Characteristics of the Entrepreneur Four Corners Activity [620738]

Characteristics of the Entrepreneur Four Corners Activity
Activity by
Sherilyn Narker, senior economic and financial education specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Concepts
Choices
Opportunity cost
Entrepreneurship
Ob
jectives
Stu
dents will be able to:
•Identify characteristics associated with successful entrepreneurs.
•Ex
plain the benefits and cost associated with a set of life choices and behaviors.
•Cr
eate a plan for developing entrepreneurial skills.
Time required
Quick Pick: Step 10 only (5 minutes)
Power Up: Steps 1 through 9 (15 minutes)
Deep Dive: Steps 1 through 10 (25 minutes)
Materials
Visual 1: “Corner Labels”
Visual 2: “Points You E arned!”
Visual 3: “W hat Do es My Score Mean?” Handout
1: “E ntrepreneur Statements”
Handout 2: “Student: [anonimizat]”
Handout 3: “Growing Your Entrepreneurial Skills”

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P
rocedures
This short activity will get your students moving and assessing their own strengths as future entrepreneur s. It can
be used to start a class on factors of production or business organizations. The activity was developed using the
characteristics of entrepreneurs identified by WESST , a business development organization serving Ne w Mexico ,
https://www.wesst.org/ .
1.Before class begins, place large letters found on Visual 1: “ Corner Labels ” (A, B, C, and D) in each of your
room ’s corners and make sure there is enough room for students to move safely from one corner to the next.
2.M
ake sure you have a copy of Handout 1: “ Entrepreneur Statements .” Do not give this handout to the
students until after the exercise is complete. Tell students you will read a statement with four possible
alternatives. Each of the alternatives matches one of the four corners labeled in the room. Tell the students to
go to the corner matching their best answer and mark their choices on Handout 2: “Student: [anonimizat]”
3. T
ell students to think about (but not call out) the person in the room they think is the opposite of themselves.
They will mark the corner where this person goes during the game as well. This helps to keep students
interested and focused.
4.As
k students to take their record sheet and a pen with them to mark their grid.
5.T
ell students that if answering any of the questions publicly makes them uncomfortable or they can’t decide
on an answer, they should stand in the middle and they will forgo the points for that item.
6. B
egin reading the statements, giving students time to move through the room and mark locations for
themselves and the person they are watching.
7. W
hen they have responded to all 10 items, have them go back to their seats.
8.D
isplay Visual 2: “ Points You E arned !” and emphasize the definition of entrepreneurship in the field of
economics and the role entrepreneurs play in the economy. Tell students to use the points for each selectionthey made using Visual 2 . Ask the students to record their points and the points of the person they watched
and calculate the totals.
9. N
ow post Visual 3: “ What D oes M y Score M ean?” Ask the students to read the descriptions. As time allows,
offer students the opportunity to discuss the results. Ask them to think about how the person they watchedperformed on the assessment , sharing some things they feel they learned from that person.

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10.Op
tional Extension Activity: Distribute copies of Handout 1: “ Entrepreneur Statements ” and Handout 3:
“Growing Your Entrepreneurial Skills .” Handout 3 is designed to be a half sheet of paper or you can display
the assignment and ask students to complete it on their own paper as a journal or homework assignment. Ask
the students to choose two out of the 10 statements from the handout that describe an area they would like toimprove. They will analyze why these two characteristics are important for an entrepreneur and set SMART
goals—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely —to improve these skills.

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Visual 1: Corner Labels
A
B

C
D

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Handout 1: Entrepreneur Statements
1. Leadership
a) I am almost always the leader in any group. (4)
b) Sometimes I am the leader, but I am willing to follo w
o
thers , too. (3)
c) Usually, I am a follower and let others make the big
decisions. (2)
d) I am usually a loner and not involved in leading orfollowing. (1)
2.
C
ompetition
a) I thrive on competition with others. (4)
b) I am competitive when I feel confident about my
chances of winning. (3)
c) I would rather cooperate with others than compet e
a
gainst them. (2)
d) I strongly dislike competitive situations. (1)
3.M
oney ( when I have extra money)
a) I almost always save it for a long time . (3)
b) I spend it spontaneously on things I probably don’tneed. (1)
c) I will spend it but only on things that will help me
reach my goals. (4)
d) I rarely have any extra money to save or spend. (2)
4.
M
istakes ( when I make a mistake)
a) I try to ignore it and move on quickly. (2)
b) I get really angry at myself and feel really bad for awhile. (1)
c) I think about how I would do things differently in thefuture. (3)
d) I analyze what went wrong and takes steps to avoidsimilar situations in the future. (4)
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. Id
eas ( when I have a good idea)
a) I will usually keep it to myself until I have a chance toact on it. (2)
b) I usually act on it immediately. (1)
c) I usually talk about it with my friends or family to fi
nd
o
ut if they think it is a good idea. (3)
d) I will use all the time, money, and skills I have
available to make it happen. (4)6. Interpersonal
a) I like doing things by myself most of the time. (2)
b) I am very social and outgoing. (4)
c) I am friendly, but I like other people to initiate contact.
(3)
d) I am friendly but very shy. (1)
7. W
ork ( when I envision my future work life, I expect)
a) To make my own hours and choose when I want to work.
(2)
b) To work 12 –16 hour days to jump- start my career and
make sure I get ahead professionally. (4)
c) To work a normal 40 -hour workweek with longer hours
for special projects or events. (3)
d) Not to work , be a stay -at-home parent for my kids. (1)
8.P
hysical s tamina ( when I think of my physical stamina, I woul d
d
escribe myself as)
a) Rarely sick and able to maintain an intense schedule wit h
m
any responsi bilities and commitments. (4)
b) Usually in good health and able to handle a moderateschedule of responsibilities and commitments. (3)
c) Overscheduled, stressed, and likely to get sick during a
ny
t
ime off from my intense schedule. (2)
d) Having an easy schedule and few responsibilities a nd
c
ommitments so I don’t get stressed or sick. (1)
9.P
roblems ( when I face a problem, I)
a) Ignore it, hoping it goes away. (2)
b) Blame it on someone else and don’t worry about it. (1)
c) Get excited because every problem is a new challenge toovercome. (4)
d) Face it and work to solve it, but I don’t enjoy dealing wit
h
p
roblems. (3)
10.P
lanning ( when thinking about the future, I)
a) Usually have a good idea about what I need to do to be
successful, but I don’t really set specific goals. (3)
b) Regularly set short – and long -term goals and identif y
s
teps I need to take to achieve those goals. (4)
c) Live in the present and think things will work out fine i n
t
he future. (1)
d) Have very specific plans for my life and expect to make all
those future plans come true. (2)

