Essential Entrepreneurial Power Skills
Earlier in this chapter, I asserted that entrepreneurship is not genetic. It can
be learned. Successful entrepreneurs have acquired the skills, knowledge, and
experiences to make their bold visions happen. Let’s look at the framework
of learnable skills. There are 11 Essential Entrepreneurial Power Skills you
need in your toolbox to empower you and maximize your chance of success
in any endeavor, not just entrepreneurship.
1. Assess the present situation accurately. The first entrepreneurial power
skill is to hone your ability to observe, collect information, and understand
the situation facing you and your company. What is going
on in the world around you, internally and externally—your competition,
customers, team, resource requirements, technology, industry
dynamics, global economic turbulence, and everything you need to
know to make astute, objective decisions? If you begin with the wrong
assumptions, you will invariably get the wrong answers.
2. Go after bold visions. Having gone through the assessment, you are in
a position to establish clear, measurable goals. But make them bold!
You are capable of accomplishing considerably more than you realize.

Let me share with you one of the most important concepts in this
book:
The Power of Zero
Let’s say your vision is to build a company that will grow to $500,000
in sales in five years. Now start adding zeros. Ask yourself: How
can I grow my company to $5 million? What must I think and do
differently? Add another zero. How can I grow my company to $50
million? Do you notice the power of zero and the word how? Your
mind refocuses on how to accomplish the boldest vision. (Refer to
Chapter 23 for further discussion.)
3. Communicate effectively. Let’s take inventory. You have assessed the
situation, put your bold vision in place, and established performance
initiatives. Now what happens? Nothing—unless you communicate
consistently and constantly to all of the stakeholders who need to
be informed. Let there be no confusion in any stakeholder’s mind
about what you expect to accomplish. It is not possible to influence
anyone without effective, charismatic communication abilities. And
in case you are wondering, charismatic communication can be learned
and enhanced with practice. (www.andybounds.com)
4. Negotiate firmly and win-winly. Every interaction between people can
benefit from proficiency at win-win negotiation. In the book Getting
to Yes,2 the authors develop the four principles required to build
continuing relationships through negotiation: (1) separate the people
from the problem; (2) focus on interests, not positions; (3) invent
options for mutual gain; and (4) insist on objective criteria. The
challenge is to accomplish what you want while retaining a cordial,
productive relationship. Win-win negotiating skills have been so important
to me that I have included an entire chapter on this topic
(Chapter 19).
5. Brainstorm. Brainstorming is the process of harnessing a group’s
thinking, experiences, and imagination to generate creative ideas and
solve problems. The collective knowledge of a group is vastly greater
than that of any one individual, and this is the power of the brainstorming
process. This skill is discussed in some detail in Chapter 3.
6. Solve problems. There is rarely a day in my business or personal life
that a problem doesn’t crop up that needs to be resolved. Things
are going along fine, and suddenly—a problem. Kepner and Tregoe3
have developed a systematic seven-step approach to solving problems:
(1) identify the deviation, (2) specify the deviation, (3) define the boundaries, (4) examine the distinctions, (5) look for changes, (6) test
for cause, and (7) verify the cause. The point is that there is a process
you can learn and apply to systematically solve problems. You don’t
have to wing it.
7. Make good decisions. The ability to make good decisions is essential to
success in business and personal life. Bad decisions lead to nonsuccess.
So, how can you enhance your decision-making skills? Kepner
and Tregoe have also developed a systematic approach to making
decisions: (1) setting out the decision statement, (2) specifying the
ideal, (3) classifying and weighing the criteria, (4) stating the alternatives,
(5) evaluating the alternatives, (6) projecting future consequences,
and (7) making the choice. I use the Kepner and Tregoe
processes frequently, and my decision-making ability continues to
improve.
8. Mobilize powerful resources. It is not possible to accomplish anything
of consequence without understanding the importance of leveraging
resources. Entrepreneurial resources can be thought of as anything
(absolutely anything!) that moves your venture further and
faster—with the least risk. This subject is discussed in detail in
Chapter 17.
9. Act decisively. Entrepreneurship is a contact sport. It is not only about
thinking, planning, coordinating, and visioning. It is about doing, about
figuring out how to get the task done and being unstoppable in its
execution.
10. Be unstoppable. The successful completion of every project requires
your meticulous attention to detail and your refusal to let milestones
slip by. Start with the mindset that you and your team cannot be
stopped. Facing any obstacle, large or small, you will go over, under,
around, or through—and you will be unstoppable. Can you feel the
power of this simple idea—your refusal to be stopped? Just show up
and get it done.
11. Behave with integrity. There are people for whom you would do anything
and others with whom you would not waste your time. The
difference is the quality of the person’s character and behavior. Good
citizens attract the most beneficial karma. I am referring to the following
traits and behaviors: ethics, honesty, trustworthiness, reliability,
fairness, maturity, professionalism, humor, delivers on promises, is
knowledgeable, shows up on time (even early), has a balanced perspective,
is a win-win player, has good listening skills, good leading
skills, and good following skills.

As you look over these 11 Essential Entrepreneurial Power Skills, note two
things: they are certainly not genetic, and they can be learned and enhanced.
How strong are your essential entrepreneurial power skills? Take the selfdiagnostic
test in Exhibit 2.1 to find out. Then think about what you can do
to strengthen areas of weakness. Use every opportunity to practice.
Summary
Entrepreneurs go through the world seeking opportunities to commercialize.
They innovate to bring value to the customer and to all stakeholders. The
greater and more unique the value, the greater their profits. Entrepreneurs
are proactive to the extreme, and it is this action orientation that leads to their
successes in business and in life. The power of commitment and focus can
make you unstoppable. The Essential Entrepreneurial Skills are like muscles;
they strengthen with practice.

