 |
| We are all self-employed |
Many people equate being self-employed with being an entrepreneur. We suggest that few of us are entrepreneurs, but all are self-employed. To make the distinction, let us explore the requirements of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is generally characterized by innovation, a significant investment, and a strategy that values expansion. The entrepreneur is often quite different in mindset from a manager, who is generally charged with using existing resources to make an existing business run well. The roles of entrepreneur and manager are not necessarily incompatible, but entrepreneurs are seldom patient enough to be good managers.
The mindset of an entrepreneur
It is often instructive to analyze the experiences that have formed our attitudes toward entrepreneurship. A recent study showed that 70% of business startups were by a person who had an entrepreneurial parent.
The checklist for Going into Business leads the prospective entrepreneur through a skills inventory that includes supervisory and managerial experience, business education, knowledge about the specific business of interest, and willingness to acquire the missing necessary skills. A commitment to filling any knowledge or experience gap is a positive indicator of success.
According to the SBA, personal characteristics required include leadership, decisiveness, and competitiveness. Essential factors in unique style include willpower, self-discipline, comfort with the planning process, and working with others. Can you objectively rate yourself in these dimensions?
Peter F. Drucker, the author of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, says that anybody from any organization can learn how to be an entrepreneur, that it is systematic work. But there is a difference between knowing how to be and succeeding as an entrepreneur. "When a person earns a degree in physics, he becomes a physicist," says Morton Kamien, a professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern University. "But if you were to earn a degree in entrepreneurship, that wouldn't make you an entrepreneur."
We are all self-employed
People commonly go into business are freedom from a work routine; being your boss; doing what you want when you want; boredom with the current job, financial desires, and; perceived opportunity. Which of these might be sufficient to get you to take the risk?
Several yardsticks have been proposed for measuring whether a person is a likely candidate to be a successful entrepreneur, the real challenge is inaccurately applying them to ourselves.
We are all self-employed; even as employees of a firm, we are still primarily personal career managers. Trends toward downsizing and outsourcing will almost certainly lead to smaller companies utilizing networks of specialists. Fortune magazine suggests that Almost everyone, up through the highest ranks of professionals, will feel increased pressure to specialize, or at least to package themself as a marketable portfolio of skills.
How marketable is your portfolio of skills? Many think they have several years of experience when they have one year of experience several times. Are you continuing to learn and keeping up with developments in your field? The best approach to preparing for an entrepreneurial career is often to find some aspect of your area in which you can become an expert.
Photo: https://pixabay.com
