I Need HELF!!

I’m back with yet another reflection and a whole lot of learning from our discussion last July 08, 2014 on our subject Technopreneurship 1. As I said before what’s not to like about our discussion? So I’ll be sharing with all of you what we had talked about last meeting that will guarantee to feed your brain with more knowledge (?). Well as what ka Ernie Baron always says “Kung walang knowledge, walang power”. So power up, roll up your sleeves, read and comprehend, and be ready to take on the path of a technopreneur. (Yeah you should just go ahead and attack if you have the courage.)

First off, we continued from where we left off last meeting. For a brief knick-knack, it was about the Technopreneurship Ecosystem. Well before we actually got on to the discussion, three pictures were shown to us by our facilitator: a woman who is somehow cooking, a man constructing a hut or, a more appropriate term would be, a “bahay kubo”, and a geek nursing his computer to health (I’m not kidding! LOL Well okay the picture was a metaphor of a man repairing his PC). After observing the images, our facilitator then asked us what did they need or have in order for them to fulfill what they intend to do. A cook without his pan or ingredients cannot cook, obviously. A carpenter without his tools cannot build a house and the same goes for the guy who is trying to repair his computer. So what does this tell us? Simple, most of the things we do, if not all, have its pre-requisites for the tasks to be accomplished. In the given example, a cook first needs to prepare the ingredients and all her needed cooking wares in the kitchen in order for her to cook what she intends to. The ingredients and her cooking wares are her resources while the kitchen is her environment. Similarly, in order for a technopreneurial venture to start, grow, and succeed, it must also have its required resources, environment, and support. So what are these things? This equation will serve as our guide: Successful Technopreneurship = HELF. Wait, did I just spell “help” wrong? Nope it’s not help, it’s HELF, an acronym per say. So in order for our techno venture to succeed, we need HELF! Getting curious now ain’t ya? LOL Anyway, so what does HELF really mean? HELF: H – for Human Resources; E – for Environment; L – for Laws and Policies; and lastly F – for Financial Resources. That’s all? That’s all! These are the things you need to prepare for a successful techno ventures. Are you up to the challenge? Wait, you’re still confused? It seems like you still need to grind for gears and armors for the upcoming battle so let’s elaborate these things further. The Human Resources Component, well this kind of self explanatory but okay. According to Wikipedia human resources are the set of individuals who make up the work force of a business sector, an organization, or economy. "Human capital" is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow view (i.e., the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization). Likewise, other terms sometimes used include "manpower", "talent", "labor", or simply "people". In a technopreneurship venture there’s also a set of human resources that you need, or simply its components. First off is the Researcher. The researcher is the one who thinks. He is the idea generator, the innovator. He must have a vast view of how things work out and of course, what we always say, one who thinks outside the box. Another one is the Developer. The developers are the implementer. They are the technical people. They will be the one who will make the ideas, which the researchers came up, into reality. For short, and the word itself, they are the ones who will develop. Next up is scanner and the marketing people. This people are really important because they the one fuelling this business (sort of). A perception of the concept of market scanning can be very helpful to any business managers who will be involved in the innovation process of the techno venture. Market scanning refers to recognizing up-and-coming or future markets, probing your own target market for amendments and looking for commercial prospects. Market scanning is not only beneficial for the marketing people to identify potential prospects, but also it will help them recognize the potential threats to your techno venture. Their ability to recognize an emerging or potential future market can provide your venture with a considerable competitive lead. It can provide you with the opportunity to be first to market with an innovative product and allow you to take advantage of a new market. The best way to do this is to look for new and emerging trends. Did you get all that? Well let us proceed then. Next up is also a very important human resource in a techno venture, the financers. If the scanner and the marketing people are the one who fuels, the financers are the one who provides the fuel, or maybe they are the fuel themselves. Without them the whole project would not be possible and I know that you know why, right? No? Well to keep it short they provide the $$ for the project and that’s that. And yes, without money a project would not be possible so get yourself one (or more) and impress him (them) with your innovative ideas. Next will be E in HELF as in Environment. It’s pretty much where we should work. Science parks, incubation centers, name them all. A place with internet access, communication, and other support services. We should also keep in mind the geographic accessibility. Laws and Policies have to do with the licensing of the technology you are venturing. The commercialization and other legal services for your invention is a part of this sector in HELF. Last one is the financial component, can’t really explain this in much detail but it has something to do with investments, your business sector, funding agencies, and of course financial services such as accounting.

So that’s about it. We still had one more activity after this discussion but I’m gonna leave it with that, sorry! I hope you got something off from my reflection. If you are ready to venture into technopreneurship then what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves and go out there and innovate!