Analysing Matt Barrie and His Business Venture - Report Example

Entrepreneurship has recently evolved into one of the most common dreams shared by a plethora of individuals all over the world (Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008). However, a limited number of people understand the impact of entrepreneurship and dare to attain their dreams. Entrepreneurs must possess critical attributes such as passion, courage, high self-motivation, hardworking and be ready to take risks. One of the most striking advantages associated with entrepreneurship is the attainment of financial independence (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009; Bygrave, 2017). Many entrepreneurs usually become financially independent once their businesses start working appropriately. Entrepreneurship has recently developed into the primary source of employment for many citizens who suffer from unemployment (Rozakis, 2008).

Rozakis (2008) adds that many youths prefer doing business and generating their income to looking for jobs. Nevertheless, entrepreneurship and overall engagement in business activities have evolved into a major source of foreign revenue for numerous countries including Australia. Robert Matthew Barrie popularly known as Matt Barrie provides the best example of a successful young entrepreneur who preferred starting an online freelancing and outsourcing company to employment (Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008). This paper provides a detailed analysis of Matt Barrie and his business venture as the owner of Freelance.com, online research, and outsourcing company.

Background of Matt Barrie

Barrie, born on 16 August 1973, is a famous Australian technology entrepreneur recognized as the founder and the managing director of Freelancer.com, which is a global online crowdsourcing and freelancing marketplace. Barrie is also an associate professor who teaches classes in computer and network security at the University of Sidney(Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008). Barrie is also engaged in the creation of different technologies since 2010. The technology expert demonstrated his vested interest in doing technology and online based business since his childhood (Rozakis, 2008). For instance, Barrie showed an exemplary performance in different technology related fields at the time he was admitted to Stanford University to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering. Barrie was employed as a security consultant at Security, a prominent information security firm which was later acquired by Kroll-O'Gara (Bygrave, 2017).

The incumbent engineering expert met with Ken Williams who helped in the acquisition of Packet-storm, a traditional information security website that could later play an essential role in the attainment of his business dreams (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009). Barrie made his return to Australia in 2000 where he landed another job as a venture capitalist working for Innovation Capital, a famous national boutique company in Australia. His return to Australia marked the beginning of his journey to successful entrepreneurship. Barrie developed his business referred to as Sensory Networks, which served as a leading network security firm, where he acted as a managing director from 2001 to 2006. Barrie's company was later on acquired by Intel Corporation in 2013, a decision that left him free to participate in more online business activities (Bygrave, 2017).

Matt Barrie Entrepreneurial Traits

There are notable entrepreneurial characteristics that are directly linked to Matt Barrie. First, Barrie expressed a great level of passion in his journey to business. As a start-up founder of Packet-storm and Sensory Networks, Barrie showed more passion for venturing into more business after his company was acquired by Intel Corporation (Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008). Barrie is always driven by the quest for the deeper purpose that may exceed his demand for doing business. The great passion he had in business saw him develop Freelance.com, which is a blossom in the current online and outsourcing market.

Perseverance and endurance are additional attributes that can be easily spotted from Barrie's journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009; Bygrave, 2017). Barrie knew very well what it takes to become an online business entrepreneur, and thus he persevered through his school life to attain the necessary qualifications. He first acquired a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University before looking for employment. This level played a critical role in developing personal skills, professional experience and enhancing individual skills. After being employed for more than three years in a foreign country, Barrie decided to make his return journey in Australia to establish his business Kingdom (Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008).

Barrie demonstrated an extreme level of dedication to his business company (Kendall, 2012). He was completely assured that the evolving market had a high need of an online freelance as well as an outsourcing company that could link people from all over the world. Thirdly, Barrie is a risk taker as he tried to open up some business ventures despite being employed by different companies. His decision to quit a job and begin a business shows how ready the incumbent engineer was to take risks. However, Barrie had a wide understanding of entrepreneurial ventures as inherently risky endeavors thus he used his skills and professional experience to do an extensive market research for his products and tested their marketability to reduce the associated risks (Glenny & Mullinger, 2005; Black, 2016).

