Launching and running an own business is not easy at all. It will take many things into account like hard working; deal with problems and a willingness to live with uncertainty in varying degree. Like Matsushita is a hero whose personal character traits help to launch a successful business. Here are the top ten characteristics of entrepreneurs in order which illustrate as enthusiasm, perseverance, luck or fortune in business, self-confidence, technical/vocational skill and knowledge ability, responsibility, honesty, creativity, resourcefulness, and knowledge and information seeking. All these factors influence the decision to decide starting up a business and growing it. Maybe some of super-heroes-entrepreneurs are lacking of those factors or running business with other character traits.
The personality, usually, can be seen as one of important factors of personal success. A good entrepreneur as Matsushita will always have their own character traits to launch business in order to differentiate with other competitors. There are three main Personality Traits of an Entrepreneur which Marnie Pehrson has been observed from workplaces:
The Visionary has the ability to look at the overall picture, the long view. The visionary gives you the passion, the fuel, and the drive to keep going.
The Strategist does the planning, figures out the ''how'' of doing things, making sure all the steps are in place and everything gets done.
The Technician actually does the details of the job. Technicians often fall in love with the process of doing.
Successful entrepreneurs typically have these number of characteristics. They might not have to be highly educated, but their charismatical behaviours and persuative nature still can help them running business successfully. By knowing what it takes to start and keep a business running is critical to the successful launch and on-going existence of any venture. With different skills and motivation attitute assessment are also the critical factors to compete with other enterprenures. That’s what Matsushita did. He invented the long-lasting lamp and he required to speak his business princeiples loud to his employees each morning in order to keep every of employees be aware of what they had to do.
Entrepreneurs compete with themselves and believe that success or failure lies within their personal control or influence. That’s why Matsushita never give up when facing the financial or selling problem, always has faith himself. He does not see non-successes as failures but as learning experiences. Entrepreneurs have a "head for business." They are always thinking of new ideas and new ways to make money or increase their business. They are not afraid to put these ideas to use. In 1947, Matsushita had progressed from startup to 1,100 employees, sales of three million yen per year, 280 registered patents and factories at ten locations. His products not only selling within the nation but also export abroad. Entrepreneurs are risk-takers who trust their intuition and act on them. Taking risks can be small first steps, like placing your first ad in a mail-order publication. When he launched his lamps, no shops dare to accept his product but with his faith, he was taking risk to invest more in a new merchandising strategy. Entrepreneurs are usually honorable people who do business based on a handshake or a promise. They tend to form strong associations with others who share this work ethic. When Matsushita faced financial problem, he had never decreased employees payments but worked harder to override this hard period.
As above, that entrepreneurs used of innovation to exploit or create change and opportunity for the purpose to make profit. Entrepreneurs are using different commercial opportunities and then exploiting them and this is why they are so valued in today’s society. Like what Michael Porter (1990) said that ‘Invention and entrepreneurship are at the heart of national advantage’. Innovation is an unpredictable and illusive thing. It is usually associated with ideas developed by people. It is often coming from people who made many marketing research and observation in the existing markets and change their way into different things. Innovation means renewal by application of new technologies, methods and procedures at the cutting edge of business. It related to many things like technology, product, process, service and so on. It means to make things better and create new added value to customers and make technology more practical.
Technological innovation is nowadays one of the most dominant innovation types. Nevertheless, apart from technological innovation, there are other innovation types such as economical, organizational, political, and social, leadership, product innovations. It should be mentioned that the different innovation types can affect each other mutually: For example: like technological innovations such as the information technology/Internet may have an impact on economical and social innovations.
Matsushita used the different types of innovative practices to grow his company. First of all, he started his company by technological innovation. By observation and research, he used porcelain insulation plates as electric LAN bases to less breakable ones made from an asbestos like material. He overcome the technological know-how and financial problem and without hesitation to make his new-design products like attachment plug and long-lasting lamps. With their quality product and fast delivering they received their first payment and second order was placed. Matsushita thinks company can’t sell customers goods that they are attracted to. They have to sell them goods that will benefit them. However, with his hardworking attitude which 18 hours a day, seven days a week, Matsushita successful launch his business. This basic idea of modern technology management is to start the technology project as close as possible at the goal to be reached. This is enabled by technology and know-how transfer from the outside which results in a substantial reduction of R&D-costs and shortening of innovation cycles and time-to-market. There for technology and know-how are to a large extent commercial and/or acquisitionable resources.
