Getting inspiration from famous entrepreneurs

Nusrat Jahan Most of us think that after completing graduation we should go for searching jobs. We cannot stay away ourselves from this kind of thinking. We always think that it is not our job to develop new ideas; it is the responsibility of businessmen. If we believe we are incapable of coming up with ideas, then we won't come up with any. We should put aside any negativity and expect to have ideas. Innovation can happen from hunger for creating, developing, discovering, and sharing best business ideas. I think idea starts from uncovering the necessity of something felt by people and searching opportunities to convert this thinking into business ideas. For the majority of new entrepreneurs, one of the hardest parts of starting a new business can be in just compiling a list of business ideas to work from. The famous entrepreneurs have something valuable to teach us and we have the opportunity to learn by studying them and their history. Walt Disney, a famous entrepreneur was an innovator in animation and theme park design. He partnered with his brother Roy, and started a new studio in Roy's garage. He sent his animated Alice Comedies to Margaret Winkler, a distributor in New York. Walt had an idea in the back of his mind to someday open an amusement park for families -- a place where adults and children could enjoy a pleasant and clean environment. In 1955, this dream came true, as Disneyland Park opened this year in Anaheim, California. Walt also became a television pioneer beginning television production in 1954, and was among the first to present full-colour programming with his Wonderful World of Colour in 1961. Duncan Bannatyne, one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs grew up in Clydebank; in his early teens Duncan joined the Navy. While living in Stockton-on-tees Duncan purchased an ice cream van. At the age of 31; he owned his own business known as Duncan's Super Ices. Duncan Bannatyne is now the director of Bannatyne Enterprises overseeing health clubs, an exclusive hotel, bar and casino and most recently new housing developments. William Gates the 111, the former CEO of Microsoft, for a short period of time, had assets worth over US$ 100 billion, making him the world's first such billionaire. Ihor Kolomoyskyy, a true entrepreneur, became best known for his controlling the Privat Group. The Privat Group is a group of very influential men who have all control over things like steel, oil, chemicals and energy and even the food supplies in Ukraine. For example, this group owns the coke companies. In Bangladesh, there are some famous entrepreneurs. Abdul Awal Mintoo was born in 1949 in Aleyarpur, a small and remote village in Feni district of Bangladesh. He began his career aspiring to be a ship captain, but has now turned into a businessman and has achieved outstanding success as one of the leading entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. Mr Mintoo has been credited for playing a significant role in the development of Bangladesh. The most notable one about his entrepreneurial role began with the starting of encouraging remittances for being sent through formal channels. This contributed significantly to the development of the country by bringing Western Union to Bangladesh. For his leadership, he was elected twice President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and has been recognised through numerous awards. He is the founder of Multimode Group Bangladesh. M Shoeb Chowdhury is a young, energetic entrepreneur having a wide and dynamic profile in various business activities. He has achieved lots of experiences in his multi-business activities. He is the pioneer of e-learning in Bangladesh and working to establish young leadership at policy-making level. Rokia Afzal Rahman, chairwoman of Midas Financing and a Bangladeshi entrepreneur who stands as an inspiration to many Bangladeshi women, aspiring to transcend their traditional role in society. So, to come up with a new business idea can be initiated from learning about history of successful business entrepreneurs. (The writer is Lecturer, Department of Accounting & Information Systems, Faculty of Business Studies, Jahangirnagar University (JU). Courtesy: 'Bangladesh at 40: Changes and Challenges', a publication of Faculty of Business Studies, JU to mark its holding of a three-day seminar on the afore-mentioned theme from December 09 to December 11, 2011 at the JU at Savar. The Financial Express is the media partner of the event)