Chapter 2: Small Business Entrepreneurs: Characteristics and Competencies
business life cycle
the sequence or pattern of developmental stages any business goes through during its life span
standard business practice
a business action that has been widely adopted within an industry or occupation
cognition
a person's way of perceiving and thinking about his or her experience
expert business professionalization
a situation that occurs when all the major functions of a firm are conducted according to the standard business practices of its industry
specialized business professionalization
a situation that occurs when businesses have founders or owners who are passionate about one or two of the key business functions, such as sales, operations, accounting, finance, or human resources, and pursues those functions in a professional manner
minimalized business professionalization
a situation that occurs when the entrepreneur does nearly everything in the simplest way possible, rather than in a professional way
key business functions
activities common to all businesses such as sales, operations (also called production), accounting, finance, and human resources
industry-specific knowledge
activities, knowledge, and skills specific to businesses in a particular industry
promotion focus
an entrepreneur's attention to maximizing gains and pursuing opportunities likely to lead to gains
prevention focus
an entrepreneur's attention to minimizing losses, with a bias toward inaction or protective action to prevent loss
passion
an intense positive feeling an entrepreneur has toward the business or the idea behind the business
comprehensive planners
entrepreneurs who develop long-range plans for all aspects of the business
critical point planners
entrepreneurs who develop plans focused on the most important aspect of the business first
habit-based planners
entrepreneurs who do not plan, preferring to let all actions be dictated by their routines
opportunistic planners
entrepreneurs who start with a goal instead of a plan and look for opportunities to achieve it
reactive planners
entrepreneurs with a passive approach, who wait for cues from the environment to determine what actions to take
compentencies
forms of business-related expertise
determination
skills identified with the energy and focus needed to bring a business into existence
opportunity competencies
skills necessary to identify and exploit elements of the business environment that can lead to a profitable and sustainable business
resource competencies
the ability or skill of the entrepreneur at finding expendable components necessary to the operation of the business such as time, information, location, financing, raw materials, and expertise
perserverance
the ability to stick with some activity even when it takes a long time and its outcome is not immediately known
professionalization
the extent to which a firm meets or exceeds the standard business practices for its industry
emergence stage
the first stage of the small business life cycle, where the entrepreneur moves from thinking about starting the business to actually starting the business
action
the visible behavior a person takes
