OC METRO CALENDAR

  • March 2010
    SuMoTuWeThFrSa
    28123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031123
    45678910
Add an event

Cover Story
Untitled Page Published: October 01, 2009

  • Print This Article
  • Email This Article
  • Share/Bookmark


  • ANIL PURI
    Dean, Mihaylo School of Business
    Cal State University, Fullerton

    An entrepreneur’s critical thinking and planning skills dictate success or failure

    In a tough economy, there are more advantages to start or maintain a small business: low cost of capital to start a company, the ability to hire great talent cheap, low loan rates if you have good credit, etc. However, what sets apart winners from losers in a recession
    depends on the level of their flexibility and critical thinking skills. Do they have the ability to break into a new market, and do they have a recession contingency plan?
       
    A deep recession like the one we are in will cause major changes in people’s buying patterns and in business operations. What worked before may not work in the future. Expected changes in financing, for example, are likely to affect buying habits and business expansion. Business people must have contingency plans to protect them from the downside of the recession and to take advantage of the inevitable upside that is likely to occur sometime next year.
       
    That’s why I think an MBA is a vital tool for any entrepreneur or small business owner. It may be true that you can’t really teach someone how to be an entrepreneur, but you can help to augment their critical thinking skills so that they can be proactive – and not reactive – to a financial crisis.