ENTREPRENEURSHIP dissected

Entrepreneurship is the activity of creating or enhancing economic value. An entrepreneur is an individual who harnesses potential innovative ideas and channels and transforms them to give an output, (service or good) that has greater economic value than in its initial state. An entrepreneur is a micro-economic actor as he creates creates goods and services for the economy.

What does it take to be an entrepreneur?

Below I present a non-exhaustive list of some key qualities of an entrepreneur. These do not mean one will succeed, however without them, the chances of being a successful entrepreneur are seriously limited.

Courage and willingness to take on a risk (calculated):

One must be willing to put ones money and time into a business idea that in over 50% of cases results in failure. Often entrepreneurs have a marked preference for risk – the higher the risk, the greater the willingness to invest - as opposed to non entrepreneurs who are said to be risk averse (or have risk aversion tendencies).

The economic value at risk is often underestimated as most people are not aware or ignore opportunity costs. These opportunity costs or costs that are incurred when one leaves a full time job and dedicates ones time exclusively to an entrepreneurial activity.

Another cost often miscalculated or ignored are sunk costs. These are costs that an entrepreneur incurs when he reasons in the following manner - “I have already spent so much, let me keep trying so that I do not lose more” - this is incorrect and this leads to greater losses and continued opportunity costs. What has been spent is spent and cannot be recuperated.

Receptive to criticism

A system only works when it is permeable to the outside. Entrepreneurs being part of the micro-economic system and business environment are open to constructive criticism and actually use this when deciding on strategy and goals. An entrepreneur will disregard useless criticism like it is impossible or it has never been done before and concentrate on criticism that he can use to adjust his path if necessary. This openness to criticism is vital to an entrepreneur who wants to keep a competitive edge over his competitors.

Highly competitive nature / High need recognition

An entrepreneur does not just want to do things, he wants to do them in the best way, better than the existing services/goods in this immediate and wider environment. In doing so, this individual seeks recognition for his work from his peers. An entrepreneur thrives in competitive environments and this is where he is at his best.

High self-esteem (especially intellectually)

Entrepreneurs are generally speaking intelligent individuals. They are persons who have an unfailing belief in their abilities to accomplish their goals. Entrepreneurs do not spend their time looking for solutions to avoid failure rather than excuses for failure.

Preference for change

Although this can seem self evident, human nature is such that people have a natural tendency to be averse to change. Imagine the vast number of daily activities that you accomplish in a certain order without ever asking yourself the question - “Isn't there a better or more efficient way of doing this?” An entrepreneur asks himself this question all the time. He/She is always putting into question established criteria and thinking of ways of disturbing the established order.

The factors listed above are not exclusive and other considerations such as innovative idea, sources of financing, knowledge of business area, market readiness, marketing and contacts play vital roles. The above mentioned factors are pre-dispositions if one wants to be an entrepreneur.