Welcome to planet entrepreneurship! A world of its own wherein people live the dreams of owning and operating their own business and solving some of society’s most vexing problems.
Worldwide, one in eight adults is actively engaged in launching a business. Controlling their destinies by building their own businesses.
An inhabitant of planet entrepreneurship is known as an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneur is one who creates a new business in the scaring face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of achieving profit and growth by identifying significant opportunities and assembling the necessary resources to capitalize on them.
They are more than just business starters but agents of change in our societies. Entrepreneurs see potential where most people see only problems or nothing at all. There are four distinct classes of entrepreneurs;
- Opportunity Entrepreneurs; those who start businesses because of an opportunity in the market place.
- Necessity Entrepreneurs; those who start businesses because they cannot find work by any other way.
- Serial entrepreneurs; those who repeatedly start businesses and grow them to a sustainable size before striking out again.
- Social Entrepreneurs; those who start businesses so that they can create innovative solutions to society’s most vexing problems.
And the top three qualities of all entrepreneurs in order of importance are:
- Vison
- Passion
- Drive
The good news is you are not born into planet entrepreneurship; you work your way into it.
Anyone can be an entrepreneur; it is not a mystery but a practical discipline; it is a skill that most people can learn.
The planet seems as glorious as El Dorado and it offers a lot of opportunities. Anyone planning on embarking on the trip through entrepreneurship should have knowledge about all of these opportunities. So brace up as we walk through these opportunities:
- Opportunity to create your own destiny; entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurs the independence and the opportunity to achieve what is important to them. Entrepreneurs love to “call the shots” in their lives and they use their businesses to make that desire a reality.
- Opportunity to make a difference especially in causes that are important to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship provides an opportunity not only for the application of skills to create business ventures but also to achieve social and environmental goals for society as a whole.
- Opportunity to reach your full potential; entrepreneurial businesses are instruments for self-expression and self-actualization. The only boundaries in entrepreneurship are those imposed by the creativity, enthusiasm and vison of the entrepreneurs. It renders a sense of empowerment.
- Opportunity to reap impressive profits; the profits entrepreneurial businesses earn are an important motivating factor in the decision to launch a company. Entrepreneurs are free to create value by making use of their experiences, skills and ideas and as a result, reap the financial benefits of their creative efforts.
- Opportunity to contribute to society and be recognized for your efforts; entrepreneurs play a vital role in their business systems knowing their work has significant impact on the nation’s economy. They are among the most respected and most trusted members of their communities.
- Opportunity to have fun doing what you love; most successful entrepreneurs choose to enter the particular business fields they are in because they have an interest in them and the enjoy them. They have made their avocations (hobbies) their vocations (work) and are glad they did!
- Opportunity to operate with uncertainty of income; there is no guarantee the entrepreneur will earn enough money to survive. At some points, the business cannot provide generate enough finances to meet up all financial obligations.
- Opportunity to loose entire investment; business failure can lead to financial ruin for an entrepreneur and the arte of financial ruin among small businesses is relatively high.
- Opportunity to work hard and for long hours; entrepreneurial business start-ups usually demand long hours and hard work from the entrepreneurs. The demands of entrepreneurship make achieving a work-life-balance difficult for entrepreneurs.
- Opportunity to live a lower standard of life until the business gets established; the blood, sweat and tears invested in starting up a business can negatively affect the entrepreneur’s life. Family and relationships are sacrifice on the altar of visions.
- Opportunity to experience high levels of stress; failure or even the fear of failure of the business can create intense levels of stress and anxiety. Paying debts and growing the business are very good at generating stress.
- Opportunity to take complete responsibility; entrepreneurs are faced with making decisions about which they are not knowledgeable and in the absence of advisors, the pressure builds up pretty well.
- Opportunity to encounter maximum discouragement; being an entrepreneur subjects you to being ridiculed at for your “weird ideas”. Entrepreneurs require a great measure of dedication, discipline and tenacity for they would encounter difficulties, discouragements and disillusions among others.
Reference: Essentials of entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, 8/E
From above, it is but obvious that entrepreneurship is the planet of opportunities and your success greatly depends on your attitude towards these opportunities. With all the opportunities and factors boosting entrepreneurship, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be part of the trip to and through planet entrepreneurship.
Stay tuned for the next post which would be looking into how entrepreneurs and aspirants can face their greatest business fear which is the fear of becoming another failure statistic. And don’t forget to share this post with your network, for sharing is caring.
MAJOR KEY ALERT
Grab the basics of entrepreneurship and personal development from the upcoming blockbuster thriller of a book. Keep the anticipation high for the release of Ajebo on September 11th by your very own Momo Bertrand.
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