Many people are embarking on the journey known as “entrepreneurship”. The reasons that many are doing this include following a life long passion, unable to get a job they enjoy, tired of the corporate politics, something to do in their spare time, a way to provide for their family, and the list goes on.
The reason that someone embarks on this journey isn’t the focus of today, but the focus is who is taking this journey. What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur as defined by dictionary.com is: a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
This definition expresses two of the main characteristics of an entrepreneur 1) to take initiative and 2) to take risks. That is the focus today, understanding the who not the what of the journey.
Many of us are caught up on the hundreds of multi-million dollar valuations of start-ups or the multi-million dollar cash outs from long-time entrepreneurs, that we overlook the basic ingredients to what being an entrepreneur is: take initiative and take risk.
Today entrepreneurs are able to run successful businesses right from their smartphone while being a stay at home mom/dad. This is true for e-commerce, social media, freelancers, virtual based businesses and many others. To become a successful entrepreneur, you must first define what success is to you! This is where the distinction or confusion of entrepreneur vs “wantrepreneur” begins.
Not every entrepreneur will have to give up there 8-5 (for example, many doctors are real estate investors) or work 60 hours per week in their business. Not ever entrepreneur desires to have thousands of clients or make millions of dollars from their business. Some entrepreneurs don’t want the headache of managing large teams and prefer to keep it simple. Not every entrepreneur desires a scalable international business. The reason that an entrepreneur takes the initiative and risk of starting this journey is because they have a desire to accomplish something. It’s up to you, the entrepreneur, to know what you are trying to accomplish.
Simply put, YOU have the potential to be an entrepreneur, if your efforts are focused on a singular vision.
There are many things that need to be considered before embarking the entrepreneurial journey such as time constraints, financial investments needed, individual capacity (can you take on this effort with everything else you have going on?), heart and desire, and commitment (will you see it through until the end?), and many others.
Understanding who you are and what capacity you have to be an entrepreneur will help you determine if you are willing to go all-in or if this should be something you do part-time (which is fine!).
In either case, entrepreneur is defined by more than the dollars you earn and the hours you invest. Define it by impact according to your vision.
What are your thoughts?
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