Entrepreneurship and Innovation

There is a view that innovation and entrepreneurship refer basically to the same thing. Entrepreneurship, according to this view, is baseless without innovation. Schumpeter, for example, investigates the role played by entrepreneurs in what he referred to as creative destruction, which was responsible for essential changes within the market by introduction of innovations (Schumpeter & Opie, 1934, p. 23). With this in mind, it is very necessary that entrepreneurs keep innovation in their minds when considering an entrepreneurial venture. The UK has in the past few years, along with other countries, suffered a deep economic crisis. The crisis has left behind it a series of problems for the incoming entrepreneur (Baumol, n.d., p. 98). This paper champions the thesis that any entrepreneur who has intentions to explore the market has to plan on how to handle the problems to succeed without seeming too expensive to the consumer, with a special focus on SB Tourism company.

The first thing that has affected the new businesses in the recent past is the fragile recovery from the economic recession. Companies that make a poor entry into the market are most likely to exit at some point. To avoid suffering much effect from this problem, companies must be willing to go an extra mile towards customer satisfaction. This is one point at which entrepreneurs must employ innovation. Innovation can be employed in many forms in any market to meet the needs of consumers. First, it may be used to introduce better products with a variety of uses to the market. Second, entrepreneurs can use innovation to introduce more durable products so that the consumer saves money on purchasing their products. Finally, innovation may involve the introduction of completely new products to serve the market gaps that are discovered along the way (Schumpeter & Opie, 1934, p. 23).

The UK has also suffered from fuel cost increases. This arose as a result of the political instability in oil producing countries. With this regard companies should be willing to lower the profit gap or raise their fees to accommodate the rising cost of fuel. Companies that are highly dependent on fuel prices like bus companies are either going to exit or raise their fees. The tourism industry is highly dependent on fuel. However, the UK has become a famous destination for tourists the world over. SB Tourism Ltd has managed to exploit this market and grow from it. The rise in fuel costs is only able to affect the tourism market slightly as tourism is a leisure activity and consumers are very likely to come prepared for the hard times. The tourism industry is also bound to benefit from insecurity issues in other tourist destinations like Kenya, a country in the East-African region.

Another driver in the UK economy is the demand for environmentally sound products. New entrants should tap into this market to stay afloat. The one way to tap this market effectively is by being innovative and adopting innovation as a culture in the organization. Studies have shown that tourists show a tendency to prefer going green while on holiday. They prefer hotels and travel companies that have an initiative that supports environment conservation. They also have a tendency to use products that are environmentally friendly. With this in mind, SB Tourism Ltd can put up a package that comes up as the most environment friendly package in the market. Supporting environment initiatives will also go a long way.

Evaluation and critical understanding of Entrepreneurship /Innovation

Many factors determine if an entrepreneurial venture succeeds or fails. First and foremost, the entrepreneurial venture should serve the needs of its people. The needs of the people in the case of the tourism sector would be the provision of good products and services that serve the tourists’ needs better than those provided by competitors. Since tourism is mostly a service industry, this would come in the form of employing good talent in the industry, implementing a culture of loyalty and respect, and going an extra mile as far as customer service is concerned (Wong, Ho, & Autio, 2005, p. 34).

Another important factor that decides if a venture succeeds or fails is the way a business markets itself. Marketing is defined as the process in which a business plans and executes its conception, how it prices, promotes, and distributes its goods, ideas, and services so as to form relations that satisfy both individuals and the organization (Verheul, Wennekers, Audretsch, & Thurik, 2001, p. 123).

For marketing of a company to be effective, therefore, it should be planned and executed in a manner that is beneficial for both the consumer and profitable for the company. There are several methods that may be employed for marketing a business venture. The most effective is that of making good products that market themselves. However, this method cannot be left to market the products of a company exclusively. Other methods that may be used are the promotion of products on newspapers, televisions and the internet. This method should be used mainly on spaces which are accessible to the consumers. The tourism sector should be willing to advertise both locally for local tourists and internationally for universal tourists. Above all, the producer should be able to deliver what they promise during their promotions to ensure they do not have to advertise throughout the business’ existence. A return customer is always worth more than a new customer (Bull & Willard, 1993, p. 245).

