Entrepreneurship Reflection Essay Essay

1. INTRODUCTION From this reflection, I am glad that I came to this talk because this kind of discussion taught me a lot on how to be a good and excellent entrepreneur. Maybe before I came, the first think we will think after being an entrepreneur is of course the profit that we gained. We never think about the responsibilities as a Muslim to do the job properly and wisely. Sometimes the entrepreneur itself forget to donate the money, to give zakat and others. We only think that the profit that the business can give us. But we forget that everything come from Allah and everything is his’. We do not absolutely own every single money that we earn. But of course if we earn it by ourselves the money is ours, but if we do not give zakat, the money is nothing to us as a Muslim. 2. REFLECTIONS ON KEY LEARNING POINT 2.1 Islamic entrepreneurship There are secrets to be a successful businessman which is following the way from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).There are 10 qualities of Prophet Muhammad in being a successful person in business. First is honesty. Undoubtedly, no one can be more truthful and honest than the Messengers of God. Of course we must be honest on doing works to get barakah from Allah on what are we doing.. Second is trustworthy. Trustworthiness further enhances the integrity and sound moral conduct that is inherent in the notion of honesty. Being trustworthy implies being honest, fair in dealings and punctual as well as honoring trusts and keeping promises and commitments. The third one is flexibility. He always observed justice and equity while he was trading  and avoided telling lies and fraud, which was the practiced by many tradesmen. Prophet Muhammad was never strict in his business dealings with others. Sa’ib ibn al-Sa’ib relates: During the age of ignorance, I was his [the Prophetâ€⠄¢s] trade partner, and I found him the best of the partners in every respect. He neither argued with anyone nor was he obstinate and nor did he blame anything on his partner. Fourth is his consciousness of responsibility. In a hadith reported by Abdullah b. Omar Prophet Muhammad said: â€Å"We are all shepherds and we are all responsible for those who are under our hands (i.e. in our flocks). Fifth is good manner with his companions. The prophet was very close to his companions, and this is well known when one reads the detailed reports about the prophet’s biography. The sixth one is prophet Muhammad always seek his companions to consult with them. The Prophet (pbuh) would consult his companions, and take their opinions and points of view into consideration in issues and matters for which no textual proofs were revealed. The prophet (SAW) was concerned about his companions and would make sure that they were well. If he was told about a companion who was sick, he would rush to visit him with the companions that were present with him. Seventh is Prophet Muhammad would serve himself such as washed his own clothes and milked his sheep. The Prophet’s excellent manners, not only made him serve himself; rather, he would serve others as well. Next is he recognizes his companions’ skills. A good leader is one who sees the positive traits of his team members and invests in them. This is exactly what the Prophet (pbuh) did with his companions. There are many examples that show how the Prophet (pbuh) discovered where his companions excelled and how he utilized their potentials and wisely invested in them. The second last is correcting his companions’ mistakes. Correcting people’s mistakes is a Quranic guidance. The Quran has many references to situations in which a certain conduct is blamed and corrected. These situations apply to Muslims in general and to the Prophet (pbuh) himself. Last but not least is the gentleness of Prophet Muhammad. Gentleness is a key quality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When he wanted to teach his companions, he used a very wise method which involved both respect for the recipient of such knowledge without embarrassing him. 2.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture There are 4 types of person after lots of researches has been done. First is sanguine. Sanguine is a sociable person. They laugh for the hard days, wise words when squeezed by the burden, creative, enthusiasm, and always have the energy to start. Sanguine love to be popular. They have a lot of friends. They love to talk, to perform, and help each other and they always curious. Sanguine love to be children forever. Second is choleric. Choleric is a strong person. They have a strong leadership. They are faithful, brave, and have the freedom to be on one’s own. They all forced and always want to make a change. Strong-willed and assertive, goal oriented, well organized, and they don’t really need friends. They always be the superior one in the emergency time. Next is melancholic. Melancholies is a sensitive person. Depth to see the heart and soul of life. Artistic to appreciate the art. They are thoughtfully, analytical, serious, and have a talent. They are perfectionist, so they love details. Last but not least is phlegmatic. Phlegmatic is a peaceful person. They always stable, patient, and have a compassion for the other. They always keep calm, when the other was in confusion. They are humble, silent, controlled, good listener, and always happy with their life. They always be the mediator, and easy to get along with. 2.3 SALES AND MARKETING For sales and marketing, there are 4 marketing techniques that can boost up our business. First is product. In the case of services, the â€Å"product† is intangible, heterogeneous and perishable. Moreover, its production and consumption are inseparable. Hence, there is scope for customizing the offering as per customer requirements, and the actual customer encounter therefore assumes particular significance. Second is price. Of all the aspects of the marketing mix, price is the one, which creates sales revenue – all the others are costs. The price of an item is clearly an important determinant of the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Next is place. Place is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the  customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. The last one is promotion. Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organization to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective. CRITICAL FINDINGS 3.1 Islamic Entrepreneurship Islam is a complete way of life. There is no separation between business and religion. Islam has its own entrepreneurship culture and guiding principles based on the Al-Quran and Al-Hadith to guide business operation. The aim of the group is to highlight the guiding principles of entrepreneurship in Islam, especially in the Arab heritage, by Al-Quran, Al-Hadith and the entrepreneurial ethics based on example of conducts from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In business, entrepreneurs has to have objectives and targets but these are subservient to the ultimate objective of acquiring the blessing of Allah s.w.t. In Islam, to indulge in business is to perform an obligatory duty (fardhu kifayah). Profits gained from the business by entrepreneurs are merely incidental in the fulfillment of the fardhu kifayah. In business we must have a role model so that their actions can guide us in our development stages of life and more so, they help us make meaningful decisions. Many children grow up imitating their role model’s behavior, for example, if they see their role model smoking, then they are likely to smoke. We as Muslims have our own role model that can’t be changed even in another life none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). There is no community has been without its righteous guides and teachers to help its people towards the truth and to lead them from the depths of darkness to the light of Islam. Aristotle believes that we learn to be moral (virtuous) by modeling the behavior of moral people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has maintained the best characteristics in his roles as father, husband, friend, ruler, governor,  teacher, statesman, protector of the weak, widows, and poor, a guide to the rich, a guardian of the orphans, and a servant of Allah. No one could ever equal the Prophet (pbuh) in the whole history of mankind and no one ever will, insha Allah. 