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Handout 2: Student Record Sheet
1.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 1.Corner: _______ Points: ______
2.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 2.Corner: _______ Points: ______
3. Corner: _______ Points: ______ 3.Corner: _______ Points: ______
4.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 4.Corner: _______ Points: ______
5.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 5.Corner: _______ Points: ______
6.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 6. Corner: _______ Points: ______
7.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 7.Corner: _______ Points: ______
8.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 8.Corner: _______ Points: ______
9.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 9.Corner: _______ Points: ______
10.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 10.Corner: _______ Points: ______
Total: ______ Total: ______
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 1.Corner: _______ Points: ______
2.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 2.Corner: _______ Points: ______
3.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 3.Corner: _______ Points: ______
4.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 4.Corner: _______ Points: ______
5.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 5.Corner: _______ Points: ______
6.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 6.Corner: _______ Points: ______
7.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 7.Corner: _______ Points: ______
8.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 8.Corner: _______ Points: ______
9.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 9.Corner: _______ Points: ______
10.Corner: _______ Points: ______ 10.Corner: _______ Points: ______
Total: ______ Total: ______ My Corners Corners for the Person I Watched
My Corners Corners for the Person I Watched

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Visual 2: Point s You Earned!
Entrepreneurship
One of the four factors of production, or productive resources, it is the process of
discovering new ways of combining the other factors of production.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Entrepreneurship.html
Role of the Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is motivat ed to take a risk and start a business using a new way to
combine resources. Incentives for risk taking may include the profit motive, product
innovation, job creation, and improving society.
A B C D
1. Leadership 4 3 2 1
2. Competition 4 3 2 1
3. Money 3 1 4 2
4. Mistakes 2 1 3 4
5. Ideas 2 1 3 4
6. Interpersonal 2 4 3 1
7. Work 2 4 3 1
8. Physical stamina 4 3 2 1
9. Problems 2 1 4 3
10. Planning 3 4 1 2

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Visual 3: What Does My Score Mean?
If you scored from 32 –40 points , born to b e an e ntrepreneur : People scoring in this
range tend to have strong interpersonal skills and are comfortable taking the lead.
Their money and planning habits indicate they will have the financial resources and
self-discipline needed to put their business ideas into action. These individuals can
easily handle long work hours and high levels of responsibility when pursuing their
goals. They don’t mind selling themselves and their ideas to others and thrive on competition.
If you scored from 2 3–31 points , entrepreneurial under the r ight c ircumstances :
People scoring in this range have some characteristics associated with entrepreneurs, but they may need to work on other skills before starting their own business. For example, some who are shy now may become less so as they become experts in their field of knowledge or actively seek opportunities to develop more
confidence in social situations. People who tend to be spontaneous with money or
life decisions now may become more strategic in these ar eas as responsibilities
increase.
If you scored less than 23 points , don’t worry, only 14 percent of the U.S.
population are e ntrepreneurs : According to the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor, only 14 percent of our population are entrepreneurs. These business
owners will need you or you may decide to develop more of these skills as you age! It is predicted that 24 percent of entrepreneurs will hire 20 or more workers over
the next few years. That means good career opportunities for you even if you do
not have any interest in running your own business. Who knows, you may become
so good at your area of expertise that you end up going out on your own on e day.

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Handout 3: Growing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
1. Look at your performance in each area associated with successful entrepreneurs. Identify
two of the areas in which you would like to improve your skills a nd record them here.

2. Using the definition of entrepreneurship and the forces motivating entrepreneurial risk
taking , explain why you think these two areas are important to being a successful
entrepreneur.

3. Set a short -term goal for each area you identified in #1 above . Be sure your goal can be
accomplished within the next year and is SMART. SMART stands for specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Handout 3: Growing Your Entrepreneurial Skills
1. Look at your performance in each area associated with successful entrepreneurs. Identify
two of the areas in which you would like to improve your skills and record them here.

2. Using the definition of entrepreneurship and the forces motivating entrepreneurial risk –
taking, explain why you think these two areas are important to being a successful
entrepreneur.

3. Set a short -term goal for each area you identified in #1 above . Be sure your goal can be
accomplished within the next year and is SMART. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.