Are You An Entrepreneur?

A few weeks ago Vivienne at Versa Creations asked me (and several other bloggers) whether I thought entrepreneurs were born. Her question was based on The DNA of an Entrepreneur post from George Watson.

So far, Vivienne is getting a good response rate for her question. Replies so far include:

• Robin Bal’s Entrepreneurs: Born or Made. Does it matter? 
• Calvin Warr’s Entrepreneurs are Born? 
• Asgeir Hoem’s Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?
• bokjae’s Entreprenuer - who is this person?
• Priscilla Palmer’s Entrepreneurs are Decided
• Walter Burek’s Copywriter. Freelancer. Entrepreneur?

My opinion on the topic is based on my own experience, since I am in no way an expert on the human psyche.While there’s no doubt that some people have a personality that drives them to risk-taking, I’m not entirely sure that risk-taking and running a successful business are always linked. Almost everyone can think of someone who always has a moneymaking scheme that they are working on. Often, those schemes fail.

Why do they fail? Most often they fail because the person has not done the homework that it would take to make the scheme a true success. Such people, while often thought of as entrepreneurs, are actually just dreamers at best and cons at worst.

What comes to my mind as I ponder Vivienne’s question is some wisdom that I was taught as a child; it doesn’t matter what talent or ability you were born with:  it’s what you do with what you have that counts.

A person could be born with the most beautiful singing voice imaginable, but if they never applied themselves — never sang publicly, never pursued their music, never nurtured their talent — they would die as an unknown singer. On the hand someone could be born with a slightly above average voice, but work for years to build their skill as well as promote themselves. That person might die with a certain degree of notoriety or even become famous.

Obviously, you can’t apply a skill that you don’t have in the first place. For example, I’m tone deaf and a singing career is out of the question for me. But, if you do have some degree of ability, it’s how you use it that counts.

I don’t fit the profile of a typical entrepreneur. I was successful in the corporate world. My reviews were filled with comments like, “excellent team player,” and “Laura is a cornerstone of the documentation department.” (I actually had to pull out some old reviews to find these quotes. It’s been a while.)

Yet, here I am, happily managing my own freelance writing business. What happened?

I might have continued in the corporate world forever except for the fact that I wanted something that the corporate world really didn’t offer. I wanted a completely flexible work schedule so that I could balance my work and family commitments. I wanted the ability to turn assignments down if I needed to focus more on family and the ability to take on extra assignments if I wanted to focus on income.

I’m very conservative about which risks that I take. I only like to take those risks at which I think I have a reasonable chance of succeeding. If I don’t understand what a potential client is asking me to do or think that there’s anything even the slightest “fishy” about a potential project, I turn it down.

My caution flies in the face of what many people consider to be an entrepreneurial personality, but it has served my fledgling business well. While others complain of clients that don’t pay or projects that turn out to be duds, I have received 100% of my receivables and I’ve managed to acquire new skills without getting stuck with a dud project. (I did come close a few times, though.)

As you can probably tell, I don’t exactly buy the notion that someone can’t be an entrepreneur because they didn’t happen to be born with the DNA of An Entrepreneur.

The truth is, successful entrepreneurs work hard and they work smart. I think that if anyone can manage to do both, they have a decent chance of succeeding as an entrepreneur.

Are you entrepreneur? You’ll never know unless you try.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved

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