There is a consensus that people who see and utilize opportunities turn out to be most successful. Most people prioritize their own interests in life. Therefore, there are little or no chances that an individual or a business entity will improve the wellbeing of another entity if it is not intertwined with its own. Due to tendencies of the rest of humanity to pursue their own interests, people must be prepared to take up and utilize opportunities for their own good and to some extent, those of others (Carson 2003, p. 392). An enterprising person has a way of taking advantage of all their situations, rather than feeling burdened by them (Iansiti and Levien, 2004, p. 9). They are creative people who are always fixed to their goals. This paper is an analysis of the process and elements of economic entrepreneurship with the aim of understanding how an individual can be practical enough to be able to take advantage of opportunities and situations around them. It explains how an individual can be enterprising through a hands-on approach to issues such as problem framing, movement and imagination, meeting of enterprise and social ideals, promoting the enterprising-self and resilience. The paper provides an overview of the values and principles that I intent to employ in order to become enterprising in the future.
Problem Framing
Problems form an integral part of the lives of human beings. A problem refers to an unexpected situation or occurrence that is harmful and needs to be dealt with. There are situations where individuals or enterprises simply wish a problem away and wait for it to fade away, rather than try to understand it and find a solution (Landry et al., 2006, p. 627). There are many instances when individuals and business organizations feel that the causes and dynamics of the problem are outside their control. This especially happens with factors in the macro environment. A small business can hardly do anything to prevent an unfavorable legislation enacted at the national level to become a law (Noe et al. 2003, p. 32). Therefore, the business owner has to suffer from the effects of the legislation and wish that large businesses will lobby legislators to revoke the law or come up with policies to help business entities adapt.
A problem can either be centered on a business or can be wide, affecting the sector, related industries, state, nation or region. A problem that only affects the person or entity alone is harder to solve because collection and analysis of information are functions fully vested on the individual (Kleindl 2000, p. 73). A problem in the macro environment is easier to solve as the entrepreneur can draw information and inferences from other sources such as other businesses. A macro-economic problem, a country\u2019s withdrawal from a trading bloc, is usually discussed widely in the media and by other interested parties. An entity can be affected by such decisions, for instance, inability to obtain tariff-free raw materials. One business person can see such a situation as a problem while another may see an opportunity to set up an entity that offers the goods that were initially imported from the country\u2019s former trading partners (Yeung 2000, p. 402).<\/p>
Problem framing entails getting the details of the issue at hand, coming up with a number of probable solutions then isolating what works from what does not. In the contemporary business world, people deal with problems by documenting the details and choosing the aspects of the issue that are most applicable to them (Howard-Grenville and Hoffman 2003, p. 73). An enterprising person evaluates the various courses of action that they can take and comes up with the best plan. In case there are no viable direct solutions to the problem, an enterprising person will look at the options available to them in their effort to survive (Aarikka-Stenroos and Jaakkola 2012, p. 21). Problem solving should only concentrate on the positive aspects; an enterprising person will only look at their capabilities that can help them mitigate on the issue (Brusoni and Prencipe 2013, p. 171). They spend minimal time on their shortcoming and advantages of their competitors over them. A good frame enables an individual analyze the issue from varying perspectives and determine the options available to them.
Meeting Social and Enterprise Ideals
An enterprise is usually set up among other economic agents. The mutual relationship between the enterprise and these economic agents is key to its growth. A good enterprise is that which can achieve its own interests while at the same time promoting the wellbeing of other economic agents around it (Matten and Moon 2004, p. 9). An enterprising person has the ability to identify factors pertinent to the wellbeing of other economic agents and work with them towards improving these factors. Some of the key economic agents are employees, customers, other businesses, the government and the community that supplies factors of production such as land, labor and capital (Tai and Chuang 2014, p. 17). An enterprising person understands that these communities have a joint interest and must derive benefits from the use of the factors of production.
Schwartz (2014, p. 19) notes that some stakeholders view social and enterprise ideals as competing phenomena, where one must suppress the other in order to succeed. A successful enterprising person views social and enterprise ideals as mutual factors, where the development of one relies on the other (Portney 2005, p. 9). The long-term survival of a business entity relies on the success of its relations with the communities.
Many modern entities have come up with departments that balance between enterprise and social ideals. However, this balance must exist in the mind of every person who acts on behalf of the business, starting with the proprietor or investor. In order to become an enterprising person, the proprietor must always have the needs of the community in their mind when making key decisions (Down 2009, p. 39). Balancing the social and enterprise ideas entails readiness of an enterprising individual or entity to take responsibility for the effects of their activities on social wellbeing and the environment. The entity must be willing to go beyond the minimum standards established by the law.
Imagination and Movement<\/h2>
An enterprising person is sensitive to what goes on around them. They work on how they will get involved in everyday happenings around them. The society is always welcoming to individuals who want to take part in everyday activities affecting the people. An enterprising person must understand that most, if not all, people in the society pursue their own interests (Down 2009, p. 52; Mangan 2009, p. 4). The best way of ensuring that the interest of every person is well-catered for is coming up with ways through which the collective interest can be catered for. An enterprising person will use their imagination to draw the interest of other stakeholders and have them work towards mutual benefit. By showing other stakeholders that one has their interest at heart, an enterprising person will pull together the entire industry, community or sector together and have them work towards their common interests.<\/p>
Resilience and Enterprising-self
The ability to promote the enterprising self is enhanced by the level of creativity of an individual. Creativity entails the ability to see whatever opportunities and situations that exist from a perspective that gives an advantage to an individual or the entity associated with them. In order for a person to be considered creative, they must stand out from the rest of the group in terms of their ability to see the situations in a different way (Ainsworth 2008, p. 9). Most individuals have great ideas based on their situations and experiences. However, coming up with the best descriptions to convince other relevant parties to understand the situations and see the opportunity is what makes most people exceptional. Therefore, courage and resilience forms part of an enterprising individual.
A person categorized as an enterprising-self must understand their self-worth and value. This value is enhanced by how the person spends their lives. An employee who spends his time reading books and taking leadership classes will have more courage to bring up their ideas compared to one who spends their entire free time on leisure (Down 2009, p. 3). Self-worth is enhanced by an individual through the activities that they take part in and how they utilize the resources availed to them, key being time.<\/p>
Courage and confidence strengthen the attributes of a self-enterprising individual. The concept of self-enterprising is not only limited to the ability of an individual to make money. Self-direction, self-discipline and self-reliance are important attributes that give an individual resilience (Ainsworth 2008, p. 15). A perceived sense of resilience by coworkers, employees and business partners encourage a person to express their enterprising self in a manner that is more convincing in order to draw support towards their ideas.
Conclusion
An enterprising person stands out from the rest of the people in the society. The individual looks at situations from a different perspective. Their perspectives give them ideas on the best ways to overcome challenges and take advantage of situations. These individuals will understand that there exists a mutual relationship between economic agents in the society. Therefore, the best way one entity can promote its wellbeing is by working closely with others to promote theirs. \u00a0They use their imagination to spur growth and draw the attention of other economic agents to them.
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