Download - Entrepreneurship: becoming an entrepreneur
HIGH GROWTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Becoming an Entrepreneur
The short answer….
• Let’s dispel the myth that only a few people, who are ‘born to it’ can be entrepreneurs.
• It’s not about characteristics and behaviours; it’s about the balance of behaviours. So learn how to understand and modify your behaviours.
To be covered
• Can entrepreneurship be learned, or are you born to it?
• What strengths and weaknesses are typical in entrepreneurs?
• If entrepreneurship can be learned, how can you become an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs are, in this context…… those who innovate and carry risk in
building a new business
So… I’m not talking about
• Intrapreneurs (so-called corporate entrepreneurs who don’t carry the risk themselves)
• Small-business owners (who don’t innovate much)
• Franchisees (who don’t innovate much)…though they are included in many definitions of ‘entrepreneur’
And they do it because…
• They want to control their own destiny
• They can build something great/cool/fun
• They consider ‘having a job’ to be boring or unchallenging
And often ..
• The world of ‘jobs’ is just too slow-moving for them. Entrepreneurs set their own pace, and it’s usually fast!
Nature/nurture debate
• Entrepreneurs are both born and made
• You have to have a basic personality receptive to the experiences which make an entrepreneur. But that filter still allows much of the population through.
• Our experiences are a bigger factor, and determine which of us will actually be able to embrace the mindset of an entrepreneur
Comfortable people don’t make good entrepreneurs
Correlation between unmet needs and strength of entrepreneurial profile?
When people are comfortable and self-satisfied:
• they lose the need to innovate in the demanding way required of entrepreneurs
• they lose the excessive drive which powers an entrepreneur’s achievement
Three common motivators are:• The creative desire to build something
great (legacy)
• The desire to make the world a better place (social conscience)
• The desire to ‘prove yourself’ (challenge)• The desire to ‘prove yourself’ is particularly
common because entrepreneurs judge everyone, including themselves, by what they achieve…. Results are everything!
Sometimes the unmet needs have deep roots…
Characteristics and Behaviours
Resource gathererInnovatorDeal-makerSellerGoal-seekerCommunicator
PassionDriveSelf-beliefPersistenceOpportunismVisionOptimismResilience
…so that’s all you need!!
Strengths and weaknesses are often finely balanced:
Diluting effectiveness by trying to follow too many
opportunities at once
Stubbornness in clinging to a path regardless of
conflicting views
Inability to accept best practice when it conflicts with the
entrepreneur’s viewsAbility to see beyond conventional wisdom
Persistence in chasing a vision
Opportunism; the ability to see and act on new
opportunities as they emerge
p.1
Strengths and weaknesses are often finely balanced:
Unrealistic expectation that others will be equally internally
motivated
Inability to manage reluctance by potential investors to accept
the same level of risk
Lack of appreciation of the limits of the entrepreneur’s expertise (not
knowing when to rely on other experts)
Deep expertise in some aspects of building a
business
High tolerance of risk
High internal motivation
p.2
Strengths and weaknesses are often finely balanced:
Inflexibility; the inability to recognize/accept a new idea which does not fit with the entrepreneur’s
model of what is needed
Unwillingness to delegate when the business grows large
enough to have specialist staff
Unwillingness to give up control (particularly when the company has
grown beyond the entrepreneur’s skills to manage it)
The ability, and willingness, to control the whole business
during initial start-up
Willingness to take responsibility
Clarity of thinking; a clear view of the tasks which must be
completed to build the business
p.3
Strengths and weaknesses are often finely balanced:
The inability to recognize that the market may not be ready for fast
innovation (particularly an issue for entrepreneurs with a technology
background)
Inability to find time to learn and adapt during the high-pressure start-
up phase of building a business (hence, many entrepreneurs learn
through failure)
A high acceptance of the need for learning and adapting in building a
business
The ability to recognize innovative concepts and
technologies
p.4
• The entrepreneur is likely to be both:•The greatest asset of the start-up•The greatest liability of the start-up
Learn to be an entrepreneur by…• Examining your own profile … knowing
how you’re likely to behave makes it easier to recognise inappropriate behaviours
• Getting mentors/board members/advisors who will tell you when you’re going wrong, and reinforce you when you’re going well
• Taking time to reflect on what you’re hearing about your own behaviours, and modifying your behaviours where appropriate
The reflective learning process
Work on the project/compa
ny
Listen to the advice you’re getting from
mentors/boards/advisors
Listen to feedback from customers and staff
Balance that advice against what you know about yourself
Change what you’re doing where appropriate
Repeat the
process
Reflective learning is difficult for entrepreneurs because…
• Entrepreneurs are externally focused (it’s about what I do rather than who I am). They don’t tend to ask for personal help (it’s about task accomplishment, not personal development)
• It’s hard to practise reflective learning when you’re under stress (and company building is stressful)But the best time to learn is while you’re
actually working on a company… if you are open to learning.
Understand yourself, and you can still learn while you’re under pressure
In summary
• Can entrepreneurship be learned, or are you born to it?• There are some ‘natural’ elements, but
entrepreneurship can be learned if you can understand your strengths and weaknesses
• What strengths and weaknesses are typical in entrepreneurs?• The strengths and weaknesses are often the same
behaviours being displayed appropriately and inappropriately
• If entrepreneurship can be learned, how can you become an entrepreneur?• Understand your own strengths and weaknesses, then
learn by doing and reflecting. Building companies is the only way to learn to be an entrepreneur
FIND THIS INFORMATION AT:www.becominganentrepreneur.bizwww.norman-evans.com
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