What is Entrepreneurship?
“An entrepreneur is one who creates a new business in the face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of achieving profit and growth by identifying significant opportunities and assembling the necessary resources to capitalize on them” (Zimmerer, Scarborough, & Wilson, 2015, p. 3).
Some researchers refer to entrepreneurship as a process that results in the change in the economic system because of the innovations of individuals that see opportunities and decide to act on those opportunities to benefit themselves and society.
Other researchers refer to entrepreneurship as a type of behavoiur. This suggests that entrepreneurs possess certain behaviours that define them.
It should be noted that the answer is a little of both! It is a process as well as a behaviour. Successful entrepreneurs have certain characteristics that make them stand out. In another blog post, I would dive deeper into these characteristics.
The process of entrepreneurship is different for every entrepreneur.
It is important to know that there are no set rules when it comes to this process. Most businesses start with this basic process:
Find a problem that needs to be solved, which becomes the idea.
Develop a business plan or model, so you can figure out how you will execute your idea.
Start the business by getting funding and hiring employees.
Execute the plan by making sure that everything runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis.
Now, in real life, starting a business is not this easy. There are many sub-sections to these steps that can take months to complete each part. It took me the greater part of five years to realize that the plans I had for my new business was not going according to that plan. That is why I stress that the process will be different for every entrepreneur.
Some entrepreneurs experience success through an event, like going viral because a celebrity mentioned their produce. Others experience success through failure. They decide to not to give up and to continue trying methods and tactics until they experience growth. Others experience success through working with other successful entrepreneurs. Honestly, this is my favorite path.
What are the behaviours of successful entrepreneurs?
Successful entrepreneurs all possess most of the following characteristics:
Innovative
Visionary
Calculated risk taker
Self confident
Future oriented
Quality Driven
Flexible
Passionate
Tenacious
An entrepreneur has many characteristics and skills that distinguish them from other individuals. They tend to be innovative and creative, they have strong analytical skills and they are good at problem-solving. Entrepreneurs also need to be hardworking and motivated enough to take risks in order to succeed in their business ventures.
Being an entrepreneur may not be for everyone. Successful entrepreneurs need to have a go-getter personality, be good with people, be able to multitask and have the ability to see something from many perspectives. They also need to have a healthy amount of fearlessness and determination.
Most people are not born with the “entrepreneurial gene”. Successful entrepreneurs are hard-working, resilient, visionary, and strategic.
Successful entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for opportunities that will improve their business. They never let themselves get comfortable because they know that complacency is the enemy of success.
They work hard at building relationships with other entrepreneurs since these relationships can help them grow their business in new ways or offer them opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable.
Successful entrepreneurs also don’t underestimate the value of learning from failure. They know that failure isn’t the end of the road; it’s actually a necessary step on the journey.
In the coming weeks, we will dive deeper into each of these characteristics.
If you’re a mom and an entrepreneur, then THIS PREVIOUS BLOG POST may interest you.
I hope this week’s blog was of value to you. Let me know in the comments below if you believe entrepreneurship is a process or a behaviour.