Inside the mind of an

entrepreneur

“Necessity is the mother of

invention, adversity must be

the father of entrepreneurship”

Adversity…

Obstacle Calamity

Challenge

Staying on top of adversity

continuum Well being

First ShockProvisional Adjustment

Inter Contradiction

Inner CrisisReconstruction & Recovery

OK

Feel Good

Distress & Despair

Excitement

Numbness

Letting Go

Honeymoon

Disbelief

Denial, Minimizing

Crisis

Quitting

Extended Crisis

Partial Recovery

Uncertainty

Losing Confidence

Confusion

DepressionAcceptance

Exploring

Testing

New Confidence / Transformation

A: Positive Events

B: Challenges/Loss/ Obstacles

Life Event

Typical behavior when adversity

strikes…

Wallowing Following Leading

Pessimism Cynicism/Skepticism Optimism

Negative Neutral Positive

Fear Caution Courage

Hopeless Helpless Hopeful

Resists change Watches change Leads change

Makes excuses Goes along Gets results

Impossibility thinking Probability thinking Possibility thinking

Complaining about what happened Watching it happen Making it happen

Whining and complaining Watching and waiting Promoting and supporting

Energy vampire Energy giver/taker Energy source

* Paul Stoltz, PEAK LEARNING

Avoid & Cope with Adversity Survive & Manage Adversity Harness Adversity

Entrepreneurs are…

• Masters of harnessing adversity to their

benefit and long term gains…

– Resourceful

– Resilient

– Think out of the box

– Thrive during distress

– Optimistic and hopeful

Makes them a risk taker

If you don’t have data …you re

just another guy with opinion

Objective of our research…

• Research was carried out in 2 phases.

• In Phase 1: (concluded in Dec 2013)

– Conduct a thorough research of 110 successful entrepreneurs on

personality behaviors and competencies that made them

successful

– Identify and document their traits

– Develop a tool to assess the traits to arrive at entrepreneurial

value index (EVI)

• In Phase 2: (ongoing)

– Develop an Online version of the tool

– Cover close to 500 successful entrepreneurs to strengthen the

database

– Use the tool for assessment of bonafide entrepreneurs

But not all SMEs are S(a)ME

• Although they are governed by same definition proposed by MOCI

• Globally definition focuses on size of business with respect to

annual turnover and manpower

• But the problem with these definitions are that the scope is too wide.

• MOCI definition:

Micro Small Medium

Less than 5 employees, max turnover of OMR 25000 or approx. Dhs. 250000

5 - 9 employees, max turnover between OMR 25000 – 250,000 or approx. Dhs. 250000 -2500000

10 - 99 employees, max turnover between OMR 250,000 – 1,500,000 or approx. Dhs. 2.5 million – 15 million

Are their needs same?

A coffee shop owner with 5 employees with OMR 25000 annual turnover

A landlord of a building with 6 employees with OMR 100,000 annual turnover

Accounting firm with 7 employees with OMR 150,000 annual turnover

IT & reseller company with 8 employees with OMR 200,000 annual turnover

Furniture shop with 9 employees with OMR 250,000 annual turnover

Facilities Management Company with 40 employees with OMR 300,000 annual turnover

Contracting Company with 70 employees with OMR 1500,000 annual turnover

A vegetable trader with 2 employees with OMR 10000 annual turnover

A fisherman with 3 employees with OMR 20000 annual turnover

Lighthouse Enterprise Classification

System…(LEC tool)

