepreneur can think of solving them.
An entrepreneur may face many problems or challenges. It is their ability to solve them that makes them so special. Below is the list of some problems an entrepreneur may face while running a business. An entrepreneur often thinks about these questions while starting and running a business.
1. Idea: What should my business idea be? How do I know that this idea will work?
2. Money: How much money should be raised to start a business?
3. Acquiring material: From where to get the material and at what cost?
4. Manufacturing: How to manufacture (if it is a product business)?
5. Pricing: At what price should I sell the product so that I make enough profits? How do I know what price the customer is willing to pay?
6. Marketing and advertising: How would I tell my customers about business which will attract them to come to me?
7. Selling: How would the customer buy from me? Will the customer come to me or will I go to the customer?
8. Accounting: How do I keep a track of the money I am spending and making? How do I know how much profit I am making?
9. Standing out: How can I be better than what is already available in the market? How do I add value to my customer?
10. Growing business: How can I grow my business and continue to get better?
Thinking like an Entrepreneur to Solve Problems
Entrepreneurs solve many different types of problems in their day-to-day operations. In the above example, Kiran solved the problem of identifying which business idea would he work with. Listed below are three ways most entrepreneurs think when they are trying to solve a problem.
Creativity
Creativity means to come up with ideas that others have not thought of before. Creativity does not mean being artistic or being good at drawing. An entrepreneur has to believe that they can come up with new ideas to solve a problem. In the case of Kiran, she solved the problem of rotating a handcart by thinking of a new idea.
Innovation
Innovation means to think of new ideas and come up with ways to make it work in real life. The difference between creativity and innovation is that while creativity is about just coming up with an idea, innovation is about also coming up with ways to make idea into reality. Kiran’s idea was not just in her head. She made it work by installing the break system in her father’s cart.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking means to understand a situation or problem by asking oneself questions (why, what, when, how) and researching about reasons for the situation or a problem. An entrepreneur has to always think critically when faced with a problem. They just cannot get worried about the problem and not do anything about it. In the case of Kiran, she saw her father struggling with a problem, and found a solution for the same.
