Right then, did you
ever try to find out if you are an entrepreneur or a good employee (or may be
just another tom, dick or harry in your company)? Did the thought of analyzing
your self on some of the personality traits you may display at work and off it cross
your mind off late? Did you ever feel that you are an "Entrepreneur Stuck
in an Employee's Body" but could never confidently say this to your peers
(or even to yourself)? Well - let us spend the next 30 odd minutes in reading
this article (with inputs from www.entrepreneur.com) and then infer if there is
an entrepreneur waiting to be unleashed within ourselves.
Entrepreneur, as many of us who are at the middle or senior levels of
their professional careers like to address themselves as, are a breed that is
unfazed by failures and enjoy what they are doing. Problems for them are
mere roadblocks, which they like - as this gives them another opportunity to
learn. An entrepreneur is
an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and
initiativeThe term was originally
a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard
Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to
help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the
outcome. Jean-Baptiste
Say, a French economist, is
believed to have coined the word "entrepreneur" in the 19th century -
he defined an entrepreneur as "one who undertakes an enterprise,
especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital
and labor" A
broader definition by Say: "The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out
of lower and into higher productivity and greater yield.
But wait a minute,
all this is actually the theoretical jazz behind the "controversial"
word - Entrepreneur (I said controversial because I have seen many people
calling them Entrepreneur, just because they like the word or may be just for
the heck of it). Does this give "Gyaan" make any sense to me if I
cannot make out from this whether I am an Entrepreneur or not? Well for me it
was a no-brainer and the answer was "NO". Then how can I look at
myself and come to a conclusion? Let's talk about it a little:
- An entrepreneur
is generally the most uneasy person in his seat: He does not want to settle
down with what he has and what he is asked to do. He constantly believes there
is more to it than what is being done. According to an Entrepreneur, if you
stop improvising, you start losing.
- An entrepreneur
is generally the best planner around. Even if the people around him are not
sure of what he is up to, at least the entrepreneur will be sure
of where his plans will take him. They have the tendency to draw a virtual road
map out of every situation.
- An entrepreneur
knows the value of money! He understands that both income and expenses must be
managed in the most cost effective manner, however he will not necessarily a
"tight fisted" individual and would not mind
spending wherever required - Only if he has planned for it in advance
- An
entrepreneur will urge people to buy his product / solution. All the research,
hard work in developing a product or solution will go for naught if there is no
one to buy it. At times the greatest of the products also need a push to the
buyers. A strong sense of marketing is something he will display at all times
- An entrepreneurs
certainly knows that at the end of the story if there is no one buying his
product / solution, then there is nothing for him and his business, hence for
him - "The customer is everything"
- Entrepreneurs
like and enjoy what they do. He would generally be happy about what he has done
throughout the day, but will never be obnoxious.
- An entrepreneur
will depend on his core team, but at all times keep an "eagle eye" on
what is happening in and around the business. Needless to mention, a strong
accumen in other areas of business (apart from sales and marketing) is
something that is displayed by most of the successful entrepreneurs
- An entrepreneur
invests in himself and his development as well. He makes all the possible
efforts to flex his mental muscles at all times. This may happen by reading
books, magazines, journals or may be networking. Top entrepreneurs attend
business and marketing seminars, workshops and training courses, even if they
have already mastered the subject matter of the event. They do this because
they know that education is an ongoing process. There are usually ways to do
things better, in less time, with less effort. In short, top entrepreneurs
never stop investing in the most powerful, effective and best business and
marketing tool at their immediate disposal--themselves.
- An entrepreneur
wants to be know as a specialist! Mr. Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of Teamlease
Group is trying to build India's biggest Education - Employability - Employment
chain and he is doing this with the help of his core team and a lot of PR
activities with the leading Newspapers and Magazines. These activities, give
you more mileage in the market.
- An entrepreneur
is generally quite accessible for his core team. He knows the value
of communication and hence is pretty much available at the other end of the
communication line. You won't see him shying away from issues
- An
entrepreneur is a master in the art of "Negotiations". The
ability to negotiate effectively is
unquestionably a skill that every entrepreneur must make every effort to
master. It's perhaps second in importance only to asking for the sale in terms
of home business musts. In business, negotiation skills are used daily. Always
remember that mastering the art of negotiation means that your skills are so
finely tuned that you can always orchestrate a win-win situation. These win-win
arrangements mean that everyone involved feels they have won, which is really
the basis for building long-term and profitable business relationships.
- An entrepreneur
is one of the most organized professionals around. Not only does he manage his
work station and email boxes well - he has it in him to slot stuff into various
categories and execute them in order. Someone who misses deadlines regularly or
is followed up by co-workers is not necessarily the best contender to be called
an "Entrepreneur"
- An entrepreneur
generally keeps an eye on the happenings of the company, but limits the number
of hats that he will wear. He will be a good supervisor, but cannot obviously
start giving hands on contributions to all the areas. He must think about all
the aspects of the business, but taking up everything on himself is certainly
not going to do wonders to his productivity.
These just a few
traits which I look at when I think of an Entrepreneurs. Though I strongly
believe that Entrepreneurs are "Born" and not "Made" - But
people may differ and as they say in our company, "Conflicts are Welcome"
Just a small effort
to pen down whatever small little I feel about this vast subject of
Entrepreneurship. Hope you liked it :). Your comments, likes, dislikes,
opinions on this post would be helpful. In case you want to say something to me
in person, then shout back at my email saxenasumit56@yahoo.in or BBM me on
274A9A45. Would be great to have you hit the "like" button on Sumit
Ki Duniya's facebook page
Stay tuned for the
next post and till then, keep that frown "upside down"
Cheers
Sumit
Comments
Riya