The quality of entrepreneurship.
Every business starts out as fantasy, an idea a notion. Indeed in any pub on any street on any night seated on a stool you will find the resident entrepreneur talking the theory of his latest business fantasy.
The difference between that entrepreneur and the one running a real business amounts to 3 things
- A willingness to take a calculated risk
- That implies a willingness to do the calculations too
- An ability whether natural or leaned to follow through on the fantasy and make it a reality
- A driving desire to succeed
The three of these are key characteristics of a true entrepreneur they are not the only ones but they do have something that threads them together which I will speak of later
- A calculated risk is nevertheless a risk and it takes persistence and courage and attention to detail to make the assessment and Follow through. It takes even more courage when the numbers don’t add up to not fool yourself and make the right decision and decline the’ opportunity’. That ability to be ruled by logic rather than the passion that underlies us all as even potential business owners, That sense of being cool in the heat of the moment or under pressure is the mark of a true entrepreneur
- To Follow through and Finish is the difference between a good business and a great one. Nailing down the opportunities that present themselves and turning them into real business that refers or repeats is the spine of success. Many small businesses fail to do this and so unknowingly turn away what could be life changing opportunities. They sabotage their own success through inaction and procrastination, missing out on that pivotal moment of change which leaves them with hat thy always had for want of that one change. The exploitation of opportunity to its greatest benefit is entrepreneurship personified
- The desire, motivation, energy to succeed – however you define success – is at the core of the entrepreneur. The willingness to pay the price whatever it is (once it fits into the risk management plan) to achieve the goal is in my opinion the thing that differentiates the entrepreneur from all other people. The grit that counts the cost and pays the price willingly, whether that price is physical, emotional or financial is visible in just a few exceptional human beings. I believe it is present in abundance but it is strangled out of so many by our societal norm of a job.
I have noticed that most entrepreneurs do not measure their success in money but usually in something far less tangible. The difference: They acknowledge just how important the money is in paying for that quality of life but the money is a tool rather than an end in itself.
In what currency do you measure success?
I promised to identify what I think threads these three characteristics together. It is courage. Courage to be different, courage to stand out in a crowd, courage to say yes or no, in the face of scary resistance. Courage is not something that pretends that we do not experience doubt, fear or isolation, for example, but rather just refuses to be overpowered or defeated by these negative emotions.
And the second word in the title today – Fantastic – I think that the courage to change the world one sale, one conversation, one encouraging word at a time is what makes the entrepreneurs I meet Fantastic people. Thanks to every one of you fantastic people for making this a great country to live in and do business in.