Another aspect that should be looked into is the issue of customer service. Customer service is prioritized in businesses that are headed for success. Customer care in this case refers to the communication between the consumer and the producer. This would come in the form of call centres that are put up only with the intention of ensuring consumers have access to SB Tourism Ltd any time they want to. This way, consumers are able to recommend changes to the company in the form of complaints. A good customer experience goes a long way in the marketing of a company.

Innovation has mainly been studied in the manufacturing industry. It is, however, just as important in the service industry. Employing innovation in the service industry is harder than in the manufacturing sector due to the intangible products of the service industry. While products in the manufacturing sector are mostly manufactured without any interaction with the consumers, customer service is vital in the development of products in the service sector. Innovation in the service involves both what new product is being offered and how it is being offered. Due to the complexity of innovation in the service industry, it should be carefully documented to ensure proper methods when offering the products (Deakins & Freel, 1998, p. 456).

Innovation can be incorporated in the tourism industry in many forms. First, it would be employed by embracing new technologies into SB Tourism Ltd. These would come in the modes of payments that are accepted, the technologies that are incorporated in their travel systems and accommodation units and even in the services that are offered within their premises. A simple service like an internet connection matters to customers at certain points in their holidaying.

Secondly, innovation could be employed by including a rare product within the packages available to the consumers. Variety in this case would be important as not all customers will be impressed by the same product. A good example would be to include a special tourist destination as a free gift to the consumer to be offered for every customer. Customers who consider the destination as one that would not impress them would consider another destination tied to their package.

Innovation could also be assimilated into SB Tourism Ltd through other means. Creativity would be very important for innovation to be effective. It is therefore important for the producer to employ talent whenever it can be found. Training is also another method that can be used to trigger creativity in a company. The company should consider investing in the training of its employees to ensure they stay ahead of their competition (Deakins & Freel, 1998, p. 456).

Entrepreneurship requires more than luck and money, it requires a consistent process of planning, development of ideas, risk taking and ideas. It is a mind-set that covers the motivation of an individual, independently or within the organization. It should remain as so by individuals within the organisation being able to identify and pursue opportunities which are available for SB Tourism Ltd to exploit. With this regard, the company should have among its employees, people whose duties are to identify new ventures for the company to pursue.

Action Plan/Recommendations

SB Tourism Ltd is a company located in London, UK. It offers tour operator services to its customers. It was incorporated in July, 2012 and is therefore still a young company. It, like similar young companies in the industry, suffers from issues of lack of a customer base, rising cost of fuel, fragile economic times, funds’ deficit, and untrained labour force. It however has an advantage of having a stable management in which the leaders are self-driven. The company also benefits from a very hospitable community.

Young companies often meet a lot of challenges. These challenges include lack of experience, lack of trained personnel, insufficient funds, and lack of loyal customers. All these challenges should, at the most part, be approached through the entrepreneur’s open mind. Trying many options of dealing with challenges, though expensive, is the best approach to entrepreneurship. The most effective approach is then adopted in the company culture (Scott, 2006, p. 134).

With all this in mind, SB Tourism Ltd should put certain measures to action for it to be successful in the industry. These are changes to be enacted in every sector of the company for it to be successful. The risk of closure will thus be greatly reduced (Bull & Willard, 1993, p. 245). The changes will also improve its position before consumers.

First, in regard to the rising cost of fuel, SB Tourism Ltd should adopt low fuel consumption measures. This would mostly come in the form of vehicles that consume less. On top of this, the company should make it its policy. This will make it the choice of many consumers who are more attracted to customer friendly companies. On top of that, the company should set their rates around the market rates and donate the savings on fuel to environment conservation initiatives.

