Y.E.S. Your Entrepreneurial Self

Foster entrepreneurial spirit (via campus events and in-class activities)

Provide campuses with funding dollars to support entrepreneurial skill building

Assist students with idea generation and business planning consultation

Expose students to the concept of entrepreneurship as a viable career option

Y.E.S. initiatives to watch for…

Global Entrepreneurship Week Challenge 2014 Ideas Competition

win up to $1,000 in cash prizes win up to $1,000 – $10,000 in cash prizes

http://e2.nscc.ca

My IRKS… My IRKS…

irk: to be irritating, wearisome or vexing to (thefreedictionary.com)

SME Q & A

“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs; sometimes also small and medium enterprises) are businesses whose personnel numbers fall below certain limits.”

Source: (Wikipedia.com)

Question 1

•How many people make up an SME?

SME Q & A

Answer 1

“Industry Canada defines a small business as one with fewer than 100 employees (if the business is a goods-producing one) or fewer than 50 employees (if the business is service-based), and a medium-sized business as one with fewer than 500 employees.” (source: Wikipedia.com)

SME Q & A

Question 2

•How many of you think you will work for an SME?

Question 3

•How many people work for SMEs in Nova Scotia?

SME Q & A

Answer 3

97.4% of businesses in NS are SME’s

Our economy is dependent on small business financially, and for jobs!

•28.9 % of total workers in NS work for small businesses

•22.6% of total works in NS work for mid-size businesses (50-499 employees)

This means that approximately 51.5% of you will work for entrepreneurs and will need to understand how entrepreneurs think and operate in order to be successful in the workforce.

“Day at the Office” Activity

• Read the scenario distributed to you by your facilitator(s)

• Discuss the scenario and answer questions (5-10 min.)

• Present your ideas (3-5 min. each)

Scenario #1: Sick Days

The administrative professional is sick for the third day in a row, places call to boss saying he can’t come in.

Boss is concerned about his employee and how the lack of help is affecting business. Boss asks Sales Manager to step in to help return some of the incoming calls and assist with scheduling appointments.

Sales Manager is frustrated as she doesn’t know what to do and is having trouble juggling all of her responsibilities for the day. She expresses frustration to the boss.

What is/are the issue(s)?

What is/are the impact(s) to the business?

What is/are the impact(s) to the people?

Possible solution(s)?

Scenario #2: Customer Service

Front desk administrative professional is approached by a customer asking to reschedule their appointment. The administrative professional is very rude saying that there are no openings for over a month and this is a last minute cancellation.

The customer explains that their daycare worker was sick and therefore they don’t have childcare. The administrative professional is not empathetic and makes no attempt to help the customer.

The customer leaves the office and calls a friend explaining that they are going to leave this company to go to a competitor.

What is/are the issue(s)?

What is/are the impact(s) to the business?

What is/are the impact(s) to the people?

Possible solution(s)?

Scenario #3: Phone Service

Customer calls company and speaks to an Administrative Assistant who quickly (without listening to the story) transfers the call to another employee.

The employee who answers the call listens quietly and tries to triage the problem on the phone (giving good service).

The client is displeased by the first part of the call but grateful that the other person was able to help.

What is/are the issue(s)?

What is/are the impact(s) to the business?

What is/are the impact(s) to the people?

Possible solution(s)?

Scenario #4: New ResponsibilitiesBoss needs some extra help and asks the administrative professional to help him on a very exciting project. This would require a few late evenings but the boss really trusts that she can handle the extra responsibilities.

That same day the Sales Manager asks the administrative professional for some help with the budget reports. The Admin (while excited to help) is feeling pulled in many directions.

What is/are the issue(s)?

What is/are the impact(s) to the business?

What is/are the impact(s) to the people?

Possible solution(s)?

Scenario #5: Career Growth

Boss needs some extra help with some tasks that keep falling through the cracks. She sees potential in her Administrative Professional who has been with the company for five years.

The Administrative Professional is very happy to take on new responsibilities but is now juggling quite a bit of tasks. He asks the boss if she can move some of her current priorities to a newly hired admin who needs to familiarize themselves with the office.

What is/are the issue(s)?

What is/are the impact(s) to the business?

What is/are the impact(s) to the people?

Possible solution(s)?

Workshop Debrief

• What have we learned about small business?

• How important is an OA to business success?

• Knowing that, what skills do you have to keep top of mind to be a good OA?