ED

1. Creativity for entrepreneurs
• A thorough observation of the entrepreneurial process shows that
creative thinking is the must have “skill” of an entrepreneur for the
creation of new ideas. Creativity allows a person to devise interesting
processes, which gives so many advantages to entrepreneurs.
• But what exactly makes creativity so crucial and important in an
entrepreneur’s work life?
• Creativity leads to success by:
• Creating new ideas for competitive advantage
• Thinking of novel ways to develop your product and improve the business
• Thinking the unthinkable.
• Finding similar patterns in different areas
• Developing new niches through creativity and entrepreneurship.

2. • Creating new ideas for competitive advantage
• The whole process of entrepreneurship is rooted in creation and exploration
of new ideas. When an entrepreneur is able to generate a new idea that is
feasible as well as efficient, it gives him an edge over the competition. The
ability to explore different niches is just like a learned skill or a resource that is
possessed by an individual.
• Thinking of novel ways to develop your product and improve the
business.
• Creativity helps develop new ways of improving an existing product or service
and optimizing a business. There is always a room for improvement in the
deliverables of an enterprise; it is the creative entrepreneur who can assess
how to do it.

3. • Thinking the unthinkable.
• Creativity requires imagination to produce the most obscure ideas.
Imagination is needed to cross the boundary of “usual” and “normal” or
to think outside the box. This allows entrepreneurs to think beyond the
traditional solutions, come up with something new, interesting, versatile, and
yet have success potential.
• Finding similar patterns in different areas
• Creativity enables people to connect dissimilar and unrelated subjects and
make successful entrepreneurial ideas. Merging different fields creates
interesting intersections that creates new niches. Most people are afraid of
bringing different disciplines together, but most interesting ideas come from
colliding different fields.

4. • Developing new niches through creativity and entrepreneurship.
• In entrepreneurship, it is important that new aspects of traditional business
are explored. This can be in the form of changing the method of
manufacturing the product or delivering the service or how are they supplied
to the user. All these areas can create a niche that has great potential in
business.

5. Problem solving skills for entrepreneurs
• When it comes to problem-solving, each situation is different and
therefore requires a different approach each time. Some business
challenges, such as taking a new product to market to sell online can
be very tough, and their solutions may require a lot more thought and
critical evaluation than others.
• Other problems are very simple, and you can solve them easily, but
regardless of how big or how complex a problem is, you will always
need to find a viable solution.
• Part of being a great problem solver is knowing how to evaluate each
situation and look at outcomes on a holistic level, analyzing how your
solutions will affect you or your business in the long term.

6. Decision making for entrepreneurs
• As an entrepreneur, you must make different types of decisions on the
everyday basis. You must choose directions. Also, you must solve
problems. You must take actions. The decision-making process is one
of the most critical processes in your company.
• Simply, you as an entrepreneur will make decisions about everything.
• Some decisions are more influential on your overall business
processes, but some of them are small decisions without significant
effect on your business as a whole.

7. Decision-Making Process
1. Recognize the problem – the gap
2. Analyze the problem
3. Define possible solutions
4. Analyze all possible solutions
5. Select the best solution for the application
6. Implement the decision

9. 1. Recognize the problem – the gap
Every decision-making process starts with the problem or some
discrepancy that exist between the desired and current state. You
have the desired state, and you have an existing state. The difference
between these two is the gap or problem that you must solve through
the decision-making process.

10. 2. Analyze the problem
• After you find possible problems that require solutions you can start with the
analysis of already defined problems. How these problems impact on the
achievements of your small business?
• At the end of this step, you will need to have a list of possible problems sorted
by their urgency for the solution. In your analysis, you need to find causes and
how the problem impact on your small business. If the impact of the problem
is higher, also the importance of the problem will be higher.

11. 3. Define possible solutions
• This is the step when you need to start brainstorming all possible solutions for
a given problem, or problem you want to solve with that solutions. For the
most critical problems, you analyze in the previous step, create possible
solutions.
• When you think about solutions, also think about the causes of the problems.
If you don’t remove the causes, your solutions will be only a temporary
solution. Your decision-making process needs to include possible causes of
each identified problem.

12. 4. Analyze all possible solutions
• Because in the third step you come to more than one possible solution for a
given problem, in this step you need to analyze all proposed solutions to rank
them and make a decision that you will implement in the future. This step will
need to give you the rankings of all possible solutions from the best ones at
the top to the worst ones at the end of your list for each problem you
discover at the beginning of the decision-making process.

13. 5. Select the best solution for the application
• Now is time for the real decision. The final result from the decision-making
process is a selection of the best possible solution to the problem. What will
you implement as a solution for the given problem? The answer to this
question will be the decision you are making.

