ENTREPRENEURSHIP Standard 1 Objective 2

ENTREPRENEURSHIP STANDARD 1 OBJECTIVE 2  Students will understand the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS  Courage: A willingness to take risks in spite of possible losses.  Creativity: Inventing new ways of doing things; thinking outside the box  Curiosity: The desire to learn & ask questions  Determination: Refusing to quit in spite of obstacles  Discipline: The ability to stay focused & follow a schedule to meet deadlines.  Empathy: Being sensitive to the thoughts & feelings of others  Enthusiasm: Being passionate & excited about something  Flexibility: The ability to adapt to new situations; a willingness to change  Honesty: A commitment to being truthful & sincere with others  Patience: Recognizing that most goals are not reached overnight  Responsibility: Being accountable for your decisions & actions; not passing the buck

PROS & CONS OF BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR PROS  Independence: not having to follow orders or observe working hours set by someone else. You work for yourself.  Satisfaction: Turning a skill, hobby, or other interest you have into your own business can be very satisfying.  Financial Reward: Most of the great fortunes in this country were built by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs create fortunes be selling their businesses when they become profitable. Example: 17 year old Nick D’Aloisio of Britain sold his top-selling content-shortening app, Summly, to Yahoo for $30 million in  Self Esteem: Knowing you created something valuable can give you a strong sense of accomplishment. CONS  Risk of Failure: You risk losing your own money & the money of those that invested in your business.  Obstacles: You will run into problems that you will have to solve by yourself.  Loneliness: It can be lonely & scary to be completely responsible for the success or failure of your business.  Financial Insecurity: As a business owner your are not guaranteed a salary or any benefits.  Long hours: you will probably have to work long hours to get your business off the ground.

BUSINESS ETHICS  Business Ethics: Moral principles applied to business.  Ethics are rules you can use to guide your behavior. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” is a famous ethic.  As an entrepreneur you set the tone for your business. You have considerable influence on your company’s ethics.  Successful entrepreneurs apply the Golden Rule to everything they do. They run their businesses honestly & treat their customers with respect – not only because it’s the right thing to do but because it builds repeat business.  Customers who are treated well come back to make more purchases – and tell their friends.

WHISTLE BLOWER  Whistle-Blower – someone who decides to report illegal or unethical conduct to superiors or to the public – sometimes at great personal risk.  Example of this: Erin Brockovich. Erin was a law clerk that found that people were getting really sick in Hinkley, California  She did some research & found that Pacific Gas & Electric plant was putting a dangerous chemical in their wastewater. PG & E denied the chemical was toxic, but Erin’s research showed that it was linked to many cases of cancer in the community.  In 1996 PG & E settled for $333 million, the largest settlement in U.S. History at the time.  In 2006, PG & E paid another $295 million to people affected by the chemical.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST  Conflict of interest arises when personal considerations, loyalties, or professional obligations interfere with each other. For example: A lawyer may not represent both the victim of a crime and the person accused of committing it.  Hiring friends & family members is often a logical first step for growing business but can create potential conflicts of interest.

CONFIDENTIALITY  Some businesses require employees to sign a (NDA) Non-Disclosure Agreement. An employee who signs an NDA is legally barred from sharing some types of information with others, even after leaving the company.  Trade Secret: any information that a business or individual keeps confidential to gain advantage over competitors. NDA’s help prevent your employees from stealing trade secrets.  Example: You build a successful restaurant based on your grandma’s special fried chicken recipe. Your recipe is your trade secret. You protect it by having your employees sign an NDA agreeing to never reveal the recipe. If any employee does, you can sue them for damages to your business.

CAUSE RELATED MARKETING  Cause Related Marketing : Partnership between a business & a nonprofit group for the benefit of both. It increases sales for the business & raises money & awareness for the nonprofit group.  Example: A business sponsors a Little League Baseball Team & in exchange the baseball team puts the business’s name & logo on their uniforms to help advertise the business to the community.  Facilitated Giving : A business makes it easier for customers to contribute to a cause. For example: a store puts canisters at the checkout counter from a local charity to encourage customers to drop in their change.  Purchase-Triggered Donation: For every purchase of a particular item the business contributes a percentage of the purchase price to charity. Example: 17,000 restaurants took part in the one-day campaign, called Dine for America, donating proceeds to the American Red Cross.