Computer Hardware Servicing

CENTER FOR POSITIVE FUTURE, INC.

#475, Purok 5, Mapalad, Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija

Government Recognition No. S-042 s. 2012 0910-939-9613

Learning Module
Grade 10 ICT

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Module 1 Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECs)

Content Standards Performance Standards
The learner demonstrates understanding of one’s The learner independently creates a plan of
PECs in Computer Hardware Servicing. action that strengthens and/or further develops
his/her PECs in Computer Hardware Servicing.

Introduction
In this module, you will learn more about entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial
competencies related to Computer Hardware Servicing. You will have a first-hand experience in
educational activities leading to assessment of your personal entrepreneurial competencies
(PECs) and the entrepreneurial competencies of a successful computer technician within your
province. You will also have several activities that will align your competencies with those of
successful practitioners. Moreover, this module will encourage you to think about
entrepreneurship and its role in the business community as well as in the economic and social
development of an individual.
To start with this module, let us first understand entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs are those with the skills and capabilities to see and evaluate business
opportunities. They are individuals who can strategically identify products or services needed by the
community, and have the capacity to deliver them at the right time and at the right place.

Entrepreneurs are agents of economic change; they organize, manage, and assume risks of a
business. Some of the good qualities of entrepreneurs are: opportunity-seeker, risk-taker, goal-setter,
excellent planner, confident problem-solver, hardworking, persistent and committed.

Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is not just a simple business activity but a strategic
process of innovation and new product creation. Basically, entrepreneurship is both an art and science
of converting business ideas into marketable products or services to improve the quality of living.

Now that you have background knowledge about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, you can
now walk through in assessing your PECs. Always remember that successful entrepreneurs continuously
develop and improve their PECs.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

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1. Identify areas for improvement, development, and growth,
2. Align your PECs according to your business or career choice, and
3. Create a plan of action that ensures success in your business or career
choice.

Assessment of Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies

(PECs) and Skills vis-à-vis a Practicing Entrepreneur in a
Province
Entrepreneurial competencies refer to the important characteristics that should be
possessed by an individual in order to perform entrepreneurial functions effectively. In this
module, you will learn some of the most important characteristics, attributes, lifestyle, skills
and traits of a successful entrepreneur or an employee to be successful in a chosen career.
Below are few important characteristics / traits / attributes of a good entrepreneur:

• Hardworking: One of the important characteristics of a good entrepreneur is

hardworking. This means working diligently and being consistent about it.
Hardworking people keep improving their performance to produce good
products and/or provide good services.
• Confident: Entrepreneurs have self-reliance in one’s ability and judgment. They
exhibit self-confidence to cope with the risks of operating their own business.
• Disciplined: Successful entrepreneurs always stick to the plan and fight the
temptation to do what is unimportant.
• Committed: Good entrepreneurs assume full responsibility over their business.
They give full commitment and solid dedication to make the business successful.
• Ability to accept change: Nothing is permanent but change. Change occurs
frequently. When you own a business, you should cope with and thrive on
changes. Capitalize on positive changes to make your business grow.
• Creative: An entrepreneur should be creative and innovative to stay in the
business and in order to have an edge over the other competitors.
• Has the initiative: An entrepreneur takes the initiative. You must put yourself in
a position where you are responsible for the failure or success of your business.
• Profit-oriented: An entrepreneur enters the world of business to generate profit
or additional income. The business shall become your bread and butter.
Therefore, you must see to it that the business can generate income.
Listed below are the important skills of a successful entrepreneur:

• Excellent planner: Planning involves strategic thinking and goal setting to

achieve objectives by carefully maximizing all the available resources. A good
entrepreneur develops and follows the steps in the plans diligently to realize
goals. A good entrepreneur knows that planning is an effective skill only when
combined with action.
• Possesses people skills: This is a very important skill needed to be successful in
any kind of business. People skills refer to effective and efficient communication
and establishing good relationship to the people working in and out of your
business. In day-to-day business transactions, you need to deal with people. A
well-developed interpersonal skill can make a huge difference between success
and failure of the business.

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• Sound decision maker: Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to think quickly
and to make wise decisions towards a pre-determined set of objectives. No one
can deny that the ability to make wise decisions is an important skill that an
entrepreneur should possess. Sound decisions should be based on given facts
and information and lead towards the pre-determined objectives.

Module 2 ENVIRONMENT AND MARKET (EM)

Content Standards Performance Standards
The learner demonstrates understanding of The learner independently creates a business
environment and market in Computer Hardware vicinity map reflective of potential market in
Servicing in one’s province. Computer Hardware Servicing in a province.

