Author: ghadaalshaya

I am student at PNU- collage of business administration-. I am interesting in improving skills and personalities

Entrepreneurship

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Description

Name: Ghada AlShaya

Event: Entrepreneurship

Date: 14 February 2019

Organizer: PNU – CBA

Speakers: Ms.Shahad, Ms.Hanan, Ms.Alanoud and Ms.Moudhi

Location: Business Administration Theater

  • Introduction:

This event was about entrepreneurship nowadays, what are companies that will sponsors, and two successful businesswomen, who are Alanoud the founder of Flamingo and Moudhi the founder of Healthy Dose. Ms.Hanan is an executive manager of Deem Al-Manahil. My thoughts before I attended the seminar that entrepreneur success by luck and gain the popularity because of their expensive preparation for the brand.

  • Definition of entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurship is the process of creating a new idea and running a business that will change the marketplace. Entrepreneurs are people who create these businesses, often be small. (KENTON, 2019)

  • Entrepreneurs challenges:

Today, entrepreneurs are facing challenges before entry the market and during running their businesses. In 2012, it was hard for entrepreneurs to entry the market, but now it is easier. That does not mean there are no challenges at all. During the last five years, entrepreneurship environment developed into many periods. The first period was limited for traders and small businesses does not exist. There were logistics issues and restricted sectors that prevent anyone investing in it. Foreign competitors was a big challenge in the marketplace because they were providing the same local products at lower prices. After Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (SMEA) creating in 2016, entrepreneurs can solve any issues and challenges with this authority.

  • How to start a new business:

Ms.Hanan mentioned steps that an entrepreneur need it to start a new business. First, the hardest step is how to make the right decision by searching about your passion and what you enjoy while you are doing it and try to make this idea creative. Second step is defining resources, either human or financial resources. Your team and relationships are the most important resources that an entrepreneur must consider them. Third, searching about courses and training that will increase your knowledge of what you are passion about. Then, involve in conferences and seminars about entrepreneurship and make relations with entrepreneur to take advantage of their experience. Lastly, make your business plan, which will help you to know every detail in your business. (ROBINSON, 2019)

  • What is Deem Al-Manahil Fund?

One of the entrepreneurship sponsors is Princess Madawi Fund (Deem Al-Manahil Fund). “It is private non-profit fund established upon an initiative by Al-Manahil Company to support Saudi women who have creative ideas by training, providing entrepreneurship program, and funding”.(Deem-almanahil.org, 2019) 

  • Stages to accept the business in Deem Al-Manahil:

To accept the business, it goes through multiple stages. First stage is doing the experiment in the real market to make sure target employees are interested in the business. Second stage is doing interviews. Third stage is training, which includes how to make business plan. Then, it get presented to businesspersons and entrepreneurs and if the business get their interest, they will accept it. Last stage, Deem Al-Manahil will invest in the business till 300K SR and provide package services. 

  • What makes the business successful?

Small things can make your business successful such as starting in college where you can build your relationships and expand it after graduate. You should focus on competitive advantage that will differ your business from others. In addition, working in small business before creating your own business would be helpful. It is not necessary that you have to study business. The most important thing is you have passion about something.

  • Competitive advantage:

It is a fact that there is no successful business without competitors. The percentage of competitors is differ from one business to another. Ms.Alanoud said,” to gain the competitive advantage, ask yourself what the special advantage I have that no one have and why customers should come to me not another business”.  Searching about businesses at the same sector that you want and think of their advantages, disadvantages and how to be unique and different. Some of them are copying other businesses, so they are inspiring others to develop their businesses.

  • Brand identity:

What makes the business unique is the brand identity and without it, the business will not be successful. Some people think that brand identity is just a logo, but it is more. It is expand to slogan, colors, bags and etc. Support brand identity with marketing, spend more money in it, make it clear and understood would affect your business in a better way. Video below interestingly explain it more.(Murphy, 2019)(YouTube, 2019)

Before I attended the seminar expecting I was not gain much knowledge about entrepreneurship, but the opposite happened it made me have an overview about it with the real examples of businesswomen followed steps of successful business. I learned that there are risks and struggles but with a unique idea, big passion and supportive institution for entrepreneurs it will make a successful business. There are phases before this journey start for examples create and run a business while studying in college and work in small business will help have some experience. For me, I think the most important things that taking in consideration are competitive advantage and brand identity besides having a creative idea.

As a business student running a successful business is a dream of mine, so I will look into something that I passion about and apply what I learned to start at early age. Now I know where I should go to get need advice and fund for my business. When I create my business, I will be aware of my target customers and competitors by developing my business in many ways. After the seminar, I got excited to learn more about entrepreneurs with hope to be one of them.