Question 1:

Please read the whole text and briefly explain its concept in few lines in your language, tell what is it about, and write the summarization of each title separately?

You are a public accountant at Cartman, Griffin, & Simpson LLP. On November 20, 2020, an audit partner from your firm has sent you an email summarizing the business of one of your clients – Avalon Holdings Ltd. (AHL) as shown on page 2. Using this information, prepare a 10-minute presentation for your audit team. At the risk of repetition, creativity, professionalism, and humor is highly encouraged. Your pre-recorded video presentation should address the following: 1. At a high level, list at least two inherent risks and at least two control risks affecting AHL as well as comment on the overall control environment of AHL. 2. Evaluate at least two factors that have changed over the prior year that impact the audit risk assessment for the current year. Indicate how these factors influence audit risk and draw a conclusion on overall audit risk. 3. Identify five control weaknesses within AHL’s order receipt, processing, and shipping process as well as specify the corresponding control objectives impacted. 4. List the two primary audit assertions, your audit team should be concerned with regards to the accounts receivable of AHL. Why? 5. Design a substantive audit program with at least two audit procedures over the advertising revenue recognition process. 6. Design a test of controls audit program with at least three audit procedures over the new line of credit. For each audit procedure in (5) and (6), = Write the control test along with the corresponding control objective = Indicate the financial statement assertion addressed by the control test = Describe the test of control by specifying the population used to select sample, extent of sample selection along with a rationale, relevant audit evidence gathering technique to be applied, and expected results.

Email from the audit partner of Cartman, Griffin, & Simpson LLP Our firm has been reappointed auditors of Cambridge-based Avalon Holdings Ltd. (AHL) for the year ending December 31, 2020. I met with the president and major shareholder of AHL, Jamie Moriarty, last week, and I toured their warehouse and head office. I have prepared the following background information on AHL for you to review: = AHL, a small public company listed on a Canadian Stock Exchange, is a wholesaler of silk plants with three warehouses located in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. It imports its inventory of silk flowers and accessories from Indonesia. AHL employees arrange bouquets, trees, wreaths, and decorative floral products for sale in Canada to flower shops, grocery stores, and other retailers. The silk-plant concept was novel when AHL was incorporated in 2015. For the first three fiscal years, sales grew at approximately 40% each year, and AHL expanded to meet the demand. However, increased competition resulted in declining sales and operating losses over the next six years. = Jamie inherited the shares of the company in 2017. She had just completed a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Auditing, and Information Technology (AAIT) from Conestoga College and was very excited about becoming involved in the business and applying her skills and education. The fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, brought a return to higher sales levels and a modest net income. Jamie’s management contract, which was renegotiated in 2020, provides for stock options to be granted to her each year based on the percentage increase of AHL’s revenue from one year to the next. On October 2020, Jamie was granted stock options for the first time. She received 4,500 stock options at $2.25 each, the market price on that date. = To gain greater exposure on the internet, AHL is revamping its website and developing a mobile app. AHL will pay for the costs of running the site and maintaining the app by selling advertising spots to home-decorating companies. So far, AHL has pre-sold 10 spots for $200 each. The advertisements are to run for one month. Unfortunately, delays in website upgrades as well as mobile app testing and launch have caused some advertisers to cancel their contracts. Others are threatening to cancel their contracts unless AHL gets the website and mobile app up and running within the next month. AHL’s controller has already recorded the advertising revenue as sales. = Shirley Holmes was hired as AHL’s corporate controller in September 2020. AHL’s previous controller resigned in February 2020 due to illness, and the position was temporarily filled by a payroll clerk. Shirley anticipates that she will have all year-end information ready for our audit team by March 15, 2021. AHL uses a proprietary accounting software package that includes a purchases journal, perpetual inventory account, and sub-ledgers for both accounts receivable and accounts payable. = Historically, AHL’s sales are highest during February and March, and from August to October. When a customer order is received, by phone, email, or through the website, the Customer Service Clerk (CSC) receiving the order, checks that AHL has the items in stock and the correct price by checking an online database of inventory on hand. If available, the CSC sends an order confirmation to the customer either via email or phone, including both quantity and price. The CSC then prepares a sales invoice and sends a copy to the customer. AHL’s policy ACCT3005 Internal Controls & External Auditing (Spring 2021) – Group Presentations (10% of final mark) Spring 2021 (Professor: Amit M. Mehta) Page | 4 is for the sales invoice to show a shipping date of one day from the order date. The clerk then walks to the adjacent warehouse, selects the ordered items, and walks them to shipping. = AHL has a shipping staff of four people, and the shipping department will not ship any goods without a sales invoice initialled by the CSC. If the sales invoice does not indicate who is to pay for the shipping costs, then AHL sends the goods FOB shipping point. When a shipment is delivered to an incorrect address it is the CSC’s job to contact the customer and obtain the correct information. = If the account is unpaid after the due date (30 days), the receptionist mails a reminder invoice to the customer. Accounts receivable consist of a large number of small dollar value accounts, with the exception of five large chain store customers that account for approximately 40% of the total accounts receivable. The allowance for returns typically has been 1% of the fourth-quarter sales. = During the year, management negotiated an operating line of credit with a new financial institution. The amount authorized is limited to 75% of accounts receivable under 90 days old and 50% of inventory, to a maximum of $2 million. The loan bears interest at prime plus 3%. Under this agreement, AHL is required audited financial statements within 90 days of its fiscal year-end.