We all know big names like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Arianna Huffington and Mark Zuckerberg. We know them as billionaires or CEOS or giants in the industry. But do we see them as entrepreneurs? Well, they are!
Entrepreneurs are those who take ownership of work and start their own venture. Essentially, they are risk takers and creative minds who want to start their own enterprise, especially a business, with much initiative and risk. Most people have watched Shark Tank and know it’s a show for budding entrepreneurs. Do you know that the moguls on the panel are also entrepreneurs?
Take Mark Cuban for example, in 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas and first found work as a bartender, and then as a salesperson for ‘Your Business Software’, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with support from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for six million dollars! Today he has a net worth of over three billion dollars.
If you’re reading this and thinking, ‘WOW, well that’s the dream”. Then you should seriously start thinking about chasing that dream.
The first step is becoming an entrepreneur is addressing a need or fixing a problem. Mark Cuban while working for Your Business Software saw the need for a system integrator and software reseller in Dallas, so he started MicroSolutions.
Similarly, somewhere in the world, someone faced a problem and so he or she decided to fix this problem by starting a business or venture that would somehow ease this problem. This initiative on his / her part would go on to make him/her an entrepreneur. Arianna Huffington wanted easy, accessible and reliable news and so, The Huffington Post was born from there!
If we were to look at examples closer to home, we find Swiggy. If you’re Indian and you like food, you probably know what it’s all about- a food delivery service that has seen wild success as it follows three guiding principles, deliver food from the best restaurants nearby, deliver food with no minimum guarantee, and fast delivery. Swiggy is successful because it addresses a fundamental problem with ordering in in India- fast and reliable delivery.
So yes, we’ve got great examples pointing us to entrepreneurship. To make things easier though, we’ve compiled 6 pointers that will help you know why you should consider being an entrepreneur!
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You recognize a need or problem that you want to fix
- One of the first things that need to be kept in mind is that an entrepreneur needs to be passionate about what he/she does. When he/she recognizes a need, he needs to want to cater to it.
- Passion and drive are necessary ingredients to entrepreneurship.
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You are a problem expert
- Entrepreneurs are essentially experts on a particular problem.
- They see solutions to problems you might not have even thought of or maybe, you have decided to live with that problem.
- The entrepreneur doesn’t do that, he/she goes out and creates the solution to that problem!
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You have big dreams but they don’t just stay dreams
- Be an entrepreneur if you know you’ve got big dreams and equally big ideas to back them up.
- Entrepreneurs need to be doers, not just people coming up with ideas.
- An entrepreneur must be realistic and come up with innovative that he/she can actually implement and so, bring about some result.
“The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” – Nolan Bushnell
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You are ready for a challenge
- Entrepreneurs have to put in hard work and perseverance for your dream to come to life.
- If you aren’t willing to struggle through long nights and unsuccessful tries, entrepreneurship isn’t for you
- Entrepreneurs need to be hard workers with a ‘Never-Give-Up’ attitude.
- If you think of backing out in the face of a challenge, entrepreneurship isn’t for you.
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You are innovative and enterprising
- Entrepreneurs have to always come up with new and creative ways to deal with problems and challenges that they face.
- They also have to keep being innovative so that their business gets better as it grows.
- When Plan A doesn’t work, they usually have Plan B, C, and D ready at hand.
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You are looking to make a difference
- Successful entrepreneurs look to make tangible changes and actually doing worthwhile things.
- Entrepreneurs are people of vision who want to make it big for the right reasons.
- If you are looking only to make a quick buck, entrepreneurship is not your road.
“Chase the vision, not the money. The money will end up following.” – Tony Hsieh
But then there’s this,
WARNING: None of this comes easy
From the first step onwards, there’s blood, sweat and tears involved in entrepreneurship. You can’t just become a successful entrepreneur. You have to work for it, it begins with baby steps and eventually, you do bigger things. Entrepreneurship also involves great risk. You can fail miserably as an entrepreneur. There is no guarantee that your start-up will actually be successful. Entrepreneurs need to put in the effort so that their ideas materialize.
Entrepreneurship doesn’t guarantee you glamor and money. It only guarantees a life of passion, commitment, fulfillment and innovation. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you had your own start-up that was making a difference somehow? Maybe it’s creating better technology or maybe providing better services. This is because the heart of entrepreneurship isn’t the fame, success or money that comes with it. The heart of entrepreneurship is essentially problem-solving.
Being your own boss is often another big draw towards entrepreneurship. However, it is important to understand that entrepreneurship doesn’t give you a free lease to do as you please. Entrepreneurs work harder than ever and the job never stops. A normal job may go for 8 to 10 hours a day but when you own your business and you assume responsibility for its success, you work 24/7. This is because an entrepreneur needs to be on his / her toes, looking to do his best for his / her startup at all times.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t a part-time job. It isn’t even a full-time job. It’s a lifestyle.” – Carrie Layne, founder and CEO of BestBuzz
Don’t get discouraged though. In the end, what matters is that you try. Entrepreneurs are essentially courageous people who decided to plunge into the deep end and never give up! So, go for it, follow your dreams, start something new and exciting. Be the entrepreneur you always wanted to be.
Pursue excellence, success will only follow!