The seed of entrepreneurship is in all of us, as it is planted by nature in the process of human evolution. However, it needs to be jolted to life and all of us should be aware of the traits of an entrepreneur.
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It is understandable to want to build a businesses while you are still working for others. After all, logic states that doing it this way will ensure a constant income while you try your hand at entrepreneurship.
Some will succeed and those who do, will indeed have found a less painful way of starting their businesses. But many, like me, will not. The fact of the matter is that you are not hungry enough while you still draw a monthly salary from elsewhere.
After all, if the business fails, there is still your income that you can depend on. It is this safety net that results in many of us not putting all our effort into the business. Many new businesses built on the sideline are doomed from the first day of inception.
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Passion to an entrepreneur means getting up at 6am every morning, thinking of nothing but how to make his business better than it was yesterday. This desire to constantly improve and reinvent his business drives the passion. When he eats, he is thinking about it. When he talks, half his brain is still thinking about the business.
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I hold fast to my belief that one has to make his own luck and there is no other way of doing so but by working hard until that lucky day comes. An entrepreneur has a steadfast belief in himself and his company regardless of what everyone else thinks. This attitude is often mistaken for misplaced optimism. It is not. It is a never say die attitude in the belief that hard work can produce miracles even in the darkest hours.
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Entrepreneurs must like people. They must like talking with people, mixing around and taking all opportunities to know their customers well. An entrepreneur knows that if he excels in his service level to his customers, they will more likely buy his products or services. His interest in people and his ability to handle them is one of the hallmarks of the entrepreneur.
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There is a difference between knowing people and keeping a contact list. Knowing people means spending quality time with them and this includes wining, dining and bringing the families together. As time is spent getting to know the person better, knowing people has to be done selectively. If one knows someone well, he should be able to pick up the phone and call that person in the event he needs advice or help.
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Entrepreneurs must know their business so well that they can predict with uncanny accuracy what is likely to happen in the industry that they serve. They can then position their companies to take advantage of the opportunities that will emerge. If they are right in their judgment, entrepreneurial companies can leap over their competitors even though their competitors may have more resources and are much larger in size.
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How a child is brought up may be as important as genes in shaping an entrepreneur. If the child has to compete for love and attention at an early age, he is more likely to accept that competition is a fact of life and he has to do the best he can to address it. His brothers and sisters, who may not have to compete as much, may have to learn this lesson much later in life. As such, the child who has less may eventually turn out to be better prepared for real life than the child who has more. The child who has less is more likely to be entrepreneurial.
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When I was a doctor, I spent quite a bit of time talking with the elderly and the one common message that they all told me was that we all have only one life. Live your life the way you want it. When you are old, it is too late to regret that you have not lived the life you wanted. Hence, go with your heart and do what you feel that you will be most happy doing. Live with no regrets.