14. 6. Implement the decision
• We can’t talk about decision-making process without the implementation of
the decision you have made. You will not finish the job until you don’t
implement what you have decided. Can you solve the problem only by
discovering the solution and making the right solution? No, you will not solve
your problem. You need to implement the solution and check the results to
see if the specific solution really solve the identified problem.

15. Communication skills for entrepreneurs
• Your success as an entrepreneur is determined in large part by your
ability to communicate. You can be the best at what you do, but if
you’re not communicating effectively with clients, staff and the
market, then you’re missing opportunities.
• Mastery of these different communications skills ensures that you’ll
be effective at every level.
• Listen deeply
• Solid listening skills help you more effectively serve clients, make sales and manage
employees because you’re picking up on and connecting to people’s most urgent
concerns.
• Interpret non-verbal cues
• Don’t just practice awareness of your own body language. Analyze specific cues -- such
as posture, expressions and gestures -- being made by others when they’re speaking.

16. • Conversing : Conversation is one of the most basic forms of
communication, but don’t underestimate it. A simple, friendly
conversation with your employees can build trust and expose issues
before they become serious. An innocuous bit of small talk with a
stranger can turn into a sales opportunity. Learn to speak in an
approachable, friendly way that you can apply to any situation.
• Body Language : Much of communication is nonverbal, so mastering
your body language presentation is a must. In any situation, posture
matters -- sit or stand up straight with your shoulders back and your
head high and straight. Look people in the eye. Don’t fidget. Keep
your hands out of your pockets. And these are just the basics!
Mastering body language can allow you to command a room.

17. • Writing : You don’t have to be a perfect writer, but you do need to
learn to be direct and concise in written forms. You’ll be emailing and
texting people within and outside your organization regularly, and it’s
important that you communicate your ideas clearly in this medium,
with minimal opportunities for misinterpretation.
• Presenting : You’ll be presenting in a few different formats as an
entrepreneur, but they can be collectively grouped into one skill. You
may be presenting company financials to your top employees or
investors. You may present your business’ services to an interested
buyer. You may even give a speech about entrepreneurship at a
speaking event. In all these cases, clarity, conciseness, confidence and
poise are all key.

18. • Negotiating : You have to negotiate for almost everything in a
business, so the better you are at negotiating, the more successful
your business will be. You’ll be able to secure better terms for your
office’s lease, more reasonable salaries for your most talented
employees and even more lucrative options for your top
clients. Negotiating effectively is more than just using the right
words; it employs timing, a knowledge of the right facts and the
ability to remain confident throughout the process.
• Mediating : Though your role as a mediator will be less often
necessary than your role as a converser, for example, there will be
times when you have to step up and resolve a conflict. It might be
between two employees with differing opinions about whose
responsibility something is. Or it might be between two competing
vendors who suffered a lapse in communication. In any case, you’ll
have to acknowledge both sides and help them work out their own
problems.

19. • Debating : Debating here doesn’t necessitate arguing. It can be a
healthy discussion of two or more alternative options in a productive,
respectful setting. Your job in a debate isn’t to win against the enemy
-- it’s to present your case and opinions clearly. Doing so, whether
you're dealing with investors, partners or employees, can help you
elucidate your ideas with greater strength and clarity.
• Leading Your responsibilities as a leader are multifaceted, but from a
communications perspective, your biggest responsibilities are
instilling confidence, trust and passion in your team. You’ll be
inspiring people through everyday messages, public and private, and
retaining your poise as a leader throughout those situations is key to
achieving and maintaining a powerful image.

20. Leadership skills for entrepreneurs
• Spotting and Retaining the Best Talent: Your business is as successful as the people working in it. Great
leaders who created successful companies have one thing in common: They surround themselves with
talented, courageous, loyal people. Once you have recruited them, invest in their development through
training and coaching.
• Delegation : Entrepreneurs by nature have a healthy ego. “When it comes to their company, almost all
entrepreneurs will say: Nobody can do it better than me.”
But those who are going to be successful are those who admit they can’t be the CEO, the chief financial
officer, the marketing director and the sales manager at the same time. They share, delegate and empower
their teams.
• Leading by Example : Be honest and ethical in everything you do. Have strong values. Live what you are
preaching.
• Asking for Advice : No matter how well you know your industry, change is reshaping business so fast that
entrepreneurs develop blind spots or become uncertain about how to proceed.
• Developing Leaders : Leadership should start at the top of the organization, but leaders don’t necessarily
come from positions of power. They can be found at all levels in an organization. Identify them and help
them to develop their leadership skills. The transfer of knowledge through mentoring allows you to build a
strong leadership pipeline in your company.

21. Interview with entrepreneur
• Interview an entrepreneur near to your home
• Submit it before the first class after Christmas vacation
• Sample questions to be asked is shared with you via email
• No two students can interview the same person