However, as an entrepreneur, Barrie was able to tolerate and incur more risks to achieve his desired success. Lastly, Barrie is an open-minded and resourceful entrepreneur. As a professional engineer, Barrie showed a high level of flexibility as he could easily shift from one business venture to another. For example, he decided to quit employment and start up a new business venture which was later acquired by Intel corporations (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009; Bygrave, 2017). Furthermore, he decided to use the knowledge, skills, and experience he had acquired at the university and other places of work to open up a freelance company that is currently performing exemplary in the industry. Barrie's strong desire to do business and his story to success is a critical source of motivation to young uprising entrepreneurs.

Opportunity Recognition and Idea Development Process

According to Drake (2011), recognition of an opportunity is a critical process of a venture creation. Many entrepreneurs perceive the probability of initiating a new business or improving the existing one. Opportunity recognition can take place before or after establishing a business firm whereas idea generation is the inventive process of generating, developing, and communicating new business ideas. This process occurs in three different stages and includes innovation, development, and actualization (Fagalde, 2007; Rozakis, 2008). Creativity aims at bringing new things into existence while change targets to translate a business idea into an application with accrued market value. Entrepreneurs such as Barrie utilize a variety of mechanisms to generate important business ideas. Some of the common tactics include brainstorming, improving an existing business venture, and identifying market gaps (Gaglio & Taub, 2012).

Drake (2011) assets that idea generation process in the development of products starts with the identification of an opportunity, making the critical analysis of the opportunity, analysis the genesis of the idea, selecting the best approach and developing a fundamental concept. For the case of Barrie, he began by recognizing that there was a wide gap between customers who wanted to engage in different online businesses from all walks of life (Christensen & Peterson, 2009; Gaglio & Taub, 2012). As such, he developed an online platform through which different clients could meet a variety of experts and help them complete their projects. Freelance.com has evolved into a critical source of employment to numerous people and has contributed to improving the living standards of millions of individuals (Christensen & Peterson, 2009).

Competitive Advantage

According to Amabile (2008), the main invention and development that Barrie achieved in his business career is the establishment and development of Freelance.com. The company has posted significant improvements in the employment sector and proves irreplaceable due to many benefits and competitive advantages associated with its users. The competitive advantages associated with this company can be summarized into three; financial benefits, flexibility and skill development (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009; Gaglio & Taub, 2012). For instance, the average income made by a freelancer can be double or triple that of a full-time employee since freelancer's payment rates are usually higher depending on individual's skills and experience.

Also, freelancers are paid on the hourly basis and can work for numerous clients at the same time on multiple projects, which increases their earnings (Christensen, Madsen & Peterson, 2009; Bygrave, 2017). Freelancers are also paid directly hence they benefit from reduced tax bills experienced by regular employees. Nevertheless, freelancers benefit from flexibility as they have the freedom to choose when to work, where to work from and dictate the level of payment (Glenny & Mullinger, 2005; Black, 2016). Lastly, freelancers can develop and enhance their skills since they work in different roles and for multiple firms. The capacity to move from one company to another also helps freelancers to have an extensive experience in other employment sectors (Amabile, 2008).

Recommendations and Conclusion

Entrepreneurship has evolved into one of the most influential sources of employment to numerous people across the world. Starting a business has a plethora of benefits despite the challenges and the strict requirements involved. Barrie provides a critical example of an entrepreneur whose strict devotion has helped him yield a plethora of advantages. Barrie's decision to establish Freelance.com played a crucial role in achieving a high level of success and satisfaction in the business world. However, there are still multiple opportunities that he can tap to increase his profits. First, Barrie should launch different applications that can be downloaded by individuals on their phones, laptops, and computers to ease the effect of visiting online platforms frequently.

Secondly, Barrie can initiate customer training and skill improvement programs to equip his clients with the necessary professional knowledge required in freelancing. Thirdly, it is possible for Barrie to venture into other online related industries such as the fashion and design sector to increase the company's market base. Another strategy that could increase the company's number of loyal customers is by tapping into new markets without sustainable internet. As such, Freelance.com can partner with other network service providers such as Google and Vodafone to ensure that all potential market areas are properly covered

References

Amabile, T. M. 2008. A Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. In Research in Organizational Behavior, eds. B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings, 123167. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Black, Y. 2016. The ultimate freelancer's guidebook: Learn how to: land the best jobs, build your brand, be your own boss. Avon, Massachusetts : Adams Media.

Bygrave, W. 2017. The Entrepreneurial Process. In The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship, 2nd edition, ed. W. D. Bygrave, 126. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Christensen, P. S., Madsen,...