Becoming a successful entrepreneur is never easy. There are a variety of pitfalls to overcome. There’s that old fashioned money problem, this little thing called competition, and the whirlwind of business that has to be overcome on a daily basis. But it can be done. Over 500,000 companies are started every year.
What are the ways to become a successful entrepreneur? There are three:
1. Most entrepreneurs have a great idea and absolutely have to start a business. It’s almost in their blood, their DNA. They’re going to start it come hell or high water and make things happen.
2. Some entrepreneurs are very reluctant to start something, but have an idea that is important and can change the world. They are coaxed into inventing a product, and are encouraged by their friends and colleagues to market the invention.
3. Others start because they have to. In some instances we call that being thrown into the pool. They may have been downsized or even fired from their jobs. In a recent Entrepreneurs Club Radio interview with Tierra Destiny Reid, she said that being downsized was the “door that opened wide”. Tierra started a business that she always wanted to try, and it has become wildly successful.
Enter Dr. Raymond Kralovic. A graduate of West Virginia University with a doctorate in microbiology, Ray became an employee of one of the largest manufacturers of surgical sterilizing equipment in America. He had a great idea for sterilizing flexible surgical endoscopes, instruments that were usually only disinfected, but couldn’t get the company to let him pursue it. He actually pushed his idea too much and eventually lost his job.
This budding entrepreneur now was left with no job, four children, and a wonderful, supportive wife Judy. To Ray, he felt like a reluctant entrepreneur. He wanted to try out his idea, but had no money, with no promise of any in the near future. That’s when some of his friends pushed him into the pool. It was make or break time. He was not only a reluctant entrepreneur, but he was pushed into the pool too!