Entrepreneur can be described as a person who has possession over an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur) In common understanding it is taken as describing a dynamic personality and someone who attempts to organize resources in new and more valuable ways and once more, completely accepts full responsibility for the outcome. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/entrepreneur).
Now I have 2 basic questions:-
- Are you really an entrepreneur?
- Is it the true definition of an entrepreneur?
No, I'm not trying to find answers. I am sure 90% of my readers are entrepreneurs (or are already on the way to become one). But the bigger question is :-
- What makes you an entrepreneur?
Money? A business? An idea? A cruel but real answer will be NO, none of these can make you an entrepreneur. Here's why:-
- Money - Gamblers, mafia have money, tons of cash. But they aren't entrepreneurs.
- A Business - Your father had a business, he will pass it on to you. That doesn't make you an entrepreneur, does it?
- An Idea - Well, everyone has one. And for everyone, his/her idea is the greatest one ever came to anyone's mind. You get the idea.
Much academic research has been conducted to define the characteristics of an entrepreneur. Like an animal in the zoo they have been studied at length by economists, anthropologists, management academics, psychologists, sociologists, historians, finance experts and organisational scholars.
Who are these creatures? Why do these persistent people never know when to give up? What drives them to take risks that ordinary folk find overwhelming? Where do they get that energy? How do they create value from nothing and most importantly … what are the characteristics that define them as an entrepreneur.
We, at Startup School, help hundreds of innovators refine their entrepreneural skills. They learn the very basics of entrepreneurship and teach them to others. We believe that the most common characteristic among all the entrepreneurs is the reluctance to give up. We help them build businesses, realize the extent of their full potential and nurture it. In short, we help you know why you are an entrepreneur and what makes you one!
If you have the answers, we are waiting for you to guide hundreds of young minds to the path of success. And if you are one of them, there is plenty of stuff going on, at any moment, which can answer whatever you always wanted to know. Here is a big society of elite entrepreneurs waiting for you.
Welcome to Startup School.
Arun Pattnaik
Supercool School Evangelist, INDIA
