Before we delve deeper into the approaches and characteristics of becoming an entrepreneur, we should naturally define the concept of “entrepreneurship”. According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a non-for-profit academic research consortium, the term is used in reference to “any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business, by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business.”
On a macroeconomic level, Entrepreneurship is a major contributing factor to the social and economic welfare of a nation both in terms of economic growth and job creation. In the late 90s and early years of this millennium, the trend of entrepreneurship has broadened its range of adoption to cover countries outside the United States (where one in ten people have some type of business) to places, like Brazil, Australia, Sweden, Finland, England, Germany and Japan.
That said, the natural question that arises is how a phenomenon called entrepreneurship can be adopted so easily by such a huge global population and be enticing enough to lure others to its ranks. The answer is much simpler than you would assume.
Lately, a historical review of entrepreneurship would strongly indicate a huge shift in focus. During the 80s and early 90s, the principal features that differentiated a successful entrepreneur from a lousy one were mainly innovation and risk-taking. In our more established corporate age, many people actually find themselves thrust into the world of entrepreneurship due to the ever-so-present threats of company bankruptcy or corporate downsizing.
The main attribute or focus nowadays is having the skill and perseverance to be successful. Due to the new “necessity” for entrepreneurship (home businesses, as an example from our immediate environment) this chemistry is no longer linked to natural-born or innate talent. Many business owners have proved that the qualities of entrepreneurship could easily be acquired with, profound research, efficient hard-work and sound implementation.
If you think you are a natural-born entrepreneur then you should probably stop right here and not waste your time reading through the remainder of this article. On the other hand, if you are planning on starting a business venture and expect or have found it to be quite challenging, you should bear in mind that there are three common denominators that make a great business; they are planning, financing and application.
1- Planning: one of the most important initial steps in your journey to success, this process is applicable whether you are buying a franchise, looking for the right venture or simply launching your very own product. One of the main characteristics of planning is being harshly honest with yourself in assessing your capabilities and your limitations. Planning also includes:
a- Initiative: Taking action to create the profitable business opportunity.
b- Decision-making: Setting a solid business plan and a company policy that will either make or break the business.
c- Innovation: Using one’s creativity or that of his team to create newer and simpler, smoother and more sophisticated ways of doing things.
d- Risk-taking: Although failure is not an option, we all well know that any business has its risks!
2- Financing: This is undoubtedly the biggest challenge in a business venture. There are many solutions out there, however, like bank loans, venture capital or seeking money from angel investors. Within the framework of financing, home businesses have proved to be incredible solutions to financial obstacles. They not only reduce expenses (like burdening taxes and transportation costs to mention but a few) but you can easily and inexpensively operate them with a minimum capital, offsetting your expenses against your income. Many successful entrepreneurs have run businesses on a shoestring, only to reap their much deserved rewards later on in the journey.
3- Application: This is the crunch time of your business, i.e., the carrying out and execution of your plan. Statistically speaking, this is the phase in which most entrepreneurs stumble. Your implementation will encompass all of the above in an effort to prove the triumph of your line of thought. Although you may start your home business by individually executing your plan, you will, in later phases -as your business grows – without doubt need a larger team to help in the promotional and innovative sectors of what you may proudly call your COMPANY.