Introduction
Aspiring entrepreneur need to explore the economic, cultural, and social conditions
prevailing in an area. Needs and wants of the people in a certain area that are not met may be
considered business opportunities. Identifying the needs of the community, its resources,
available raw materials, skills, and appropriate technology can help a new entrepreneur seize
business opportunities.
To be successful in any kind of business venture, potential entrepreneurs should look
closely at the environment and market. They should always be watchful of existing
opportunities and constraints, and to take calculated risks. The opportunities in the business
environment are factors that provide possibilities for a business to expand and make more
profit. Constraints, on the other hand, are factors that limit business growth, hence reduce the
chance of generating profit. One of the best ways to evaluate opportunities and constraints is
to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.
SWOT Analysis is a managerial tool used to assess the environment. It is used to gather
important information which is then used in strategic planning. Strengths and weaknesses are
internal in an organization. They relate to resources owned by an organization that you have
control over and also the extent of its marketing.
Opportunities and threats exist in the external environment. Opportunities relate to
the market, new technologies, and the external factors such as government policies, climate,
and trends. Threats replace what the competitors are doing. It also includes legal and other
constraints.
Now that you have read some important considerations to explore to be successful in any
business, you are now ready to explore more about the environment and market.

Product Development
When we talk of product development, we are referring to a process of making a new
product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. Product development may
involve modification of an existing product or its presentation, or formulation of an entirely
new product that satisfies a newly-defined customer’s needs, wants and/or a market place.

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The term development in this module refers collectively to the entire process of
identifying a market opportunity, creating a product to appeal to the identified market, and
testing, modifying, and refining the product until it becomes ready for production.
There are basic, yet vital questions that you can ask yourself about product
development. When you find acceptable answers to them, you may now say that you are ready
to develop a product and/or render services.
These questions include the following:

1. For whom are the product/services aimed at?

2. What benefit will the customers expect from product/service?
3. How will the product/service differ from the existing brand? From its
competitor?
In addition, needs and wants of the people within an area should also be taken into big
consideration. Everyone has his/her own needs and wants. However, each person has different
concepts of needs and wants. Needs in business are the important things that an individual
cannot live without in a society. These include:

1. Basic commodities for consumption,

2. Clothing and other personal belongings,
3. Shelter, sanitation and health, and
4. Education
Basic needs are essential to an individual to live with dignity and pride in a community.
These needs can obviously help you generate business ideas and subsequently to product
development.
Wants are desires, luxury and extravagance that signify wealth and expensive way of living.
Wants or desires are considered above all the basic necessities of life. Some examples of wants or
desires are: fashion accessories, expensive shoes and clothes, travels, eating in an expensive restaurant,
watching movies, concerts, having luxurious cars, wearing expensive jewelry and perfume, living in
impressive homes, among others.

Needs and wants of people are the basic indicators of the kind of business that you may
engage in because it can serve as the measure of your success. Some other points that might be
considered in business undertakings are the kind of people, their needs, wants, lifestyle, culture
and tradition, and their social orientation.
To summarize, product development entirely depends on the needs and wants of the
customers. Another important issue to deal with is the key concepts of developing a product.
The succeeding topic shall enlighten you about the procedure in coming up with a product.

Concepts of Developing a Product

Concept development is a critical phase in the development of a product. In this stage, the
needs of the target market are identified, and competitive products are reviewed before the
product specifications are defined. The product concept is selected along with an economic
analysis to come up with an outline of how a product is being developed. Figure 3 shows the
stages of concept development of a product.
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The process of product development follows the following stages:

1. Identify customer needs: Using survey forms, interviews, researches, focus group
discussions, and observations, an entrepreneur can easily identify customers’ needs and
wants. In this stage, the information that can be possibly gathered are product
specifications (performance, taste, size, color, shape, life span of the product, etc.). This
stage is very important because it would determine the product to be produced or
provided.
2. Establish target specifications: Based on customers' needs and reviews of competitive
products, you can now establish target specifications of the prospective new product
and/or services. A target specification is essentially a wish-list.
3. Analyze competitive products: It is imperative to analyze existing competitive products
to provide important information in establishing product or service specifications. Other
products may exhibit successful design attributes that should be emulated or improved
upon in the new product or service.
4. Generate product concepts: After having gone through with the previous processes,
you may now develop a number of product Concept Development Identify Customer
Needs Plan Remaining Development Project Establish Target Specifications Generate
Product Concepts Select a Product Concept Analyze Competitive Products Refine
Specifications Perform Economic Analysis 22 concepts to illustrate the types of products
or services that are technically feasible and will best meet the requirements of the
target specifications.
5. Select a product concept: Through the process of evaluation between attributes, a final
concept is selected. After the final selection, additional market research can be applied
to obtain feedback from certain key customers.
6. Refine product specifications: In this stage, product or services specifications are
refined on the basis of input from the foregoing activities. Final specifications are the
result of extensive study, expected service life, projected selling price among others are
being considered in this stage.
7. Perform economic analysis: Throughout the process of product development, it is very
important to always review and estimate the economic implications regarding
development expenses, manufacturing costs, and selling price of the product or services
to be offered or provided.
8. Plan the remaining development project: In this final stage of concept development,
you can prepare a detailed development plan which includes list of activities, necessary

