session 1 entrepreneurs © copyright e-discovery challenge 2101 (denham/walters)

SESSION 1

ENTREPRENEURS

©Copyright E-Discovery Challenge 2101 (Denham/Walters)

Are people that start their own businesses and work for themselves.

Can be both owners and employers.

Are responsible for the success or failure of their business.

Have a “can do” attitude.


They listen – getting ideas to improve a business or create a new one.

They observe – getting ideas about how to help society, about businesses to start, and about what people need.

They think – analyzing a problem and working on a solution. They think, “What product or service could solve my problem?”



Although some would believe that large companies drive the American economy, the

reality is that small entrepreneurial businesses are its strength.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses are critical to the U. S. economy because

they:

Represent 99.7% of all employer firms.

Employ about half of all private sector employees.

Pay nearly 45% of total U. S. private payroll.

Have generated 60 to 80% of net new jobs annually over the last decade.


Hire 40% of high tech workers such as scientists and engineers.

Are 52% home-based businesses and 2% franchises.

Produce 13 times more patents per employee than larger patenting firms.

According to estimates from the SBA, in 2007 there were 27.2Million businesses in the United States.

Sources: U. S. Department of Commerce Small Business Administration



We all face risks every day.

From getting out of bed in the morning, driving a car, and evenopening a business all involve some risk.

Risk is defined as the possibility of damage, injury or loss.


•We all need to protect ourselves from risk especially business owners.

•It is important for entrepreneurs to recognize potential risks and develop effective strategies to address them.

•It is also important for entrepreneurs to develop a contingency plan, an alternate course of action should it become necessary.

•A contingency plan shows that the entrepreneur understands the risks involved and is prepared to address risks as they occur.


Competition

Price Changes

Style Changes

Competition From New Products

Changes in Economic Conditions

Embarrassment (What if it doesn’t work?)


When starting a business, you automatically assume risk; you intend to make money, but you also know that you can have a loss in your business.

Not starting a business at all guarantees that you will avoid risk, but you also give up the chance of attaining great rewards.

Successful entrepreneurs take control over how much risk they are willing to accept and then develop plans to control the remaining risks.

No amount of planning can eliminate risk entirely in the business world.


Ethics are standards of a business or person that helps earn

trust and respect.

This applies to all aspects of business and personal conduct.


How do you think others feel about you?

If you tell someone that you will do something, be somewhere at a certain time, or keep their confidence, do you follow through? Do you think they will understand if you don’t?

How do you feel when others don’t follow through on promises?

We all slip up at one time or another, but what is your pattern?

Can others trust you? Do you keep your word?


The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitudes on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important thanthe past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, thansuccesses, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important thanappearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church…a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude wewill embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thingwe can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.

From Strengthening Your Grip by Charles R. Swindoll (Word Publishing, 1998)


Entrepreneur: A person who starts their own business assuming therisk for the potential of making a profit. An entrepreneur that I know is…

Business: Buying and selling of goods and services in order to make a profit. Name a business in your hometown where you like to shop.

Risk: Possibility of damage, injury or loss. Name a time when you took arisk.

Competition: In business, most companies are in competition for the same customers. Competition is considered a contest. Name a competition.


Ethics: Conduct of a business or person that helps them to earn trustand respect. It applies to all aspects of business and personal conduct.When you make a purchase, what would you do if someone gave you back too much change?

Attitude: Attitudes are generally positive or negative thoughts of a person, place, thing or event. We choose our attitude each day. Most days, do you consider your attitude to be positive or negative?

Employee: A person who is hired to work for wages, salary or commission.

Employer: One who employs another.

Do you feel you would make a better employee or employer? Why?

During this activity you will:

Work in teams in order to complete your task.

Come to a “team” conclusion of who invented what and why you believe this is true.

Place the inventor’s description on the table your team believes created each invention.

Then return to your seat.

Mary Anderson moved from Alabama to Fresno

California in 1883 where she operated a cattle

ranch and vineyard until 1898. During a trip to

New York in 1903 she came up with the idea of the

windshield wiper to help streetcars operate safely

in the rain. In 1905 she patented her invention,

which allowed the car operator to control the

external, swinging arm wipers from within the car.

