Innovative Networks in Business

Question: Discuss about the Innovative Networks in Business. Answer: Introduction Entrepreneur is one who organizes, manages and assumes to take risks of a business or an enterprise. Entrepreneurship is the process by which a person identifies and starts a business venture with the organized resources and the ability to take risks and rewards that would be associated with starting this venture. An entrepreneur is one who has the vision to grow his/her company to a new level and also sustain in a highly competitive market. Growth of a company happens in three parts of horizons. It integrates the long-term and short-term goals business goals along with the people on board and the production strategies. The mission of the start-up would be Providing fast food with a healthy touch at reasonable prices. Market Summary As an entrepreneur the key focus is to identify a business opportunity in an existing market. As an entrepreneur I have come up with a plan to start a Fast Food Restaurant Chain in Dubai. Being an entrepreneur it is important for me to assess the market of Dubai, which already has many fast food chains. Being competitive and innovative is the key to success. There is a relationship between business opportunities and between independent businesses. These are businesses, which are for sale or franchisee. In order to promote the food industry, Government of Dubai should focus and take a proactive approach to provide incentives and encouraging new business entrants in Dubai. The food and beverage industry of Dubai is a combination of the local and national industries i.e. the local investment and MNCs i.e. the foreign investment. The local industry of Dubai has been facing a lot of pressure from the competitive market (Rory Jones, 2014). The fast food industry in Dubai has lot of options like burger, pizza, fries etc. As an entrepreneur, I would research on the market based on the food options, and provide items which have special ingredients which would be locally sourced as well as add healthy touch (Andrew Faust, 2012). Searching for innovation in Dubai could be done by research, studying the market for options available and understanding the demographics it serves to. It has to be exciting, have customer involvement and be health conscious (Ashley Lutz, 2014). Strategy and Implementation In order to start a business, it is essential that the entrepreneur possess skills that would enhance his/her business and also position its brand in the minds of the customers. Start-ups require lot of initial planning and risk taking abilities. A start-up would be small in size when it begins with fewer people. Therefore it is important that as an entrepreneur the following skills are built (Aileron 2013). Resiliency: It is the ability to be responsible for the ups and downs that take place in the company. If the restaurant chain faces any issue or achieves big, the entrepreneur should take responsibility in times of bad and appreciate all in times of good. Things always do not go based on the business plan; therefore such skill will enable the entrepreneur to keep going even when the outcome is not positive. Focus:An entrepreneur sets long term vision and goal for his organization. Each step is measured to reach closer to the goal. Therefore it is important that he remains focused. There are many distractions like competition, natural causes etc. which may divert him. Hence he should try to build these skills over the time. Leadership: An entrepreneur is the key person who starts a business; therefore it is important that he holds leadership skills to lead his team. He should be skilled to motivate his employees and provide opportunities, to obtain best results from them. A start up would be successful when the employees are satisfied and their morale is increased. Listening to them, taking their suggestions and involving them in decision-making, will take the business higher in the long run. Long-term Investment: Entrepreneurs should focus on long term. Having a short-term vision or goal, will not reap benefits as expected. Patience is the key to sustain a start up in the long run. After each quarter, the entrepreneur should pause and review the business plan. Managing People: Leveraging employees, the vendors and other resources of the company will help an entrepreneur to build a scalable company. Networking is a big platform, which helps entrepreneurs to meet new and right people for their company. Getting honest and right kind of people for the organization is one of the most important aspects of an organization, and networking will enable an entrepreneur to source ones too. Learning: With constant up gradation in technology, systems and industry tends, the market is constantly changing. Therefore an entrepreneur has to constantly keep learning to manage his business based on changing demands (Josh Hall, 2015). Sell: An entrepreneur should possess all the skills it takes in a business. He also has to play the role of a sales person. He constantly looks at selling ideas, his products or services to his potential customers, employees or investors. Understanding the motive behind selling is an important skill to be acquired by an entrepreneur. Self-reflection: An entrepreneur has to scan his past carefully to plan for the future. Constantly working on the plans and ideas will help in building the business at a large scale. Challenges and Solutions Some of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and their solution are (Brian Morris, 2014): Cash Flow Management: Being a start up entrepreneurs may face challenges in paying of bills, delayed invoices. He may receive the payment later but has to incur expenses in the billing period. The solution to this proper planning of budget. Down payment is one of the best solutions to improve cash flow. Another method is faster invoice payments. Involve with clients who make payments faster. Hiring Efficient Employees: Aspiring to get the best employees is the biggest issue of entrepreneurs. It involves lot of time, expense and process. The solution to this is to be exclusive in the criteria for the position. Pre- qualifying candidates with proper requisition can save a lot of time and also get them the best employees on board. Marketing Strategy: Marketing your products or services is the biggest challenge of a company. Maximizing returns on investment is the major goal. The solution is to get creative team to market for the products. For fast food attracting through colorful hoardings, health benefits of your food, and involving customer through Do It Yourself concept would be useful. Business Growth: With extensive competition from the industry, it is difficult to keep growing. The solution is to focus on how you would delegate tasks, create new processes, and bring innovation to your product and service and passing the benefit to the customer. Financial Plan A business plan is slated to be practical only when it is stated in terms of numbers. Based on the capital that the entrepreneur is getting to initiate the business, a financial plan is created. The financial plan of my start up for the fast food chain in Dubai would be as follows (Elizabeth Wasserman, n.d): Starting with a sales forecast Expenses budget Developing a cash-flow statement Projecting Income Dealing with the assets and liabilities Break-even analysis. Conclusion An entrepreneur faces many challenges in setting up his business. Proper business planning, structure, right amount of capital, appropriate location, expertise and skilled employees are highly essential for the success of a business. An entrepreneur could build trust and share the risk taking with the process of contractual red tape by building innovative networks in their business. References Aileron (2013), The top skills every entrepreneur needs, retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/aileron/2013/11/26/the-top-skills-every-entrepreneur-needs/#660b41235669 How to Research a business Opportunity (2016), retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/42940 Ashley Lutz (2014), 12 Changing Food Innovations, retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/12-Game-Changing-Fast-Food-Innovations-Of-2014/articleshow/45555459.cms Rory Jones (2014), Fast Food is a big draw at the mall, retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304773104579268222263804890 Andrew Faust (2012), A Weighty Concern, Obesity and Fast Food in Dubai, retrieved from https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/uae-dubai-obesity-diabetes-public-health-nutrition-waffa-al-bassum Josh Hall (2015), Key Skills to Master when starting a business, retrieved from https://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2010/03/2010-03-02-6-key-skills-to-master-when-starting-a-business/ Brian Morris (2014), Top Challenges faced by the Entrepreneurs, retrieved from https://ww.deluxe.com/blog/top-10-challenges-faced-entrepreneurs-today-solved/ Elizabeth Wasserman (n.d), How to Write the Financial Plan of a Business, retrieved fromhttps://www.bplans.com/ethnic_food_restaurant_business_plan/financial_plan_fc.php How Entrepreneurs Identify New Business Opportunities (2009), https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-entrepreneurs-identify-new-business-opportunities/