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resources and expenses, and development schedule with milestones for tracking
progress.

Finding Value
“People buy for a reason”. There should be something in your product or service that
would give consumers a good reason to go back and buy more. There must be something that
will make you the best option for target customers; otherwise, they have no reason to buy
what you are selling. This implies further, that you offer something to your customers that will
make them value your product or service.
The value you incorporate in your product is called value proposition. Value proposition
is a believable collection of the most persuasive reasons why people should notice you and take
the action you’re asking for. It is what gets people moving, what makes people spend for your
product or service.

Innovation
Innovation is the introduction of something new in your product or service. This may be
a new idea, a new method, or a new device. If you want to increase your sales and profit, you
must innovate. Some of the possible innovations for your products are change of packaging,
improvement of taste, color, size, shape, and perhaps price. Some of the possible innovations in
providing services are application of new and improved methods, additional featured services,
and possibly freebies.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Unique Selling Proposition is the factor or consideration presented by a seller as the
reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.
Before you can begin to sell your product or service to your target customers, you have to sell
yourself in it. This is especially important when your product or service is similar to your
competitors.
USP requires careful analysis of other businesses' ads and marketing messages. If you
analyze what they say or what they sell, not just their product or service characteristics, you can
learn a great deal about how companies distinguish themselves from competitors.
Here's how to discover your USP and how to use it to increase your sales and profit:

• Use empathy: Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Always focus on the needs of
the target customers and forget falling in love with your own product or service. Always
remember, you are making/providing this product not for yourself but for the target
customers to eventually increase sales and earn profit. Essential question such as what
could make them come back and ignore competition, should be asked to oneself. Most
possible answers may be focused on quality, availability, convenience, cleanliness, and
reliability of the product or service.
• Identify customer’s desires. It is very important for you to understand and find out
what drives and motivates your customers to buy your product or service. Make some
effort to find out, analyze and utilize the information that motivates the customers in
their decision to purchase the product or service.
• Discover customer’s genuine reasons for buying the product. Information is very
important in decision making. A competitive entrepreneur always improve their
products or services to provide satisfaction and of course retention of customers. As
your business grows, you should always consider the process of asking your customers

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important information and questions that you can use to improve your product or
service.

Generating Ideas for Business

The process of developing and generating a business idea is not a simple process. Some
people come up with a bunch of business ideas that are not really feasible. There are two
problems that arise; first is the excessive generation of ideas that can forever remain as a
dreaming stage and the second is when they don’t have ideas and don’t want to become
entrepreneurs.
The most optimal way is to have a systematic approach in generating and selecting a
business idea that can be transformed into a real business. Here are some basic yet very
important considerations that can be used to generate possible ideas for business:
1. Examine existing goods and services. Are you satisfied with the product? What
do other people who use the product say about it? How can it be improved?
There are many ways of improving a product from the way it is made to the way
it is packed and sold. You can also improve the materials used in crafting the
product. In addition, you can introduce new ways of using the product, making it
more useful and adaptable to the customers’ many needs. When you are
improving the product or enhancing it, you are doing an innovation. You can also
do an invention by introducing an entirely new product to replace the old one.

Business ideas may also be generated by examining what goods and services are
sold outside the community. Very often, these products are sold in a form that
can still be enhanced or improved.

2. Examine the present and future needs. Look and listen to what the customers,
institutions, and communities are missing in terms of goods and services.
Sometimes, these needs are already obvious and identified right away. Other
needs are not that obvious because they can only be identified later on, in the
event of certain development in the community. For example, a province will
have its electrification facility in the next six months. Only by that time will the
entrepreneur could think of electrically- 28 powered or generated business such
as photo copying, computer service, digital printing, etc.