SB Tourism Ltd should also accept more forms of payments to accommodate more customers around the company. Incorporating new technology in the company will take the company a long way towards success. According to Knight (Deakins & Freel, 1998, p. 456), entrepreneurs are expected to make risky decisions that are intended for the success of their business and the service of their consumers. The company should therefore look at emerging trends and adopt them as they come. This will prevent the company from being left out in terms of technological advancement (Baumol, n.d., p. 98).

The changing economic times should be used by the entrepreneur as a stepping stone for new ideas. SB Tourism Ltd should adopt measures that take advantage of the volatile markets of the current times. The recovery from the recession is one particular opportunity that the company should exploit. There are many ways that this can be done. First, the consumers who are recovering from the poor economic times would be interested with small packages that fit their needs. This can be in the form of short vacations. Secondly, the company is able to negotiate effectively for services with other companies during these times. Since companies are more willing to take low deals during the recovery period, the company can negotiate better deals for the consumers more effectively.

Company culture refers to the ideologies that are held by the company. They are, usually, clearly stated in the mission and strategies of the company, and are accepted across the company’s workmanship. A good company culture is a promotional tool. It promotes the community surrounding the company, the company itself and even the ideas of the company. A company culture should also be developmental. It promotes hard work in the workforce rather than promoting parasitism on the company. A good company culture should also lead to the loyalty of the workforce to the company. Loyalty will promote both sales and a sense of ownership towards the company. A sense of ownership in the long run mostly protects the company from being robbed off its ideas by its competitors. This is the form of culture the management of SB should adopt.

To deal with issues such as lack of funds to implement some of the activities promoted by this report and by the company board, SB Tourism Ltd should welcome new investors to offer funds in return for shares in the company. While this may seem to work against the value of the company, it is most likely to add value to the company and even increase its profitability (Verheul, Wennekers, Audretsch, & Thurik, 2001, p. 123).

SB Tourism Ltd should also get involved in marketing drives. These should come in the form of advertising on newspapers television and even on the internet. Another very effective method of advertisement is the face-to-face promotion where the company participates in events that are most likely to contribute to its image. This way, the company is able capture the cream of its customers.

SB should also encourage further education for its employees. This is because at the beginning they may not be able to employ trained personnel. Encouraging education would enable the producer to be more innovative in the long run. It has also been shown that training within the company is more effective to the educated class of workers. By promoting education, the company makes it easier for innovation to take place within the company.

Finally, entrepreneurs of today have lots of challenges along the way. Among them is the just ended economic recession. For SB Tourism Ltd, however, these problems should appear as opportunities to improve his company. The entrepreneur should also integrate innovation in its operations to ensure that it is as effective as possible towards meeting the needs of the consumers. SB Tourism Ltd could also integrate environment conservation within itself both for itself and for the good of the environment.

References

Baumol, W. J. n.d. ‘Entrepreneurship, innovation and growth: The David-Goliath Symbiosis.’

Bull, I., & Willard, G. E. 1993, ‘Towards a theory of entrepreneurship’. Journal of Business Venturing. doi:10.1016/0883-9026(93)90026-2

Deakins, D., & Freel, M. 1998. ‘Entrepreneurial learning and the growth process in SMEs’. The Learning Organization. doi:10.1108/09696479810223428

Schumpeter, J. A., & Opie, R. 1934. ‘The theory of economic development: An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycle’. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Scott, A. J. 2006. ‘Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Industrial Development: Geography and the Creative Field Revisited’. Small Business Economics. doi:10.1007/s11187-004-6493-9

Verheul, I., Wennekers, S., Audretsch, D., & Thurik, R. 2001. ‘An Eclectic Theory of Entrepreneurship: Policies, Institutions and Culture’. doi:10.1007/0-306-47556-1_2

Wong, P. K., Ho, Y. P., & Autio, E. 2005. ‘Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM data’. Small Business Economics. doi:10.1007/s11187-005-2000-1