Entrepreneurship: Motivation and Characteristics of Steph Croft Simon

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship refers to the ability and act of developing business and run the
enterprise along with the uncertainties and scaling it to gain profits. In modern world
entrepreneurship is used as a wider concept, it is more related to solving big problems,
transforming changes like creating a new and innovative product, introducing a life changing
solution or creating need for a product etc. An entrepreneur is the person who has the ability and
desire to start something new and has the courage to take up risks and aims to make a profit. This
essay talks about the Steph Croft Simon, who is an entrepreneur and the founder of Nom in
2013. It includes the motivational factors that influenced her to be an entrepreneur and start Nom
and also covers the relevant characteristics that she possess to be a successful entrepreneur.
Steph Croft Simon is allergic to various food products so after conducting a proper
research to find the link between the food we eat and health she founded Nom. As there were
very less products available that are suitable for the allergic person, so she created products
which are beneficial for such people, it includes energy bars, popcorns that are free from major
allergens which includes dairy and gluten etc. Through all these award winning products, she has
shown that even dietary restrictions can settle on good taste (Nambisan, Siegel and Kenney,
2018). To identify the motivational factors behind the success of the Steph Croft Simon, the
model of entrepreneurship motivation is used. This model states the factors that motivated
leaders to start a new business and even motivate others. The decision behaviour of the
entrepreneurs are influenced by the characteristics, which are, personal characteristics, personal
environment, personal goals, business environment and business idea. In first, personal
characteristics, It refers to the capability of the person to take the right decision. Steph have
always been fascinated by the products and its nutrition that can positively impact the lives of the
people (Wagner, 2017). She even stared asking feedback whether they have any allergy and
wanted to see their reaction. Based on this feedback, she took decisions which has made her
successful. Next is personal environment, it refers to the personal surrounding of the person such
as family, friends, status etc. It also includes individuals role model like family member,
teachers, mentors and any public figure. The real inspiration behind Nom is her own health
issues. When she was in studying she suddenly developed severe food allergies and diagnosing it
took a couple of years. The reason behind this allergy was her carelessness to gain proper
nutrition (Hills and Morris, 2018). All this inspired her to start something new which will help
her and others in dealing with such situations. Third is personal goals, every entrepreneur have

different set of goals, these goals are set in such away that helps in enhancing the internal
motivation. Steph always strive to innovate something new which meet the challenges faced by
the people and makes life easy. This factor motivates her achieve her goals and then again set
anew goal with the changing needs. Fourth is business environment, it refers to the environment
within which a business is existed and complete with others (Entrepreneurs: A Proposed
Research Model of Motivation of Entrepreneurs. 2016). The major factor that may affect the
business of Steph is the availability of resources and the market needs and situation, customers
expectation etc. Steph has already identified the needs for food products that can be used by
allergic people to make their life easy. The biggest obstacle for her was the get funding for
growing the business and finding out a manufacturer who can carefully prepare the products
exactly the same way that she used to do it in her kitchen. The last is business idea, it is the
purpose of business and an successful entrepreneur always finds an innovative way of growing
and creating a difference.
After identifying the all these key factors come process of planning and implementation.
Steph has carefully create plan which includes all the sources of funding, location, quantity
required etc. and implemented it. Next is the outcome and comparing it with the expectation.
Finding the factory to produce was the hard part in the planning process and also getting licenses
for making organic and gluten free products. Steph decided to go for crow funding method to get
funds for her business. After the successful implementation of plan, it come s the time of
analysing the results and it came as a shock that Steph's products are loved by the people, not
only because it is made especially made for their allergic needs but were also good in taste which
inspired them to stick to the product (Garud, Gehman and Tharchen, 2018). The very next step
after this is entrepreneurial strategic management. This strategy phase is important for every
entrepreneur in their start up stage. It includes costing, outcomes, pricing etc. Steph has
implemented the business strategy with different managerial behaviour which has lead to the
positive performance outcome and made her huge. So, this model has depicted the the entire
success of the entrepreneurs and also highlighted the factors or motivators that has resulted in the
coming up of Nom. The Steph Croft Simon has taken her interest to the next level. She got
herself motivated to give anew start to her life which made her successful.
Another that can be applied is the McClelland's theory of needs. This theory states about
the process of motivation which is derived from the needs. This theory explains the approach to

used to identify the needs. The theory revolves around the three things, that is, achievement,
power and affiliation. First is need for achievement, it urges people to achieve something. It can
be considered as a need which drives a person to work. People with high need for achievement
always works to excel in their work. The same happens with Steph Croft Simon, as she has
attained the high level achievement needs which has motivated her to accomplish her goals and
move further. Next is need for power, it refers to the desire a person has to attain the position of
power and authority (Sonia Kukreja, 2020). These people are strong leaders with high need of
power , they usually wants to enhance their self esteem and reputation and wants to make their
decision or ideas accepted by others. Steph Croft Simon has this power to influence people to
view and accept her ideas and opinion. She possess the qualities of a good leader also. The last is
need for affiliation, it refers to the urge of the person to maintain a interpersonal and social
relationship with other people. Such people looks for the opportunity to work in a group or team
which creates a friendly environment and to be loved by others. Such people stick to one thing
and do not desire to change and even no such needs arises. Steph Croft Simon wants to be
affiliated but she has always been flexible in her working terms and was never dependent upon a
team to carry out the work. So, it can be said that Steph Croft Simon, has actually motivated
herself in the positive aspected which has helped her in been a good entrepreneur and has proved
herself as an inspiration. She has efficiently identified the needs that are required to attain
success.
Successful people have many traits or qualities that are mostly common with one another.
Self starters are very confident and optimistic. These people are open to all the challenges or idea
that comes to their way. Entrepreneurial characteristics that made Steph acquired or gained that
has pave the way for success are stated below.