BUSINESS AND ECONOMY : ARE YOU THINKING ENTREPRENEURIALLY ?

BY ROBIN GHOSH

( FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST, BENGAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY)

KOLKATA, 22 OCTOBER 2023:.

Very often, in the course of my business, I meet budding entrepreneurs venturing for a new project or a new business.

Most of them are middle aged, reasonably educated and having 10 to 15 years of working experience.

In most cases, what has triggered them to leave their job and go for business are: – job dissatisfaction, limited scope for future career growth or loss of job.

Very rarely comes a protagonist who wants to build a career as a businessman or an entrepreneur.

Most of them having worked in a business unit have an idea about how a business operates – how production is conducted, quality control executed, marketing, HR , financial management and so on.

When ready to go for an entrepreneurship journey, usually come with a conventional mind set.

What is the conventional mindset ?

It is this!!

If I have to set up a business, first, I have to identify a business opportunity, then, assemble the resources to reach the target.

But entrepreneurial thinking is just the reverse. Entrepreneurs adopt a different approach. Entrepreneurs assess their personal strengths and weaknesses, and then seek to build partnerships with potential stakeholders.

Entrepreneurs do not wait for perfect solutions – they make do with what they have.

So, you have conventional thinking – structured planning and research. No surprises. No unexpected events.

Then, you have the opposite. Unconventional thinking. Future is unpredictable. It is full of surprises. Find new opportunities, talk to other stakeholders and build a business.

What I have described is called effectual thinking. It is a kind of philosophy. A kind of logic.

This is a new way of looking at things, and you can apply this logic – whatever may be your identity station – government, corporate unit, ngo, and so on.

Coming to entrepreneurial thinking, once again, there are three pillars.

In a book called – Leapfrog – Mukesh Sud and Priyanka Narayan describe three pillars of entrepreneurial thinking.

These three pillars are:

1. Bird in Hand
2. Crazy Quilt
3. Pilot in the plane

When we talk about the Bird in Hand approach – what we are doing is – exploring what kind of resources are available and how we can make best use of it to our advantage.

To apply this approach, we have to ask ourselves the following three questions:

The first question is Who Am I? What attributes and abilities do I have?

The second question is –

What Do I Know ? What are my endowments – my education, training and experience.

The third question is Whom Do I know ? The power of my social and professional network .

The answer to these questions will enable you to assess your resource map and how you can use them to your advantage.

Essentially the message is – entrepreneurial thinking is different. It is full of surprises, you have to seize opportunities and redesign a new pathway.

When we talk about the second pillar – the crazy quilt – what we are talking about is developing a network and partnerships. Network provides information on who can do what and who is known to whom.

Most of the entrepreneurs receive support and assistance through their networks and this networks help them to acquire technical, financial and other resources.

The third pillar is called Pilot in the Plane.

This is a metaphor. It is a metaphor for thinking in an unconventional way, taking charge of the situation and proactively working towards your goal.