Mehmet Pasa Essay

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Contents Page

Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 2

Interview schedule and rationale…………………………………………….... 2

Interview summary……………………………………………………………. 3

Reflective log…………………………………………………………………. 6-7

Bibliography..................................................................................................... 8

Appendix ...........................................................................................................9 – 15

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Introduction: The aim of this assignment is twofold, firstly, to prepare an interview outline, undertake the interview and write up a summary of an interview with an entrepreneur or small business owner. Secondly, incorporate a written reflective log which will consider the observed the traits and capacities of the interviewee and personal reflection on perceived challenges in undertaking entrepreneurial activity.

Interview Schedule and Rationale: The interview has been carried out with the owner of Planet Mobile, Mr. Hasan Muslu to learn why did he choose to be self-employed and what were the vital key points for Mr. Muslu to successfully run his own business? The first question which was directed to Mr. Muslu, with regarding his decision to being selfemployed, was; “What made you to decide to become self-employed?” Secondly, my next questions was; “What was the most challenging part of running your own business?” and the main reason for me to asking this question was, understanding what affected him to become self-employed and not choosing to work as an employee. Afterwards, I wondered if he is satisfied with his job with being a business manager and what would he do differently if he had a chance. Moreover, I wanted to realize if running your own business is risky, and if it is, what type of risks were involved when you are setting up your own business. Furthermore, with regarding the previous question, I have asked him whether he is thinking being self-employed and being your own businesses manager is more risky than being an employee or not and what were the biggest risks that he has faced with. Then, I have asked him to learn whether he thinks if there are any advantages of being self-employed and give me any point which eases his work. Afterwards, my question was how he has found the lifestyle of being self-employed and whether if he feels that he is benefiting from the advantages or not. My questions were followed by “As an employer, how do you motivate your employees and in the case of them being disrespectful to you what would you do?”

For me to ask this question was to learn if there is any motivational technique that he uses to motivate his employees and in the case of his employees acting negatively towards him, what he does do to turn these negativities into positive. Then, I was curious about if he takes his decisions on his

3 own and apply to the business or does he prefer to take the ideas of his employees. Finally, to sum up this interview, I have asked him if he would like to add any additional information to this interview that I have not mentioned.

Interview summary: Interview had been made with Mr. Hasan Muslu, the managing director of Planet Mobile in Canterbury on 26th October, 2009 at 10.00 a.m. The interview method used was based on Questionnaires. The main purpose of this interview was to get information about the entrepreneurial environment and to discover Mr. Hasan’s motivation to be self employed. The first impression, he is well organized person who always wants to give best outcome by working hard. To precede an interview, we had friendly conversation about Mr. Hasan’s former life. Previously, he got into the catering business which was enjoyable and fulfilling. He worked very long and unsociable hours, with very little time off. However, the problem was to rely on staff, which might be letting you down. According to this, Mr. Hasan decided to try different type of business which would be less physical and more mentally stimulating where he would not have to be dependent to the staff and could run the own business. Mr Hasan Muslu had taken support from his wife to change his business with totally different sector. His brother-in-law was working at mobile phone sector. He taught some basic points to Mr Hasan to get start the mobile phone sector. And now, to be the owner of mobile phone shop, he is able to spend more quality time with his family.

As we go through to interview with Mr Hasan, we had directed him with various questions to have what ignited the spark in him to start a new business venture as an entrepreneur. The following questions had been asked to Mr. Hasan Muslu;

(Mehmet Pasa).” Could you describe your business and focuses to me?” (Hasan Muslu).” I run a small family business, a mobile shop. I focus on giving a good services and building up a good reputation as a honest business man and this will hopefully build up my trade.”

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(M.P). “What made you to decide to become self-employed?” (H.M). “I have mainly been self employed and have found this to be the best option for me as like to be in position to make my own decision concerning business matters.” (M.P). “What did you find to be the most challenging at running your own business? (H.M) “Moving to a new area where people do not familiar with me. It is a challenge to build up a rapour with my new customers and to gain their trust” (M.P). “If you had the chance, what would you do differently?” (H.M). “I would like to have set up my business in a slightly better location.”

(M.P). “Do you think, it is more risky to run your own business and in your opinion what are the biggest risks?” (H.M). “It depends on the circumstances. If you are starting a business that’s new to you or if you have to borrow a lot of capital to fund your business, this can be risky. However if you are experienced in the business that you are going to open and you are financially secure, willing to work hard, setting up your own business will be less risky.

(M.P).“How do you find the lifestyle of self-employed person? and do you think there are advantages of being self-employment that you benefit from ?” (H.M). “Even though you have the main responsibility of running your business which at times can be hard, being self employed gives you the opportunity to choose when you want to have time off and go on holiday, spend time with family not having to ask for permission.”