• Need to classify businesses using scientific

methodology

• In line with the definition proposed by MOCI

• Applicable to any industry, geography or region

• It provides a much needed range of

classification of business to small manageable

clusters

• Easy to use and understand

• Software tool www.smeadvise.com/lec

Elements of LEC

Enterprise Classification

Business Frame

Manpower Resources

Nature of Business

Asset Under Management

Capital Structure

Entrepreneur Knowledge &

Skills

Customer Expectations

Risk Factors

Factors and sub factors…

Business Size

Business lifecycle

Organization size

Manpower/ Resources

Manpower availability

Type of manpower

Nature of business

Type of market

Position in market

Asset under management

Capital structure

Type of capital

Quantum

Position/Exposure

Required knowledge &

skills

Education

Experience

Customer expectations

Business innovation

Customer demands

Economic conditions

Economic framework

Industrial environment

Size the company…

Industry classifications based on MOCI

Score each factor…

Get the result…

Classification of enterprise…

• Lowest score any organization can secure is 51 and

highest being 1200, Cluster of 25 points makes a classTotal Point

RangeEnterprise class Enterprise type

Total Point Range

Enterprise class Enterprise type

51 - 75 LEC 1Micro: Sole proprietors,

Sole trader, Professionals, Self

employed individuals,

476 - 500 LEC 18

SME 5: Medium - Large76 - 100 LEC 2 501 - 525 LEC 19

101 - 125 LEC 3 526 - 550 LEC 20

126 - 150 LEC 4 551 - 575 LEC 21

Large151 - 175 LEC 5 576 - 600 LEC 22

176 - 200 LEC 6

SME 1: Very Small

601 - 625 LEC 23

201 - 225 LEC 7 626 - 650 LEC 24

226 - 250 LEC 8 651 - 675 LEC 25

251 - 275 LEC 9

SME 2: Small

676 - 700 LEC 26

276 - 300 LEC 10 701 - 725 LEC 27

301 - 325 LEC 11 726 - 750 LEC 28

326 - 350 LEC 12

SME 3: Small - Medium

751 - 775 LEC 29

351 - 375 LEC 13 776 - 800 LEC 30

376 - 400 LEC 14 801 - 825 LEC 31

401 - 425 LEC 15

SME 4: Medium

826 - 850 LEC 32

426 - 450 LEC 16 851 - 875 LEC 33

451 - 475 LEC 17 876 - 900 LEC 34

Classification of companies

researched

1211

33

21

8

16

9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Micro SME1 SME2 SME3 SME4 SME5 Large

Classification of companies researched

Behavioral profiling of SMEs

• One to one meeting with the business

owners to conduct BEIs

• Psychometric profiling using team value

profiler (combination of MBTI & Belbin)

• Cluster the behavior pattern to arrive at

key competencies required to be a

successful entrepreneur

Common behavior identified in

Omani Entrepreneur – the X factor

• Passion

• Proactiveness

• Resilience

• Resource Management

• Strategic Vision

• Creating synergies

• Decision making

• Integrity / work ethics

• Business excellence

Results…(SME1- SME6)

Inspirational

Leadership

DirectionCustomer

partnership

Drive Customer impact Risk Alignment

Ambition Customer delight Risk governance Cost leadership

Achievement

Orientation

Customer

innovationManaging risks

Cost Containment

orientationResults delivery

Initiative Customer FocusTaking calculated

risksCost Control Market insight

Collaborative

relationships

Customer

OrientationRisk orientation Cost Focus Commercial Focus Collaboration Decision making

Risk awareness Cost conciousnessCommercial

awareness

Building business

partnershipDecision making Inspring change

Cost monitoring Business AcumenRelationship

managementDecision making Agility Strategic innovation

Committed to

businessNetworking Decision making Change Leadership Forecasting

Orientation to

excellence

Relationship

buildingDecision making Embracing change

Fostering

innovationResult orientation

Decision making Flexibility EnterprisingEfficiency

orientation

Adaptability Conceptual thinkingSystematic

planning

Problem SolvingPlanning &

organizing

Planning &

organizing

SME 1 SME 2 SME 3 SME 4 SME 5 SME 6

Key

Com

pete

ncie

s

What next?

• We have developed an online tool to assess “Entrepreneurial Value”

• Register and assess:

– If you plan to start a business:

• Do you have a right motivation to start a business?

• What is your entrepreneurial value score compared to successful

entrepreneurs?

• Identify your strengths and areas of improvements

• What is your personality type and how can you get the best mileage by

choosing an ideal role in your business

– If you already run a business:

• Identify LEC score for your business and its classification

• Identify how LEC scores can be enhanced with practical

implementable strategies

• Identify your EVI score compared with other successful

entrepreneurs in your LEC class and above

• Log in to www.smeadvise.com

• Thank you