What have I learned from our Technopreneurship lecture?

Part of one’s learning is experience. You will learn lot of things out of experience. That is why, student needs to go to the real world and experience the work atmosphere. At some stage in our lecture last July 16, 2012, our professor for Technopreneurship subject told us that to be able to produce quality graduates the students must be trained in their fields to have experience. So then he introduced and told us to follow the SEED model. What does SEED model is for Technopreneurship? Well, SEED stands for Self mastery, Environment mastery, Enterprise mastery, and Development of Business Plan. This will help us, students, to experience having our own company. This will give us knowledge on how to make or develop our own company. This will also prepare us, IT students, handle, manage and become a good technopreneur someday.      

On the first part of his lecture, he talks on the subject of the mind set that we, as students, and our parents having now. He mentioned that our parents are thinking that we must go to school to earn good grades, to have a degree; to be employed to big companies, to be paid, and some parents wants us (the students) to go to abroad instead of staying in our country and improve our nation and countrymen’s life. Our professor, in his lecture, he told us the difference between an entrepreneur and a salaried employee. Of course, these two are far different. From our professor’s lecture, it is said that entrepreneurs are people who enter into new and pioneering ventures. Entrepreneurs are whole-brained, meaning he / she uses both the left brain (logical) and right brain (creative). An entrepreneur is the person who owned the business while a salaried employee is the person who works for the entrepreneur. For you, which do you prefer? For me, I will prefer being an entrepreneur than an employee. And our professor made us realize this. He told us that being an entrepreneur is way better that being an employee. Because if you are an entrepreneur you are the boss, you are the head, and no one is higher than you. I guess, no one in the world would not want to become an owner of a company.

After that, our professor has told us how an entrepreneur becomes a technopreneur. We all know that an entrepreneur is the one who owned the business and if you add the business with a technology, this will be the time that an entrepreneur becomes a technopreneur. According to Technopreneurship Module that I have searched from the internet, what makes an entrepreneur a tchnopreneur is by these two reasons: (1.) a technology idea owner who ventures to make his idea a commercial reality, and (2.) an entrepreneur who gets a technology idea, finds an opportunity to make it a commercial reality.

I have mentioned on the first paragraph about the SEED model. And now I will tell you what I have learned about this model one by one. First is the Self mastery. What is Self mastery in the SEED model? From the presentation of our professor, it is said that a Self mastery passion comes from knowing your self. Actually, after the said lecture, our professor gave us (his students), an assignment. He asked us to take two different tests; first is the EQ test (or Emotional Quotient test), and second on is the AQ test (or Adversity Quotient test). This will help us know our limits emotionally and mentally. It is also needed to take IQ test (or Intelligence Quotient test) for us to know our intellectual capacity. Another test is the Personality Test; this is evaluating our character as a strength and weaknesses. But these two tests were excluded because we have already taken the IQ test as an entrance exam in the university and the Personality test when we are in our first and third year students. So, what is the reason why we need to take these tests for Self mastery part of the SEED model? Well, it is because we need to know our capacity individually as a Technopreneur. Everything that we have to know starts with your self. It is also stated in the presentation that Self mastery brings passion. When you know yourself, you know what you want and what you do not want. What does it takes being a Self mastered person? You don’t have to be very intellectual person. What matters is your emotional capability and how you cope with misfortune. At this point it is needed to know your result in EQ and AQ tests. On my part, after taking the EQ test, I got an average result while for my result in the AQ test, I got a below average rate. I guess it is not that bad, right? It is also stated there that a self mastered person needs to be a whole brained individual, has a personal vision and knows his own strengths and weaknesses.

