Entrepreneurial
Among the most recalled and talked about CEOs in Australia, Stuart Cook is undoubtedly the foremost. He is Australia’s youngest CEO and is also considered to be the most successful among his peers. He is currently the global CEO of the Mexican restaurant chain Zambrero.
Stuart took charge as CEO of Zambrero even before his 24th birthday, and since then, there has been no looking back.
He successfully led the company from a $1 million enterprise to its sales valuation of more than $45 million and heads a team of more than 900 employees globally. Stuart has also recently closed a joint venture with 11 Asian countries. And the success roll continues for this young Turk.
So, what factors have contributed to this phenomenal success? Stuart himself attributes his rise to transparency, honesty, and the determination to succeed even when faced with the odds.
He believes that his exchanges with industry leaders have helped him learn the tricks of the trade, maturing him to not repeat mistakes and learn how to tackle difficult situations even before they arise.
A close study of Stuart’s highlights indicates that success for an entrepreneur is a combination of personal, social, and environmental factors.
While his grit and determination are personal antecedents, his exchanges with other business leaders in a societal antecedent while learning from the experiences of others are an environmental contribution.
Entrepreneurial development factors
Before delving any further, it must be recorded that an entrepreneur’s success depends upon his intention. In other words, being an entrepreneur is a matter of choice and intention, not one that happens by chance. This is true for any profession or vocation.
To be successful in a profession or vocation, an individual needs to have an intention to be in it. Entrepreneurial intention arises from a combination of personal traits and variables that fit into certain contexts (Finni et al., 2009).
Among the personal characteristics are personality, grit and motivation, transparency, and experience. The other set, identified as contexts, includes societal factors and business environment factors like market conditions (Bird, 1998).
As Stuart’s observation above demonstrates, the success of an entrepreneur depends on a combination of both factors. Either of these factors, in isolation, cannot be expected to provide the same achievement.
Therefore, it’s important to study these factors independently to understand their nuances and their implications in the grooming of a successful business personality.
Personal antecedents
Experience from a previous job or work experience is very important for an entrepreneur’s career progress (Scott, Twomeny, 1988). It has been found that such jobs provide the entrepreneur with the first experiences, which can later be applied to specific areas as required.
It has also been found that self-efficacy is the basic factor giving rise to entrepreneurial intentions (Eden, Aviram, 1993). Self-efficacy is the basic intention of an individual to apply physical and intellectual strength to achieve success.
While business is a job requiring enormous concentration and hard work, entrepreneurs with self-efficacy are willing to do the same and work on the belief that they can achieve it (Shepherd, Krueger, 2002). The same is evident from Stuart’s observations, who lists his transparency and determination as factors of success.
Both these factors are personality traits that have helped Stuart to determine his area of choice for career progression. It is very important for entrepreneurs to decide within themselves whether they have the mental strength and adaptability required to record business growth.
Self-efficacy is also important for developing the intentions of the business leader, which in turn determines the leader’s behavior (Shook et al., 2003).
Therefore it can often be seen that children of successful entrepreneurs do not opt for joining business or are not successful. The difference is the self-efficacy factor, which in these cases is not what is required for a would-be-entrepreneur. This factor, coupled with experience, lays the foundation for entrepreneurial success and growth.
Social antecedents
While we focused on self-efficacy as a factor in entrepreneurial intentions, the importance of social factors in such intentions can never be denied (Aldrich, 1999).
Social networks also affect a businessperson’s intentions because they help him/her understand the extent to which he/she can utilize these social networks to grow the business.
In the case of Stuart his interaction with business leaders and the fact that the business already had a social network in place did weigh on his intentions.
Studies have found that business people believe in taking their businesses to others, and hence, the bigger this pie of others is, the better it is for the business (Burt, 1992).
Therein arises the value of this facet of entrepreneurial antecedent. Social networks helped Stuart learn from the experiences of others, which matured him as a business leader. This was also reflected in his performance, as he could apply such learning to his business scenario.
Environmental antecedents
Environmental antecedents typically include how the market is expected to respond to the business, the dynamics of the market, the government policies in place, and the quality of human resources available.
Entrepreneurial intentions receive a major boost when leaders find that the business planned is expected to enjoy market demand. In Stuart’s case, the chain’s existing sales helped him decide to lead the business and also showed the market acceptance of the product.
It was then for him to consolidate the base present and undertake efforts to increase the market and develop new customers. This provides motivation to entrepreneurs to take the plunge and move ahead.
Government policies indicate the view of authorities towards business and provide a window for entrepreneurs to decide on their financial approach to conducting business. The dynamic market dictates the requirement for the entrepreneur to be innovative and perform out-of-the-box (Meyers, Marquis, 1969).
Conclusion
The study of the above-mentioned factors, in conjunction with Stuart Cook’s observations, amplifies the importance of personal, social, and environmental factors in the success of entrepreneurial initiatives.
Since entrepreneurship is aimed at fostering economic and business growth, it is therefore important for any business leader to evaluate him/her against the attributes mentioned above before deciding on their course of action.
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