Being an Entrepreneur 4.0

Both the attitude and the spirit of Entrepreneur 4.0 should change from people interested in competing in hostile markets to entrepreneurs competing globally by following SMART goals and a proposed Decalogue of Rules described in the chapter. In this entrepreneurial strengthening process rooted in precise information, formation, working experience, and relational capital, SCM (Supply Change Management)-based business strategies play a key role. Strategies are driving toward proposing an original VCIT model intended to help entrepreneurs to design and put into action internationalization policies. Six symbiotic oceans define all possible market situations that the entrepreneur may encounter the life of the company.

Entrepreneurs 4.0

According to the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) classification, there are only necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship. When linked to public policies, public intervention creates crowding-in effects to compensate for, and even to overcome, the crowding-out effects produced. The generation of crowding-in effects is notably intense in the EU when governments apply EU Structural and Investment Funds. In this case, federal intervention causes benefits to the private sector, and startups can transform into SMEs. The final goal of SMEs is to give a legacy to society as a way to return to society what the company has received from it (social mortgage). In this process, both the proprietor-manager dilemma and the succession process are a problem, mainly in family SMEs, which determine the future of the company.

Delving Into the Business Model

Firms competing in a globalized economic world must design value-creating strategies to achieve leadership. Corporations that wish to accomplish this goal go deeper to make it by applying different business models rooted in ODI (Outcome-Driven Innovation), napkin ideas, and teamwork. The chapter includes the leading causes of bankruptcy for companies, especially when firms perform neither a PESTEL analysis nor a SWOT study to analyze their business environments. To survive, companies need to control their risks, not to incur excessive bank financing, to choose the most capable intellectual capital, and to expand new market niches steadily over time. The companies that do not take too much risk in their development are those that survive in time, although their rates of growth are smaller compared to the more aggressive companies.

Social Entrepreneurship and the Circular Economy

Social entrepreneurship plays a fundamental role in the economy and especially in the firm. Mainly in developing countries, social entrepreneurship is of primary importance and is socially necessary to try to alleviate social inequalities among the richest and the poorest in society. In this process of diminishing social differences, business models are of fundamental importance, especially digital models with intensive use of ICT. In this chapter, the author synthesizes the 57 digital business models that exist today and enhances the importance of the Circular Economy and the Socioeconomics of Solidarity as an emerging trend in economic thinking.

Doing Business

In addition to defining the seven most used market structures, the author describes the differences between a Limited Liability Company and the Corporation with Variable Capital. In this sense, one of the big mistakes made by SMEs is that entrepreneurs put their assets at risk to get their companies moving forward, which constitutes a significant danger. In the chapter, the author suggests some strategies to reduce this problem of risk exposure with 18 strategies and techniques of negotiation. Then, the author proposes outsourcing as a strategy for both corporate growth and cost reduction and explains how to take business advantages using Giffen goods. The chapter ends with some plans on how to achieve leadership from the application of the RECA matrix.

How to Join the Market?

Based on teamwork in globalized working environments and linked to the balanced scorecard approach to provide a balanced view of the organizational goals, value creating Design Thinking is an applied methodology to solve problems following a creative approach to stimulate team cooperation and creativity with the ultimate purpose of achieving innovative processes to improve the organization. To do this, the author describes the Business Model Canvas, Social Business Model Canvas, and Lean Canvas Model as comprehensive tools to foster entrepreneurship. In the chapter, the author proposes the matrix of stakeholders to have a clear vision of the firm and to suggest a successful strategy focused on creating value for the company joining the market.

How to Be Different?

The innovative methods adopted by firms in the sixth innovation wage (the adoption of a corporate DNA) are mainly based on creative thinking, user innovation, and open innovation. When firms enhance their corporate strategies, they create value through a CTA (Create, Transform, and Apply) business cycle launched by policies focused on creative thinking. In this chapter, the author analyzes the following strategies grounded in creative thinking: Brainstorming, the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process, SCAMPER, 635 Brainwriting, Lotus Blossom, Laddering, Stop-It Mop-It, Six Thinking Hats, Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). Techniques are directed to increase the stakeholders' satisfaction by diminishing the operating risks related to launching new products and services.