The next one from the SEED model is the Environment mastery. So, what is Environment mastery? Environment mastery is about generating business ideas and seeking opportunities out from his or her environment through: (1) serendipity walks, (2) crises, (3) trends, and many more. When our professor gave us the first activity, which is to come up with 9 technologies all in all. Three out of the nine technologies must be a technology that is for home usage. Another three are technologies that are for mall usage. And the final three are technologies that are for a fast-food chain usage. For us to com up good ideas, our professor told us to do a serendipity walk. He said that it is a good strategy to formulate for ideas if we go to the areas that are assigned to us and try to observe things in there. Through these observations, we will know what is really needed in the areas. We can tell the things that are needs to be developed and to create. Crisis can also help us to generate business ideas. Why? Because when there is crisis, the people need to have a solution or anything that might give ease the said crisis. Trends, of course in the field of technology the entrepreneur or the technopreneur must follow or think ahead of the trends. The ideas must be up to date. If the trends today are touch screen gadgets and device, then why would you create or come up with an idea that does not fit to the trends? That makes trends a critical part or essential in generating business ideas. And another thing, the trends tells the entrepreneur what do people in the generation wants. What does it takes to be an Environment mastered person? In our lecture, an environment mastered person understands the industry. He or she sees the opportunities, not the problem in the environment. An environment mastered person is on top of the situation instead of being under the situation. He or she must be the organization and the industry innovator and strategist.  

Next in the SEED model is the Enterprise mastery. What is Enterprise mastery and why is it part in the SEED model? This is where all your learning about how to run a business is needed. Let us know more about this part of the SEED model. According to the slides or presentation that I have reasrch, Enterprise mastery is how to run a business. This pertains to the knowledge of the different enterprise disciplines, like: creating the business, marketing management, operations management, financial management, and risk management. In this part of the SEED model, the technoprenuer is needed to have knowledge about business transactions. It can be from documentations, to your marketing skills and to deciding what is best to your business. When you have created or started your business, you must know how to market your products or services. That is why an enterprise mastered person must understand and integrates the functions of management, like: marketing, human resource, operations, and finance. An entrepreneur or a technopreneur must know how to have a good rapport or connection to his planned markets. If he or she have this link or bond to his desired market, it is easy for him / her to sell their products. An enterprise mastered person must also understand and integrates the process of management, like: planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. Of course, as you create your own company or business you plan first. You set for the company’s goal. You set on what products or services you tend to offer to the market. And when you have already have set those, you will now also plan for the future of your business or company. But it does not stop there; the entrepreneur is also needed to organize everything in your company. As an entrepreneur or the boss of the company, he or she must also act as a good leader. He or she must be good in directing the employees. It is also very important that an enterprise mastered person not only leads the company but also inspired others as well.

Last in the SEED model is the Development of Business Plan. As you start for a business, you must first write a business plan. Here you will write everything that you have set for your business. You must include your set goals, what product or service that your business offers, your set capital, and many more aspect in the business you want to create. Then after that, you must present and defend your business plan.

In the middle of the lecture, our professor gave us a mini activity. The mini activity is about what are the implications on three different scenarios. The first scenario is, the father of the family is not employed and no one in the family has income. This scenario is given to the first group, where I was one of the members. Then, the second scenario goes like this: you are applying for a job but you are not accepted because you don’t have a pleasing personality. And this scenario was given to the second group. And the last scenario is, you are employed but you are not contented with your monthly salary. And this scenario was given to the third (last) group. With the help of this mini activity, we have realized (our professor made us realize) that it will be better if you owned a company. In the first scenario, we answered that the family will suffer in hunger. We don’t want to suffer in this kind of situation, right? But if we chose to be employed, it is possible you will also get fired. For the second scenario, the second group answered, this will make you unemployed only because you do not have a pleasing personality. And we all know that now-a-days most of the employers are looking for an employee with pleasing personality. For all the people who are experiencing this it is better if you create your own business, because here you are the boss so you don’t really need to hassle your self searching for a job that does not require you to have a pleasing personality. And for the third scenario, the third group answered that the person will look for another job (it can be two or more jobs). This is very tiresome way after all. Because of minding only one job, you are required to do more jobs. And this is not healthy. You must also take a rest. 

For the lectures that we have attended in this subject, our professor only wanted us to instil into our minds to become an entrepreneur. And because we are IT students, we must not settle as an employee but a technopreneur. He told us that, we must start a business inside the country (actually inside the city) to help the community and individuals, as well. I guess there is no harm in trying. And besides, there are many big companies that are helping students to start up a business like putting up incubators. These incubators are not for hatching eggs of different egg-laying animals neither for premature human babies but for the people who wanted to start their company. These incubators, or the organization that are building these incubators, aims to help create new and exciting companies by combining a young entrepreneur’s ideas and technical skills with business experience and some capital. With this, your entrepreneurial skills will be developed. See, because of these method, there more young individuals will be braver in starting up their business and create grate ideas for the benefit of all.