Challenges facing entrepreneurs in growing a business

In the business world, there are many challenges to be faced by the traders, regardless of the business is large or small to achieve success challenge is very important for a business, the challenges enabling to increased business profits and marketing our business to the next level, where if the challenge is well managed .Success is a reward to the entrepreneurs in the effort to handle the challenge well. Success is a passion for entrepreneur and more effort into managing a business.

We can classify the challenges into 5 classes: Economic Challenges, Political Challenges, Social-Cultural Challenges, Technological challenges, physical challenges.

Economic challenges

Economic challenge is a challenge that is often given attention by many businesses.

When good economic conditions, business will be developed and constantly evolving.

When the economic slowdown, the business will be slow and declining profits resulting in some companies into bankruptcy. Economic includes factors that affect purchasing power and consumer spending patterns. A country with open economy will create huge market opportunities, and for some countries that practice subsistence economy, the market offers little opportunity for the market.

These two types of markets have purchasing power and consumer buying patterns are very different.

For example, the crisis of economic downturn that occurred in 2009, has led some companies that nearly went bankrupt companies such as AIG Company and General Motors Company in need of financial aid the United States. Newspaper also reported that as many as 140,000 workers may be laid off in 2009 if the economic downturn remains ongoing. Therefore, the economy can be said is a challenge for the entrepreneur to run a business.

Political and Legislation Challenges

Political and legal challenges include laws and regulations that mostly restrict activity business. Law is factors that affect the political environment of business systems. To create healthy competition and protect consumers and to protect society and the environment, the government formulates laws and regulations to ensure that all merchants comply with the law and responsibility. The enforcement is carried out by the government such as the pricing of controlled goods, wages and environmental protection work. Sometimes, these controls will lead to entrepreneurs unable to reap maximum profit. Hence, an entrepreneur must understand the politics and law of a country deeply

so that decisions and actions taken will not harm the company.

Technology Challenges

Technological referring to the new creation generated by the research. Innovation occurs when a better method is found from the research conducted. Technology cause long-term impact on lifestyles, consumption patterns and public economy.

For example computers are an innovation that is always changing. Initially, computers used to replace typewriters and improve productivity through information management. Now, computers have been diversified so that it can be used as a compact disc player.

Discovery of new technology can cause the following changes:

creating a new industry

Eliminate the existing industry. For example the use of computer replacing typewriter cause Smith Corona Corp. into bankruptcy.

Stimulating markets and industries that are not associated with new technology.

Technological advances lead to users requesting better quality product.

By the research and development in technology is important for entrepreneurs to produce products that meet consumer need.

Socio-cultural challenges

 Socio-cultural is a combined set of beliefs, customs, practices, and attitudes in a group of people who handed down from one generation to another generation. Verily the people have a lot of beliefs and values. Still beliefs and values that form the basis of a society is always handed down to children by their parents since they birth. Therefore, businesses that want to penetrate a market must first know the culture of the place as a place of cultural population will affect the life style, how to buy and their thinking. Still with the entry of foreign cultures and the advancement of the country causing the basic beliefs also change. Example, watching television, videos, movies, clothes and lifestyle is the effect from foreign culture.

For businessman especially marketers, the impact of cultural change by the influence of foreign cultural creates a new opportunities to market new products to consumers. This because advertising that displayed by the mass media such as television influences the way we live. Example community Malaysia previously prefers dining at home, but now they prefer to Dining in restaurants like Pizza Hut, KFC is the cause by the power of television advertising. So, entrepreneurs need to constantly monitor public tastes change to continue to compete in the market.

Physical challenges

Physical refer to all natural including water, air, minerals and crops that become inputs to the production of goods. The current issues regarding the natural environment become the attention of the world today is the shortage of raw material. example is the disruption of water that hit the Lembah Klang This incident not only pose a problem  for housewives. These incidents not only pose a problem for housewives, but giving a trouble operating the company, especially in food production. This will then result in huge losses to company as production stopped. The decline of resources cannot be replaced, such as oil, gold and tin was a great challenge to companies that use these materials as the main production. They had to pay a higher price to get it. Another factor that concern by the whole world entrepreneurs is the pollution is getting worse, especially air and water. This happened mostly driven by the industry’s that is not responsible for the environment, such as removal toxic waste and dumping of rubbish in everywhere.

As an entrepreneur, success is a sweet outcome in developing a business. Success will provide the power and spirit for the entrepreneur to continue to explore and develop the company into a higher level. But still, not all the entrepreneurs will be successful in business. They need to face the obstacles and challenges in the business world.

Normally a successful entrepreneur will have features such as below:

have high initiative

Successful entrepreneurs often will have high power initiative, has a tendency to look and analyze a situation and take action proactively.

They usually do not wait immediately next opportunity.

Otherwise they will try to explore and do not give up although what they explored will be unusual by the public.

creative and innovative thinking

Always create a new idea and make innovative.

Create products that match customer needs and improve competitiveness in the market.

