The Basics of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship in our country is quite like the American Dream. It is the one business idea that will not go away, and despite what you’ve been told, the one we all fundamentally believe in. One of the great things about entrepreneurship is that almost anyone with an idea and belief can be an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is a combination of three factors. Firstly, it is a skill set. This means that entrepreneurs are made rather than born and that everyone has the opportunity to acquire these skills and put them to use. Secondly, there are personal characteristics that define an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur will have high expectations for him or herself and will have high achievement goals. Settling for less or conforming is out of the question. There’s a low need to go by the traditional or conventional ways of thinking. One of the most evident characteristics of an entrepreneur is their tendency to take risks. They’re all about expansion and movement, so being timid will not get an entrepreneur very far. They are also incredibly persistent. “No,” is not in their vocabulary. Thirdly, entrepreneurs exhibit deep-seated behaviors. They have a belief, commitment, focus and drive. If an entrepreneur possesses all these factors, success is bound to be just around the corner.

With every plan to success, there can also be the road to failure. There are five errors entrepreneurs tend to make that lead them astray. Sometimes they may get too caught up in their business idea, so that they become egotistical and show overconfidence. The objective is to successfully execute the plan, not show off to others. Another error is the belief in small numbers. This belief will allow them to grossly overestimate, which in turn creates biases in their research. Other times, they will have a planning fallacy. It’s important for entrepreneur’s to have strategies rather than just winging it. This error rolls into the next mistake commonly made, which is the illusion of control. Without a strategic plan, parts become loose and the entrepreneur will be struggling to balance it all. The last mistake many entrepreneurs make is reasoning by analogy. A plan will not simply work out because it has worked for others; every business venture is different than the rest.

The concept of entrepreneurship is all about willingness to take action and see your business plan out. This idea is usually something that the entrepreneur loves and completely enjoys. If there’s not a penchant to it, there’s no reason to make it happen. This is the idea that you would give up your current life for. If it requires you to move across the country, you do it. If you’re in a romantic relationship, you must assess if it will allow you to move further or hinder you. Above all, the most important aspect of entrepreneurship is seeing that business plan executed. Talk is cheap in this game; action must be taken.

When an entrepreneur does take action, it is time for some life evaluations. They must determine who they are now and what can stop them. Staying committed to entrepreneurship takes excessive hard work and dedication, and if some of that was lost along the way, it needs to be regained to stay in the game. An entrepreneur must decide who he or she wants to be. Some may find that this is not the life for them, others may want more. Once that has been answered, they must develop a path to where they want to be. If he or she wants to be at the top, that entrepreneur must figure out how to get there; and if they do get to the top, they must determine how to make changes permanent. As mentioned earlier, entrepreneurs are made. What made that entrepreneur successful was a change of self, and to retain that success requires those changes to be permanent.

Not every entrepreneur can do this on his or her own. Many of them need to find out who can help them achieve their goals, which is why networking has become invaluable in the field of entrepreneurship. The suggestion that everyone has seven connections to get to Kevin Bacon is widely accepted. This means that you know someone who knows someone, who knows someone. For entrepreneurship, knowing too many people is never a bad thing. When meeting someone for the first time, 85 percent of our perception is wrong. Remember, a fundamental characteristic of the entrepreneur is taking risks, even if that means with unlikely people.

Entrepreneurship enables countless people to achieve their dreams, and being an entrepreneur will help you get one step closer to achieving your dream. It can be difficult, but it’s easy for those who have an unrelenting belief in the dream itself.