References

Effective communication

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Description

Name: Ghada AlShaya

Event: How to become an effective communicator.

Date:  1 February 2019

Organizer: The Open University.

Presenter:  Anna Calvi

Location: Online.

 Anna explained ways of communication skills in helpful methods that easy to follow to improve these skills. Before this workshop, I did not have many information about communication, especially for workplace.

Communication skills are very important. Workshop has started with the meaning of business communication, which is the interaction between employees in a workplace for their daily operations.(Doyle, 2019)

There are two main form of business communication. The picture shows internal communication and it is included, downwards from top management to first line employees, upwards, which the opposite and horizontal between different departments. Second form is external communication and occurs when two or more companies interact with each other -business-to-business (B2B)-. Also, companies interact with clients(B2C).(Calvi, 2019)

It is significant that you know and understand your audience, how they think and believe and use language that suitable for them. Sometimes message between sender and receiver isn`t clear, so the presenter mentioned five key principles of business communication to avoid these problems, they are:

  • understanding your audience.
  • Strive for clarity
  • Understand the context of your communication
  • Have clear purpose in mind
  • Select appropriate medium
    (Calvi, 2019)

As lack of information multicultural context, Hofstede created six dimensions based on a survey that elaborated more in that. He found clear differences between outlooks and behaviors of different nations. Video below interestingly explain about it more.(YouTube, 2019)

The writer focus on face-to-face meeting form and its four main type, team, Information, brainstorming and decision-making. There are also telephone and virtual meetings, what makes these meetings successful is acronym by POSTPEC, preparation, objective, structure, timed, participatory, effective and chaired. The roles of chair are to arrange and control before and during the meeting.(Calvi, 2019)

Presentations are part of communication. People do presentations for many reasons such as sharing information, as physical or virtual. There are six key features that help a presenter to be an effective, they are:

  • knowing your audience
  • Having a clear goal
  • Structuring the presentation
  • Make it easy to follow by dividing the subject.
  • Make your presentation rich medium communication
  • Engage your audience
    (Calvi, 2019)

Before presentations answer these questions that could help you to be successful presenter:

  • What is the purpose of your presentation?
  • What is the context of my presentation?
  • Who are my target audience?
  • How do you feel about giving this presentation?
    (Calvi, 2019)

Process of planning presentation include clear structure, introduction, body and conclusion. Then, collect clear and necessary information. Support your presentation with materials like slides. However, after you done all these steps, you may feel stress and anxious before presentation. To avoid this problem, rehearsing many times until you feel ready, checking the room, sleep well and take breathing relax.(Skillsyouneed.com, 2019)

To encourage your audience to participate with you, use some of these methods:

  • Pace
  • pauses
  • Questions
  • Summarizing
  • Tone of voice
  • Repetition
  • Body language
    (Calvi, 2019)

Emails are part of communication skills. To write a professional and clear email, make it street forwards, include one topic, avoid jokes and emotions. Keep in your mind the purpose of writing and from whom to write. If the purpose of writing is discussing a problem, write by SCRAP structure. Each letter denote to a word. Explain Situation and Complication, write your Resolution, what Action you will do and Politeness means apology or thank the receiver.(Masters, 2019)

Many organizations do not just send emails, they create their own blog to communicate with external and internal stakeholders to encourage participating in company`s activities.(Calvi, 2019)

There are two kinds of persuasive documents, reports and proposals. Report present specific information for a situation such as overall performance and recommendations. Proposal is a document prepared to obtain approval be provide objective out of it.(Calvi, 2019)

To engage employees working in collaborative and smart way, organizations use Enterprise 2.0. – it is social networking websites that allows employees to build relationships and encourage innovation- ,such as wikis, and to create efficient shared media tool for organize, manage and write documents and work related requirements.(Calvi, 2019)

Overall, this workshop highlighted many important perspectives of business communication skills for instance challenges in communication, presentations and how to write professional emails and proposals, which are very effective to build confident. Provided knowledge that covers basics to move forward, which I needed, was very clear in this workshop. Presentation preparation process was so benefited to me, it contains the important part for me which is how to deal with stress before presentation. Regarding business emails and proposals, were not that interesting to me, as I am student now and for practices these ways it will be in my career.


After this workshop, I will focus on communication skills, presentations, emails, and trying to follow steps that mentioned, which will make me overcome my stress during social and education activities. I will focus on my audience and how to deal with them, not only the content I provide. To make my meetings very effective, I will provide the agenda within the invitation to ensure purpose out of it will be fulfilled and collaboration will be done in the best way. For my emails, I will focus on one topic that should be clear and deliver the message with all the detailed needed. I will read more articles and attend to workshops to keep improve myself, so after graduate I will be ready to start working without doubt my communication skills.

 References