introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to explore personal enterprise: the human aspects of the entrepreneurial process. It explores how people learn to work in entrepreneurial ways and become entrepreneurs, why they select the opportunities they do, and the connections between learning and selecting opportunities. It asks you to relate these ideas to your own development.
The chapter explains the important concept of entrepreneurial learning and key elements which relate to this. A model of entrepreneurial learning is introduced to help you to reflect on your own personal experience and development. There is a series of exercises to help you map your personal learning to date and identify areas and needs for develop¬ment. These involve reflection and self-assessment of your personal values, goals, motivations, self-confidence and capabilities.
The learning goals of this chapter are intended to enable you to:
& relate your own learning experiences to a framework for entrepreneurial learning
® identify and reflect on your values, goals and motivations to help develop your confidence
to take entrepreneurial actions
© assess your entrepreneurial capabilities and skills
@ develop a learning map to summarise and plan your entrepreneurial development.
The outcome of the chapter is to develop a map of your entrepreneurial learning at a personal and social level, and to show how this connects with the types of opportunity which you can select. This chapter covers the first quadrant of Opportunity-Centred Entrepreneur- ship, which focuses on personal enterprise and includes the questions shown in Figure 3.1. Activities in the chapter encourage you to reflect on the importance of self-confidence, motivation and achievement in entrepreneurial working. The chapter explores personal goals, motivations, and ways of assessing the 'fit' between these and ideas. Personal skills and capabilities are assessed in relation to changes in roles and skills at different stages of the entrepreneurial venture. You will be asked to consider your preferred role in forming and leading entrepreneurial teams. The social skills required in entrepreneurial working to seed opportunities through networking, influencing and selling are explored.