Entrepreneurial Skills Are in Demand
An entrepreneur who thinks and acts entrepreneurially represents the company’s interests, initiates change processes, and knows their customers and market. Entrepreneurial thinking and action also involve making and implementing decisions, utilizing the entrepreneur’s own scope for action, recognizing trends, strategically developing strengths, asking the right questions, and working “on” rather than “in” the business. We distinguish four levels that, when combined, constitute comprehensive entrepreneurial competence*:
Intellectual Level of Entrepreneurial Action
(“Purpose, Vision, Goals, Value Systems, Well-being”)
At the highest level of entrepreneurial thinking and action, the value framework of the entrepreneur and their business is defined and implemented, and the business management principles of the company are established.
Strategic Level of Entrepreneurial Action
("Analysis and Planning of Resource Allocation")
The strategic level encompasses methods and concepts designed to coordinate available resources and capabilities toward the achievement of a long-term or overarching goal.
Operational Level of Entrepreneurial Action
("Execution of the Business Mission")
The operational level of business thinking and action encompasses all production, communication, information, and thought processes that serve to execute the business mission.
Financial Level of Business Operations
("Managing the Profits")
This level deals with how revenue and profits are utilized, with the goal of avoiding dependencies, strengthening the company’s viability, and improving its infrastructure.
*Source: Michael Hihn in Manager Wiki, accessed June 30, 2018, www.manager-wiki.com/strategie-grundlagen/85-die-4-ebenen-unternehmerischen-denkens-und-handelns
Our brain compares all sensory perceptions against reference experiences and makes a decision on how to act based on those experiences. But how often does one actually sell or buy a company? For most entrepreneurs, buying or selling a company is uncharted territory. This can lead to risks being overlooked, thereby increasing the danger of making the wrong decisions.
Of course, the chemistry between the seller and the buyer must be right. Beyond that, it’s helpful to understand your own mindset and how compatible both parties are. An important consideration is this question: Do the seller and the buyer share the same understanding of the definition of “entrepreneurial competence”?
To identify competencies in the early stages of a sale or purchase in a resource-efficient manner—and thus align ways of thinking and acting—competency assessment and development tools, such as KODE®, can provide support. KODE® is based on the inseparable connection between identifying, fostering, and supporting competencies, and it creates a nuanced picture of personal, technical-methodological, activity- and action-related, as well as social-communicative competencies.
Conclusion:
Give both your gut and your head enough leeway when buying or selling a company.