3A – Your Entrepreneurship Story

A time in my life when I have been exposed to entrepreneurship was when I first met a family friend from my parents’ hometown in Qingdao, China named Ning Hu. After graduating from college, he has worked in several commercial firms and started his own business, Qingdao Shihe Brand Consulting, Inc. in three years. Since he was a child, Ning Hu has had an interest in art and wanted to work as a brand consultant after graduation. Despite having met Ning Hu many years ago, I still remember my conversation with him on how he was able to successfully start his own business after three years. As both the CEO and sales manager of the company, Ning Hu has consistently improved his skills as a salesperson based on his beliefs and passion, along with the satisfaction he receives when conducting a sale. His strong work ethic has helped him overcome challenges he’s faced within his career. As an entrepreneur, he’s motivated by seeing satisfied customers that appreciate the process as much as the final product. By keeping an open mind to other ideas and opinions, Ning Hu was introduced to new and exciting ways of thinking. One of the questions I remembered asking Ning Hu was if he considered himself a successful entrepreneur, in which he responded that he considered himself a successful entrepreneur because during the first meeting, he is always able to recognize the client’s needs based on his abundant sales experience. He also appreciates developing personal relationships with his customers, so he is able to further understand them and serve their needs better. 

I enrolled in ENT3003 because entrepreneurship serves as the foundation for creating creative, innovative ideas in today’s society. It teaches students valuable skills along with thinking outside the box, developing products or services that answer society’s needs. What I hope to get out of the class is learning how to make a business model, defining the value propositions, and evaluating costs and revenue streams. Entrepreneurship teaches students critical skills, helping them identify their strengths or talents and improving them. Something else I hope to get out of this class is enhancing my risk-taking skills. In the world of business, risk is a natural occurrence that students have to learn to overcome. Setting a goal and working towards it is an essential skill to have, both in life and in entrepreneurial matters. The best way to learn entrepreneurship is by experiencing it, and the class differs from others by encouraging actions from students by having them take and apply the business fundamentals they have learned. As an entrepreneur, one learns how to add value for his or her clients through innovation, along with what type of mindset and qualities to adopt. By enrolling in ENT3003, I hope to surround myself with others who are as passionate about entrepreneurship as I am, along with learning more and improving my skills. I hope that the skills I develop from this class will benefit me in the future, helping engage with the world around me and envisioning what could potentially be different.

Entrepreneurs are vital parts of economies, taking on large degrees of risk in order to innovate and find new companies. The term, "entrepreneurship" was coined by economic philosopher Jean-Baptiste Say, where it means "undertaker" or one who undertakes a new venture.