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Are You An Entrepreneur Stuck in an Employee's Body?


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

Anonymous said…
Very well written Sumit... I am regulr at your Duniya... Sent you a friend reqquest

Riya
The JobMan said…
Thnks Riya :) | Keep visitng and sharing sumit ki duniya :)

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