3.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture As for me, I would like meet new people, having works with bunch of friends so that we would not feel the works is burdensome for us and we also find that doing work in group is fun. As we know the more the merrier. Meeting new people will teach me to handle every kind or every type of people. I think the type of personality suits me best is sanguine. This is because I am a person who is very talkative an also extrovert. I am not good for keeping things inside. In the future I have planned to work not only in the office but have opportunities to meet new people so that I can increase the number of friends. I also like to socialize instead of having works in front of the computer for the whole day. I also tend to enjoy social gatherings. From the research, they state that sanguine personality is affected by chemical called dopamine, which makes these people intensely curious and creative. Their curiosity can be expressed in their love for reading and different kinds of knowledge and t hey usually possess high amounts of energy, so they may seem restless and spontaneous. Some findings also stated that if you have a sanguine business personality, your strengths lie in your interpersonal relationships. You’ve got people skills that are out of this world. People warm to you quickly and you understand how to make a good first impression. Your business relationships are solid and effective; social media and networking come easily to you. You’re probably very popular in your workplace amongst your co-workers as well as your clients. Even though like that, everyone must have their own negative sides in their own way. For sanguine we need a little help in the non-social aspects of owning a business. ‘On Your Own’ we may have trouble focusing when you’re working alone or you may find solo work boring and tedious. Timeliness Sanguine tend to be chronically late. You may have trouble getting in on time or keeping up with your appointments. Like any other bad habits, the first step is admitting that you’ve got a problem t ime management. Sanguine also often  struggle with leadership positions if they’re too concerned with how their employees see them. Of course it would be some good sides of a person and some bad sides. But, with such an extroverted business personality, we should not be afraid to focus on networking and building strong customer relationships. Just make sure that we’re not losing sight on the other aspects of your business; though your social interactions may have built your business, it’s the legwork that keeps it running. Your personality type might affects everything in your life. It is how we interact with others, how we spend our free time, how we build relationships. It even affects how we do business. This is why we need Islam in our life so that we do not go astray from what we should do. And this is one of the reason why we must have to make Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a role model so that we know why we do all of this on this earth. 3.3 SALES AND MARKETING For IIC marketing and sales, they also follow the rules of marketing which are 4Ps. 1. Product This year (2013)2 certificates, 10 diploma programs and 2 degree programs are offered. For December 2013, online executive diploma program will be opened. Next year additional 2 certificate, 1 foundation, 7 diploma programs and 3 degree programs are offered for registered students. IIC also is IIUM branding which is apply Islamic values and also Intensive English classes. 2. Place IIC is placed at Taman Batu Muda, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Batu Caves is a center of Malaysia. This is because Batu caves is one of the most popular temple in the world. So people might be easy to know the place of IIC by searching it in the internet. This place also easy access by public transportation. 3. Promotion There are some promotions has been held by IIC which are advertisements in newspapers and radio stations, participating in educational exhibitions locally and internationally and road Tour while conduct briefing and interview session nationwide. IIC also promotes using telemarketing and Facebook. They also held some programs with school counselors to persuade  the students to join IIC. Registered agents also has been practiced in IIC promoting actions. 4. Price Certificate – RM5,580 Diploma – RM14,260-RM18,400 Degree – RM42,000 (3 years), RM28,000 (2 Years) Registration fee of RM440/RM975- Cert/Diploma Registration fee of RM1,000/RM1,500- Degree Hostel Fee of RM250 per month From the talk we can see that the sales and marketing part for IIC has been given as listed above. It follows everything from the 4Ps. 4. ACTION PLAN After the speech given by the speakers, we can tell that IIC is a good high education institute because it is near to residential area and lots of facilities around the campus. This will ease the student of the institute to get the essential needs. As for me I will promote the institute to others as it offers the course that widely needed in this global industries. This campus also offers a very conducive environment of studies to help the students to develop their critical and logical thinking as well as develop their creativity and good personal traits. I also thinking about joining the road tour with IIC so that I can get some experience about marketing and promoting. From the road tour, IIC will distribute goody bags to provide all the information needed for the customers. I also will help to promote IIC using social network as we can see internet is the fastest to spread the information all over the cyber community. 5. CONCLUSION From the talk we can see that everything that has been discussed is important. First is they let us know that the qualities to be the best business man is we must have our role model which is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) so that we will not go astray from what we should do and from we should be. They also taught us about the personality types exist so that we well prepared for anything happen in the future on how to overcome our emotion and our greediness and so on. Next is the 4Ps which are the most important  things in marketing and entrepreneurship. 4Ps stands for product, price, promotion and place. Every aspect must be clear before we run any business so that we know what exactly going on to our business.