5 (M.P). “As an employer, what methods do you use to get best out your employees (more deeply) What if your employees act negatively towards you and methods you use?” (H.M). “I find that if I treat my employees how I would want to be treated and show them respect, then I expect them to do the same. Not asking them to do something I would not be prepared to do myself I find, this usually works. But if they acted negatively, I would explain the need for them to change their attitude toward work, otherwise it would be better for them to leave as working in a tense. Environment would cause friction and be no good for both employer and employee.” (M.P). “Do you take your decisions on your own or prefer to ask employees?” (H.M). “As a family business, we discuss any decisions we need to make as a family” (M.P). “Is there anything else that you feel you can add to this topic?” (H.M). “The most important thing you need to have to be a successful businessman or businesswoman is a good name and a trustworthy reputation. This is the principle I try to follow”

Reflective Log: The written reflective log of this assignment is considered on the observed traits and capacities of the interviewee and personal reflection on perceived challenges in undertaking

6 entrepreneurial activity. Before taking this course, I had not any idea about enterprising even so I found it very appealing, the reason why I found it interesting is based on concepts and theories on business studies, and this is the reason why I chose to study this module. From the beginning of this course, in our lectures and seminars, we discussed many points about entrepreneurship, like entrepreneurial traits and skills. In my opinion, becoming a successful entrepreneur depends on human personal traits and skills. First of all, during the interview with Mr. Hasan Muslu, the answers which he gave me leave some impression on my mind. He said that he is not a graduated person and although he is a stranger of this country, he decided to set up his own work and operate. Along with, these situations leave impression on my mind that he is brave and has self-confidence because it is not so easy to come to a foreign country and both set up the business and operate it successfully. According to the “Heroes and Superheroes” article, there are some influences on owner-managers and entrepreneurs, and one of the influences is personal traits. In my opinion, Mrs. Muslus’s personal traits which are self-confidence and hardihood do influence on his entrepreneurship. Moreover, as a response to my question, “If you had the chance, what would you do differently?”, he said that he would set up his business to another location. Therefore, I recognize that he is not so happy with his location and thinks that his decision about the location is failure. Due to this, decision-making and research are Mr. Muslu’s weaknesses. In addition to these, according to “Heroes and Superheroes “article, one of the other influence on entrepreneurs is antecedent influences. These influences are the social environment, which are their family, experiences, work etc. that entrepreneurs find themselves in. (Burns, 2007.) Mr. Muslu said that Planet Mobile is a family business and they discuss any decisions they need to make as a family and due to this, there is antecedent influence on him. Moreover, I realized that, he wants to run his own business because he can not work under the control of someone and wants to be his own manager so he does not need to ask someone for an authorization for anything. This aim of him reminds of Jonathan Elvidge’s quotation in Heroes and Superheroes which stands ‘I want to take control of my life and achieve something’. (Burns, 2007.) Additionally, when I asked to my interviewee what type of risks were involved in running an own business, he said that it depends and if you have to borrow a lot of capital to support your business, this can be risky. He took this risk for one time and got out of catering sector and get in to his new business. This was the only risk that he took and then, he has not expanded his business and stay with one shop. For instance, Sahar Hashemi, who was the lawyer and turned entrepreneur, turned best-selling author. She founded Coffee Republic and built it into one of the UK’s famous brands. (Women Speakers, 2007) She took a huge risk and got out of her graduated situation, lawyer, and got into a

7 different sector and expanded her new business, consequently, if she had not take this risk, she could not be as successful as now.

In conclusion we can see that Mr. Muslu has a family background in this business. This enables him to get experienced views about his business. During the interview he said that he had considerable work experiences which have been useful for him when grounding his own business. So, it is clear that he is mainly inspirited by social environment and work experience. His main aim before being self employed was that he wanted to take control of his life and be his own boss. The point that I get most impressed by Mr. Umar is the fact that he is not graduated from a university but he could succeed in grounding his own job and earn enough money in a foreign country. So, his self confidence is the strongest side of him. However, he also has some weak points. As he mentioned he was not so successful about making the decision of his business’ place. This was an important disadvantage for him. It is also interesting that he is not tended to take great risk and achieve more in his business. Basically, he is satisfied with what he has got. I consider this as an unexpected behavior for an entrepreneur.

On the other hand, when I examine myself, when I will get in to business life, I will be a graduated person and have lots of knowledge about my job and these things give me selfconfidence. Also, due to my self-confidence, I will be strong competitiveness and I believe that these are my strengths about entrepreneurial skills. Moreover, planning, communications, overcome difficulties, working with others are important skills about entrepreneurship. By this time, in the university, we had several works to be done in groups and these prepare us to business life. In my opinion, I am got at communication with other people and if there is a problem about the subject we do together, it is not difficult for me to get over it. Furthermore, I have some problems about researching and due to this, managing resources. I believe that I should improve these things because they are important when you making decision about your job and setting your goals, along with as a result, they can influence my business. BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Burns, P., 2007. Entrepreneurship and small business (2nd edition):Heroes and Superheroes. [Online]. Available at: https://blackboard.canterbury.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?