As his company is on the right track, Matsushita used his strategically innovation in order to differentiate from other competitors: obsession with productivity and low costs. He realized that when launched a brand new product into the market. The price had to be cheaper than standard fare. Otherwise, consumer would prefer to buy the old products instead of new design product. Meanwhile, he concentrate on after-sale service which to boost customer satisfaction. Because Matsushita thought after-sale service is more important than assistance before sales. It is through such service that one gets permanent customers. Innovations no matter what kind of types they have to break the mould of how things are done. Therefore, Innovation in our sense is always directly connected to customer requirements and business.
During the depression of Japanese economic, the market demand was decreasing rapidly. Matsushita Electric’s sales went down by more than half. Matsushita was not frightened by this. He shifted factory workers to sales, didn’t layoff any of his employees unlike other companies. More than that, he still paid the same amount of the payment to his workers but cut production by half. From what Matsushita learned before, his leadership innovation practice encourages all his workers work even harder and overcome the hard period. Matsushita thinks: treat the people you do business with as if they were a part of your family. Prosperity depends on how much understanding one receives from the people with whom one conducts business. It’s not enough to work conscientiously. No matter what kind of job you should think of yourself as being completely in charge of and responsible for your own work.
In only 15 years, they had progressed from startup to 1,100 employees, sales of three million yen per year, 280 registered patents, and factories at ten locations. By starting his company from small business to over billion-revenue firm, Matsushita’s communication innovation practice played a core role among it. To become a successful company, not only product and other innovations are very important but also how entrepreneur plays their part to communicate and cheer up their employees is important as well. They have to look at both internal and external of the company and analysis their relationship and situation. Matsushita required his principle to be announced each morning before employees starting to work. Meanwhile, his speech made the basic human values to everyone. He thinks communication to the employees is the essential thing to connect company and their business. That’s why he found out inspiring work force is a larger source of competitive advantage. Thus, how many entrepreneurs like Matsushita knows how to give a good open communication?
Nevertheless, innovation is more than just innovation. It’s about the attitude of how people want to found company and make them growth. In differentiate the company produce from other competitors, it always concern about the customers and markets. It is not always think about how to build up the company reputation or self recognition. Yet, when Matsushita Electronic became the world best selling product organization and Matsushita became the world successful entrepreneur. He didn’t use his name tap on the product, like Ford; Mark and Spencer or Warner brother’s. He never aggressively sought media attention outside of Japan. The way he wants is to contribute his product to be enjoyed and shared by every of his customers. Thus, his unique innovations effective survive a company and growth even bigger, and also make millions of people happy with his products.
To Matsushita, the mission of manufacture was a bold statement: one designed to overcome poverty, to relieve society as a whole from misery, and bring it wealth. Business and production, to Matsushita, were not meant to enrich only the shops or the factories of the enterprise concerned, but all the rest of the society as well. Matsushita never talked narrowly about maximising shareholder value as the proper goal of an enterprise. Although he did speak often about generating wealth, his overall theme song emphasised the psychological and spiritual aspects of being for the good of all people.
Matsushita’s first product was an attachment plug. The year: 1918. It was followed by the bullet-shaped bicycle lamp, a few years later. He launched his inexpensive Super Iron, in 1927; and, his first radio was developed in just three months, in 1931. Interestingly, Matsushita began his first business with his own savings, a savings of one hundred yen! Inside his two-room tenement house. The total space available for working and living, equalled 130 square feet. The rest is history.
What made Matsushita so special? His own set of business principles for the corporation: service to the public; fairness and honesty; teamwork for a common cause; untiring effort for improvement; courtesy and humility; accord with natural laws; and, gratitude for blessings. They were, overall, Matsushita’s Seven Commandments — all of them committed to certain ideals. His powerful ideas are about the roots of life-long learning. One can, he often told people, learn from any experience, and at any age. With ideals that are big and humanistic, Matsushita emphasised, one can conquer success and failure, learn from both, and continue to grow.
Matsushita extraordinary life was a reflection of that outlook. It is a powerful testimony and rare resources for subsequent business founders and entrepreneurs.
REFERENCES:
Paul Burns: Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-333-91472-0
Hisrich, R.D. and Peters, M.P.: Entrepreneurship, McGraw Hill Higher Education, Fifth Edition, 2002, ISBN 0-070112351-2
Michael L. Tushman and William L. Moore: Reading in the management of innovation, Pitman, 1982, ISBN 0-273-01786-1