Without this flexibility, an entrepreneur is difficult to maintain their business in today’s world that constantly changing in economic, technological and lifestyle.

willing to learn from mistakes and failures

Successful entrepreneurs are not afraid of failure. They devote all their energy towards success. It is important for us to differentiate between the failure in the business and the failure of an entrepreneur.

Any mistakes and failures should be an example and used as a guide to improve weaknesses and then achieve success.

Intelligent in search and seize the business opportunities

Successful entrepreneurs are always thinking about goals.

The goals are usually set to come from the ability of entrepreneurs to see and take advantage. Business opportunities may occur due to problems such as technological changes, consumer preferences, natural resources and so on.

Entrepreneurs should be able to see problems as opportunities for earning profit.

Visionary

Successful entrepreneurs usually have clearly defined goals and vision.

The aim and vision is not to extend beyond the near term but long term and in the future.

Challenges and threats should be considered carefully and realistically.

able to lead

A successful entrepreneur is usually a person with experience and knowledge of technology and market conditions which he operates. It is rare to see an effort being cleared is operated by a person who has no experience in this field.

Entrepreneurs should be able to administer and supervise the business activities of both. Entrepreneurs need to constantly motivate managers and employees to achieve organizational goals.

emphasize the excellent quality of work

Successful entrepreneurs will emphasize the quality of work and always ensure that the production of standard goods or services is achieving excellence.

High energy level

Internal energy and external energy are factors that are critical to the launches of business venture. As entrepreneurs have to work hard and work long term, it is important for them to have high energy.

This power allows entrepreneurs to address the problems faced by more mature and do not give up easily.

Future-oriented

Research show that entrepreneurs in high growth ventures exhibit more concern about the future. Entrepreneurs need to look smart for orientation times, identify and take advantage of the environment through the projection process and ongoing monitoring.

willing to take responsibility

An entrepreneur always makes decisions according to their own discretion.

Any decision that impacts may sometimes not be expected.

Entrepreneurs should be responsible for any impact that may occur.

YOUNG ENTREPRENUER

Some people believe that an individual can be trained to become entrepreneurs, while some people believe that entrepreneurs are born to have the characteristics of an entrepreneur. Today the young entrepreneur that I would giving example here is Pua Khei Seng, 34 year old, Malaysian, graduate of Master’s in Electrical Control Engineering. Owner of Phison Electronics Corp. A listed technology company in Taiwan with a market capitalization of almost NT$40bil (RM4.3bil). Pua Khei Seng is a person who has high initiative. In year 2001, company Phison Company was came up with a product that led to the demise of the floppy disk. It was the world’s first USB “flash removable disk”. Most of us know it simply as a pen drive. His business in a foreign land, started by five friends set up a research and development company, operating for 7 years, and today have achieved record revenue of RM20 million. He is a billionaire today. The development of the company is from 5 employees to 400 employees today. The business is done around the world. Phison has not associated production line. Place as long as people use computers, his products are sold there, including the U.S. defense department. Now his stick Pen drive, USB controller chip is the world’s best-selling product.

He is a very high initiative person, when he just set up the company, they face a big challenge, he was charged by his college senior a court case, and he was forced to pay NT45million compensation, and the company almost prostrate but he did not choose to escape, but see it as a good thing to stimulate their own force in advance.

He also faced economy challenges, Last two year’s financial turmoil has also made him lose a lot of money, and he read as his only way to each of large enterprises, the financial crisis can make a business more aware of their own business problems. Pua said that we should not be feeling difficult to do business in financial turmoil as an interface but this is for an industry ready to eliminate the company that didn’t prepare to face financial turmoil.  In the second half of 2008, the Phison Electronic company sold for every unit product by losing a few dollars, His company was having the most stocks in Taiwan, there are hundreds of millions stock. At that time, pua khei seng select to liquidators because he cannot see the economy future. This time the financial turmoil let him grow up faster than the other industry because he goes faster than the industry one step. This year, the joint Phison Company has already begun to make money, and started to enter into the market of the industry USB controller chip product. This is because Pua know that the market now starting faced stock shortage, and Phison Electronic Company is one of the big suppliers that supplied more normal and faster delivery of goods.

The early bird catches the worm. When Phison established newly, Pua Khei Seng and his partners are go out early in the morning and returned in midnight. They leave the house from morning 6 o’clock until midnight at 2or 3 o’clock, every day. He said we should be able to administer and supervise the business activities of both. Pua also said that, if you want your staff and employee work hard with you, we have to think the position of the employees, especially when employees have financial problems. We need to constantly motivate managers and employees to make sure that they will achieve organizational goals.

When a business is a lot of peers in the competition, sure must be someone company that try to sell the product with the lowest price. Therefore, we need to carry out reforms, and has creative and innovative ideas to enhance competitiveness. In addition, technological must always improve to reduce production cost. This also can increase the competitiveness in the market.

With the critical challenges, finally Pua Khei Seng success with RM20 billion in revenue records and he is a young entrepreneur and billionaire today, business done around the world. Now his stick Pen drive, USB controller chip is the world’s best-selling product.