3. Examine how the needs are being satisfied. Needs for the products and services
are referred to as market demand. To satisfy these needs is to supply the
products and services that meet the demands of the market. The term market
refers to whoever will use or buy the products or services, and these may be
people or institutions such as other businesses, establishments, organizations, or
government agencies.

There is a very good business opportunity when there is absolutely no supply to

a pressing market demand.

Businesses or industries in the locality also have needs for goods and services.
Their needs for raw materials, maintenance, and other services such as selling
and distribution are good sources of ideas for business.

4. Examine the available resources. Observe what materials or skills are available
in abundance in your area. A business can be started out of available raw
materials by selling them in raw form and by processing and manufacturing them

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into finished products. For example, in a copraproducing town, there will be
many coconut husks and shells available as “waste” products. These can be
collected and made into coco rags or doormats and charcoal bricks and sold
profitably outside the community.

A group of people in your neighborhood may have some special skills that can be
harnessed for business. For example, women in the Mountain Province possess
loom weaving skills that have been passed on from one generation to another.
Some communities set up weaving businesses to produce blankets, decorative,
and various souvenir items for sale to tourists and lowlanders

Business ideas can come from your own skills. The work and experience you may
have in agricultural arts, industrial arts, home economics, or ICT classes will
provide you with business opportunities to acquire the needed skills which will
earn you extra income should you decide to engage in income-generating
activities. With your skills, you may also tinker around with various things in your
spare time. Many products are invented this way.

5. Read magazines, news articles, and other publications on new products and
techniques or advances in technology. You can pick up new business ideas from
magazines such as Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, Business Magazines, “Go
Negosyo”, Know About Business (KAB) materials, and Small-Industry Journal. The
Internet also serves as a library where you may browse and surf on possible
businesses. It will also guide you on how to put the right product in the right
place, at the right price, and at the right time.

Key Concepts of Selecting a Business Idea

Once you have identified business opportunities, you will eventually see that there are
many possibilities available for you. It is very unlikely that you will have enough resources to
pursue all of them at once.
You have to select the most promising one among hundreds of ideas. It will be good to do this in stages.
In the first stage, you screen your ideas to narrow them down to about few choices. In the next stage,
trim down the choices to two options. In the final stage, choose between the two and decide which
business idea is worth pursuing.

In screening your ideas, examine each one in terms of the following guide questions:
1. How much capital is needed to put up the business?
2. Where should the business be located?
3. How big is the demand for the product? Do many people need this product and
will continue to need it for a long time?
4. How is the demand met? Who are processing the products to meet the needs
(competition or demand)? How much of the need is now being met (supply)?
5. Do you have the background and experiences needed to run this particular
business?
6. Will the business be legal and not against any existing or foreseeable
government regulation?
7. Is the business in line with your interest and expertise?
Your answers to these questions will be helpful in screening which ones among your
many ideas are worth examining further and worth pursuing.

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Branding
Branding is a marketing practice of creating a name, a symbol or design that identifies
and differentiates product or services from the rest. It is also a promise to your customers. It
tells them what they can expect from your product or service and it differentiates your
offerings from other competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be
and what people perceive you to be.
Branding is one of the most important aspects in any business. An effective brand
strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets.
A good product can:

• deliver message clearly,

• confirm credibility,
• connect to target prospect,
• motivate buyers, and
• Concretize user loyalty.
Here are simple tips to publicize your brand:

• Develop a tagline. Write a statement that is meaningful, impressive, and easy to

remember to capture the essence of your brand.
• Design a logo. Create a logo symbolic of your business and consistent with your tagline
and displace it strategically.
• Write a brand message. Select a key message to communicate about your brand.
• Sustain a brand quality. Deliver a promise of quality through your brand.
• Practice consistency. Be reliable and consistent to what your brand means in your
business.

In generating a business idea, you should first identify the type of business suited to your
business idea. You should analyze and scan the potential environment, study the marketing
practices and strategies of your competitors, analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats in your environment to ensure that the products or services you are planning to offer
will be patronized and within easy reach of target consumers.
How to conduct SWOT Analysis:

• Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your business when conducting
SWOT Analysis.
• SWOT Analysis should distinguish between where your business is today, and where
it can be in the future.
• SWOT Analysis should always be specific. Avoid any gray areas.
• Always apply SWOT Analysis in relation to your competition, i.e. better than or
worse than your competition.
• Keep your SWOT Analysis short and simple. Avoid complexity and over analysis.
• SWOT Analysis is subjective.

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