Windshield wipers became standard equipment on

cars a decade later.

Bandages for wounds had been around since ancient

times, but an easy-to-use dressing with an adhesive

was invented by Earle Dickson (a cotton buyer at the

Johnson & Johnson company). Dickson perfected the

BAND-AID® in 1920, making a small, sterile adhesive

bandage for home use. Dickson invented the BAND-

AID® for his wife, who had many kitchen accidents

and needed an easy-to-use wound dressing. Dickson

was rewarded by the Johnson & Johnson company by

being made a vice-president of the company.

As a teenager, Levi Strauss made his fortune in the California Gold

Rush

as the maker of sturdy pants. He emigrated to New York from

Bavaria in 1847, then made his way to the San Francisco area in

1853. A tailor who had planned to make tents for miners, Strauss

ended up stitching canvas pants ,“waist overalls”, that became

famous for their durability. The "pants of Levi's" came to be called

simply Levi's, and they became one of the best-selling products in

his dry goods store. In the 1870s he partnered with Jacob Davis of

Nevada to add copper rivets to the pockets. Levi Strauss &

Company became one of the world's largest manufacturers of casual

clothing and Strauss himself became a wealthy patron of the city of

San Francisco.

Marion Donovan was an American mother, inventor, and

architect who invented the disposable diaper in 1950. Her

first leak-proof diaper were fast-selling "Boaters," plastic-

lined cloth diapers (diapers lined with pieces cut from a

shower curtain, and later with surplus parachute nylon).

Donovan then developed a completely disposable diaper.

She was unsuccessful at selling this invention to established

manufacturers, so she started her own company, which she

later sold. Donovan produced many other consumer-based

inventions and held more than a dozen patents.

The popsicle was invented by 11-year-old Frank

Epperson in 1905. Epperson lived in San Francisco,

California. Epperson had left a fruit drink out

overnight (with a stirrer in it), and it froze, making a

new treat. His frozen treat was originally called the

Epsicle. Epperson got a patent on his "frozen ice on a

stick" many years later, in 1923. The Epsicle was later

renamed the popsicle. Epperson also invented the

twin popsicle (with two sticks so it could be shared by

two children), Fudgsicle, Creamsicle and Dreamsicle.

The potato chip was invented in 1853 by George Crum.

He was a Native American/African American chef at the

Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York,

USA. French fries were popular at the restaurant and

one day a diner complained that the fries were too thick.

Although Crum made a thinner batch, the customer was

still unsatisfied. Crum finally made fries that were really

thin and deep fried them to a crisp hoping to annoy the

extremely fussy customer. The customer, surprisingly

enough, was happy - and potato chips were invented!

Chester Greenwood was born in Farmington, Maine in 1858. A

grammar school dropout, he invented earmuffs at the age of 15.

While testing a new pair of ice skates, he grew frustrated at

trying to protect his ears from the bitter cold. After wrapping his

head in a scarf, which was too bulky and itchy, he made two ear-

shaped loops from wire and asked his grandmother to sew fur on

them. He patented an improved model with a steel band which

held them in place and with these he established Greenwood's

Ear Protector Factory. He made a fortune supplying Ear

Protectors to U.S. soldiers during World War I. He went on to

patent more many other inventions.

The safety pin was invented while Walter Hunt (farmer) was

twisting a piece of wire, trying to think of something that would

help him pay off a fifteen dollar debt. He later sold his patent

rights to the safety pin for four hundred dollars to the man that he

owed the money. Hunt claimed that it was designed to keep fingers

safe from injury - hence the name. In 1849, he was granted US

patent #6,281 for his safety pin. Hunt's other inventions included:

a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax

spinner, knife sharpener, streetcar bell, hard-coal-burning stove,

artificial stone, road sweeping machinery, velocipedes, ice ploughs

and mail making machinery. He is also well known for inventing a

commercially unsuccessful sewing machine.

We Want You As the

Next Young Entrepreneur!

session 1 entrepreneurs © copyright e-discovery challenge 2101 (denham/walters)

Documents

denhamwalters slide

business owners

business world

denhamwalters ethics

small businesses

homebased businesses

potential risks

remaining risks