8 tab_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id %3D_1197_1%26url%3D [Accessed 3 November 2009].

Caird,S. (2009)General Enterprising Tendency, http://get2test.net/test/index.htm , [Accessed 3

November 2009]

Canterbury Christ Church, (2009). Entrepreneurial Skills awareness, Activity Book.

Women Speakers. 2007, Biography. [Online] Available at: http://www.womenspeakers.co.uk/speakerdetail.asp?speakerid=31 [Accessed 3 November 2009]

APPENDIX A

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(Canterbury Christ Church, 2009.)

APPENDIX B

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A (Canterbury Christ Church, 2009.)

APPENDIX C

M a n a g in g R e s o u rc e

1) I would not mind routine unchallenging work if the pay and pension prospects were good.

11 Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 2) I like to test boundaries and get into areas where few have worked before. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 3) I tend not to like to stand out or be unconventional. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 4) Capable people who fail to become successful have not usually taken chances when they have occurred. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 5) I rarely day dream. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 6) I find it difficult to switch off from work completely.. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 7) You are either naturally good at something or you are not, effort makes no difference. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 8) Sometimes people find my ideas unusual. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 9) I would rather buy a lottery ticket than enter a competition. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 10) I like challenges that stretch my abilities and get bored with things I can do quite easily. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

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11) I would prefer to have a moderate income in a secure job rather than a high income in a job that depended on my performance. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 12) At work, I often take over projects and steer them my way without worrying about what other people think. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 13) Many of the bad times that people experience are due to bad luck. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 14) Sometimes I think about information almost obsessively until I come up with new ideas and solutions. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 15) If I am having problems with a task I leave it, forget it and move on to something else. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 16) When I make plans I nearly always achieve them. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 17) I do not like unexpected changes to my weekly routines. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 18) If I wanted to achieve something and the chances of success were 50/50 I would take the risk. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 19) I think more of the present and past than of the future.

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20) If I had a good idea for making some money, I would be willing to invest my time and borrow money to enable me to do it. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

21) I like a lot of guidance to be really clear about what to do in work. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 22) People generally get what they deserve. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 23) I am wary of new ideas, gadgets and technologies. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 24) It is more important to do a job well than to try to please people. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 25) I try to accept that things happen to me in life for a reason. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 26) Other people think that I'm always making changes and trying out new ideas. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 27) If there is a chance of failure I would rather not do it. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 28) I get annoyed if people are not on time for meetings.

14 Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 29) Before I make a decision I like to have all the facts no matter how long it takes. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

30) I rarely need or want any assistance and like to put my own stamp on work that I do. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

31) You are not likely to be successful unless you are in the right place at the right time. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

32) I prefer to be quite good at several things rather than very good at one thing. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

33) I would rather work with a person I liked who was not good at the job, rather than work with someone I did not like even if they were good at the job. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 34) Being successful is a result of working hard, luck has little to do with it. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 35) I prefer doing things in the usual way rather than trying out new methods. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 36) Before making an important decision I prefer to weigh up the pro's and con's fairly quickly rather than spending a long time thinking about it. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

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37) I would rather work on a task as part of a team rather than take responsibility for it myself. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 38) I would rather take an opportunity that might lead to even better things than have an experience that I am sure to enjoy. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 39) I usually do what is expected of me and follow instructions carefully. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 40) For me, getting what I want is a just reward for my efforts. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

41) I like to have my life organised so that it runs smoothly and to plan. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

42) When I am faced with a challenge I think more about the results of succeeding than the effects of failing. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

43) I believe that destiny determines what happens to me in life. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 44) I like to spend time with people who have different ways of thinking. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 45) I find it difficult to ask for favours from other people. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

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46) I get up early, stay late or skip meals if I have a deadline for some work that needs to be done. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 47) What we are used to is usually better than what is unfamiliar. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 48) I get annoyed if superiors or colleagues take credit for my work. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 49) People's failures are rarely the result of their poor judgement. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

50) Sometimes I have so many ideas that I feel pressurised. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

51) I find it easy to relax on holiday and forget about work. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

52) I get what I want from life because I work hard to make it happen. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree 53) It is harder for me to adapt to change than keep to a routine. Tend to Agree Tend to Disagree

54) I like to start interesting projects even if there is no guaranteed payback for the money or time I have to put in. Tend to Agree Disagree

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