The entrepreneurial spirit
The entrepreneurial spirit is a mentality. A way of thinking that defines the way you approach life and business. It is the problem solving attitude that refuses to bow to hardships. The innovative approach that is always trying to “work smarter, not harder”.
Though it’s not hard to define, it is hard to nurture in this era. There is a widely held belief, taught to us by our parents, media, and peers, that being self employed isn’t worth the risk. In fact, I spent years hesitating on whether to create my own business opportunities because of the nay-sayers. The well-meaning family and friends who insisted that owning a business was too hard. That I would be crazy to quit my “good job”.
Unfortunately, I listened for a long time. My spirit craved the freedom to create my own life and the excitement of being solely responsible for my future. I was never afraid of taking risks, but I was terrified of making a life-ruining mistake.
It took years of unhappiness to change this. And once I did, I immediately felt free. The fear of failure never went away. But the desire to succeed was far too powerful to deter me.
Characteristics of entrepreneurship
An entrepreneur is said to be born, not made. I don’t know about that. What I do know is, they all have certain qualities and characteristics.
Ambition
Entrepreneurs have an almost obsessive desire for personal improvement. Always looking to improve and create better opportunities can be the catalyst to start one’s own business. They generally lack the “quitter” gene, preferring to double down rather than give up. The downside to having such a high ambition is the occasional lack of gratitude and sense of constant dissatisfaction with their lives.
A curious nature
Curious. They have a constant desire to understand and learn. Never satisfied with their own level of knowledge, entrepreneurs need to know everything about everything. The path of discovery is exciting and fulfilling, creating joy and sense of accomplishment with every knew tidbit of knowledge.
Unfortunately, flitting from topic to topic can have a negative effect as well. They become the “jack of all trades, master of none”. Never fully mastering one field of study can often be detrimental to the entrepreneurial process. Consistency is one of the most important facets of entrepreneurship and can determine the rate of success.
Innovative
Entrepreneurs are constantly looking to improve. Because the bulk of work and responsibility rests solely on their shoulders, entrepreneurs take the “work smarter, not harder” approach. They are constantly looking to streamline the processes of their business. Asking the questions, how do I get this done faster, make this better, save more money. Innovation is one of the most important keys to being an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship development
Earlier I said that entrepreneurs are born, not made. Which in most ways is absolutely true. But that doesn’t mean that every entrepreneurial trait is equally strong in everyone. Some people are extremely innovate but have a hard time self-motivating.
Luckily, there are programs available to develop the skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur. These programs develop processes that help people to nurture and maximize the skills they need to be at their best.
Entrepreneurship development can be achieved in multiple ways. Yes, you can pay to take courses that will teach you these things. But you can also find a successful entrepreneur and allow them to mentor you, learning from their mistakes and successes.
No matter how it’s done, the need to learn from external sources is paramount to success. You don’t live or operate your business in a vacuum, so you can’t do all your learning in one either. Fresh perspectives and new ideas can help you avoid mistakes and pitfalls you didn’t know you were headed for.
Approaches to Entrepreneurship
When a person decides to sell a product or service, they have to settle upon what that product or service is. That decision is the most important one they can make. So, when joining the ranks of business ownership and self employment, there are several ways that the majority of entrepreneurs approach this problem.
Improve and Innovate
Innovation, there’s that word again. You wouldn’t believe the trillions of dollars made in this field. There were online stores, then Amazon came along and improved upon that business model. There was a time when someone asked, wouldn’t it be great if we could take our phones with us, instead of being wired to the house? Thus, car phones and then cellular devices were born.
What's missing
Then there are the entrepreneurs who decide to fill a hole in their niche. Finding out what’s missing and catering to that market. This doesn’t have to be as difficult as it sounds. Some entrepreneurs will decide “This city doesn’t have a BBQ restaurant”. Or this part of the town doesn’t have a car wash. Perhaps there isn’t a 24 hour vet or a nail salon, or a tax attorney’s office.
What's already working
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. So says, the market research driven entrepreneur. These savvy business owners will search diligently for the best selling products and join the market.
Theories of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship has been studied as a science for years, creating many schools of thought on the reasoning behind it’s existence. I can’t list them all. But I’ll give an brief list of a few of them:
- Innovation theory- One is born to create their own industry, desiring to do something new__Joseph A. Schumpeter
- Need of Achievement- The major factor in becoming an entrepreneur is the need to achieve, to be the best__ McClelland
- Theory of Recover the Withdrawal of Status- Basically, any suffering minority group feels the need to recover what they’ve lost and in economic terms this begets the entrepreneurial spirit.__Everet Hegen
- Behavior Theory- The idea that the entrepreneur is created by the factors that influence demand. Basically the society is in demand and therefore the entrepreneur is created to supply.__John Kunkel
- Entrepreneurial Group Theory- The proposal that entrepreneurial progress is only possible in groups and only with certain conditions being present simultaneously in society. (When the group feels of low status, When the group is unsuccessful in aspiring to critical social machinery, when the group has better institutional resources as compared to other groups.__Frank W. Young
In the end
The entrepreneurial spirit will win out. Regardless of where it comes from, how it’s developed, and what industry it chooses to involve itself in. The only question is…do you have the spirit of an entrepreneur?
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