Are you one of the lucky breed who never worked for anyone else for a day in your life? My entrepreneurial buddy Derek emerged from university and launched himself into business solo without a backward glance. I was pretty impressed with his cool, not to mention the cooler industrial design things he started designing, they also sold well.
It just didn’t occur to him to get a day job like most people. When he tried the shirt-and-tie gig out of curiosity a decade on, he promptly jumped ship back to his preferred uncertainty of self-employment.
Maybe that’s not you. Perhaps you’re just itching to give an “up-yours-mate!” parting gesture to the corporate rat race (remember, even if you win the rat race, apparently you’re still a rat). You could be one of thousands around the world still being downsized – a second or third time - and have sworn never to put your career, not to mention your financial survival, in someone else’s hands again.
Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and take control of your future? Let’s zero in on the type who has the Entrepreneur Edge. It’s not something tangible that you can bottle up and sell, but people who’ve built successful businesses from the ground up share some common personality characteristics:
1. Entrepreneurs often start young. As kids or teenagers, they had newspaper rounds, surprisingly smart ideas for Internet businesses, or conjured up cunning schemes to make money off their unsuspecting classmates.
2. Entrepreneurs ooze self-confidence. They believe in themselves absolutely and thrive in a competitive environment. They’re catalysts, with either the charisma or great persuasion skills to enlist others to help make their big idea a reality.
3. They have a big vision and a dream. Think of
4. Entrepreneurs take risks. Some of them are calculated risks, or astute hunches that hit pay-dirt. Some of them are just way out there somewhere. One definite weak spot is a tendency to get over-extended financially. Brilliance and financial genius aren’t always roommates.
5. They like to work for themselves and make their own decisions.
6. Entrepreneurs never give up. They rebound quickly from business dead ends, or product disasters. And simply try again. There are multiple examples of entrepreneurs who burned too bright too fast, even went bankrupt, but had the resilience and chutzpah to nonchalantly bounce back. They view failures or mistakes as learning experiences, worth copping a few bruises or embarrassments on the way but not worth shedding tears over.
7. Entrepreneurs share an admirable and phenomenal capacity for grind. They work hard and don’t expect anything to be served up to them on a plate. There are plenty of get-rich-quick dreamers out there too, but even they have learnt to put in the hours. A solid foundation is what ultimately separates the men from the boys, to borrow an old cliché. Not to mention the women from the girls.
8. Entrepreneurs have a shrewd head for business. They have smart, ‘ahead of the trend curve’ ideas and keep coming up with fresh approaches, services…add-on valuable products… potential marketplaces. Their flair is creating innovative ways to make money and new distribution channels to boost profits. Sir Richard Branson built an international airline on the back of his Virgin record store brand. Donald Trump’s empire has made him the star of his own reality TV series ‘The Apprentice’.
9. Most entrepreneurs don’t retire, even if they make an attempt at it. They may sell their shares or cut back time; talking up a hammock slung on a tropical beach. But a few months later, restless, ‘just a few hours a day will do me this time’… they’re back, searching out new problems which they’ll find profitable solutions for - and a familiar adrenalin fix.
Sound like you? Or are you confident enough to try the entrepreneur route? A well-grounded belief in yourself is the mindset that will see you succeed.
You need to also be 100% realistic with yourself about the various strains in starting down an entrepreneurial track. Are you in good enough shape - physically, mentally, financially and emotionally - to handle the workload and the start-up stresses? Launching a start-up business in the middle of a vicious divorce might solve your problems about new directions, but could stretch you dangerously thin across health and sanity. Nothing’s worth a heart attack at 35.
After years of in-depth academic study, we’ve devised a Fast Track qualification test for would-be entrepreneurs. Start now, clear a quiet space and concentrate. First question: Do you want personal freedom? Second question: Do you want truckloads of banknotes? Brilliant, off you go!
If only it was that simple. Serious questions to ask yourself in an honest self-audit, if you’re considering launching your own business or taking the free agent path, include:
■ Do you have a dream or goal to chase? Something that you’re passionate about?
■ Are you a leader? Can you motivate people if your business takes off and you start hiring? Do you like people and get along with them? Do they like you?
■ Do you enjoy hard work and long hours? It will take 3 times as much of both as you estimated at the outset. Are you being really honest with yourself on this bit?
■ Can you handle responsibility? Running your own business can ultimately win you financial gains, freedom and flexibility. But there’s hard work ahead to get there and a lot of accountability to shoulder. The buck always comes back to you.
■ Can you banish the ‘what if I fall flat on my face’ fear factor with a shrug of your shoulders and demonstrate a high tolerance for risk? Are you being really honest with yourself on this bit?
■ Are you in a cashed-up position to survive for the foreseeable future? Without jeopardising your personal financial security, if your venture takes significantly longer to get off the ground than you estimated?
If it doesn’t sound like the life for you, don’t beat yourself up too much about it. Someone has to keep the corporate world afloat. Plenty of us need a manager or mentor, structure and teamwork, or more academic or creative work to fire us up.
You can get your kicks going along for the ride on someone else’s fast-tracked entrepreneurial scheme and hit the eject button when you’ve hurtled past your comfort zone. No-one who matters will make fun of you for being realistic about your business strengths and weaknesses.
And if you fit the Entrepreneur profile, get going, what are you waiting for? Why are you still hanging round reading this when you have so much to do?
One last hint...most entrepreneurs mess up spectacularly when it comes to organizing, administration and record-keeping. It’s unfortunately just not their thing. If it’s not yours, hire or outsource a good bookkeeper and pay your office manager far more than they deserve.
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