Author: Victoria
Many people may ask: “what does it take to be an entrepreneur?”….I often ask myself the same question. Is it as easy as saying you must be this, that or the next thing or is it about crossing the bridge when you come to it and being prepared for success or failure none the less…….
Many academics believe entrepreneurs are born not bred, however according to Burns (2005:19) “entrepreneurs are both born and made”. These individuals are born with qualities that can be adapted throughout their lives in terms of family background, culture of the society, life experiences and so on. It is obvious to many that entrepreneurial activity can be encouraged in some countries more than others with France as an example where the culture does not encourage individuals to take risks. Risk taking is something of great importance when one is an entrepreneur.
Burns believes entrepreneurs should have a number of character traits which include:
• Independence – Being able to work as an individual without depending on anyone or anything.
• Achievement goals – Looking at goals in the future and working towards them over a period of time is important as it identifies the will power of the entrepreneur. Achieving one goal means moving onto the nest goal.
• Control – Being able to control yourself, the organisation, stock, inputs/ outputs etc.
• Able to take risks – If you do not take risks you are remaining in the ‘comfort zone’ and not working to the potential of the business which may mean missing out on potential success. It is important to be prepared for the risk at all costs whether that being failure or success.
• Innovative – According to Burns (2005) “the ability to innovate is the second most important distinguishing feature of entrepreneurs”. It is a tool they use to target market opportunities.
• Confident – Confidence can reflect on the organisation and even if there is a small issue, a confident smile can show the worst has not happened.
• High Energy – High energy can also reflect the organisation and the workforce and can portray an image of the company.
• Self- motivated – Knowing when to make changes.
• Sense of vision – Similar to achieving goals.
A series of interviews conducted with distinguished entrepreneurs identified a number of characteristics they felt were essential to success as an entrepreneur. The findings included:
• Good health - Many entrepreneurs refuse to be sick and work extended periods of time when everyone has went home.
• Self – Control – The belief that no one can do the job better than them and refuse someone having authority over them means they have a sense of control over what is to be done and when and preventing procrastination. Being able to work under pressure is important.
• Self – Confidence – It is essential that self confidence is present as doubt can often lead to failure. If you believe you can do something the chances are you can do it. Any doubt in your mind can affect your performance.
• Realism – Speak the truth and change when change is needed.
• Awareness – Being aware of changes and situations means they are prepared in advance. Last minute panic will not do the company any justice.
• Sense of urgency – Constantly acting upon opportunities and ready for the nest step.
• Interpersonal relationships – Avoid personal relationships but focus on their achievement instead of how they feel.
• Emotional stability – The ability to accept pressure and not fall at the first hurdle. A strong individual can mean a strong business.
(BusinessTown.Com 2008)
Points made from Burns and the findings from the study by Business Town appear to relate to each other. So is this all you need to be an entrepreneur or is there other factors which should have been included?
It is evident that entrepreneurship is being promoted more than previously with schools beginning to introduce it to kids as young as 10 years old. Entrepreneurship week has also raised awareness with 52 countries participating.
So if an entrepreneur is born not bred, what is the point in activities like entrepreneurship week etc? Surely that is just teasing individuals into seeing what they cannot have due to their culture or upbringing (which they had no say in).
If, on the other hand, like Burns (2005) says: “entrepreneurs are both born and made”, then the previous statement is ludicrous.
Do you agree with Burns???
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2 comments:
I have found this entry to be particularly interesting as it raised issues that highlight the relevance of courses such the one we are currently taking. There does appear to be a shift away from the view point the entrepreneurs are simply born with the ability to be innovative, hence the emergences of courses such as this.
How someone can be a “born” entrepreneur? It would have to be an instance that the individual has absolutely no control of the situation. The only way this could be the case would be if an individual was born into a privileged family, for example Richard Branson. It is more likely that this type of individual will have access to the funds to act entrepreneurially, but this is by no means the full picture. When you consider corporate entrepreneurship, the individual’s access to funds is less of an issue. Although it must be said that the environment a person is born into is likely to have a significant impact on other characteristics.
It is the characteristics of the entrepreneur that can be “bred” that are most important. We must look at how these characteristics can be shaped to allow for more entrepreneurial behaviour. However it is clear that teaching any of these characteristics can be difficult, but some may prove more troublesome than others. It is quite reasonable to expect to be able to teach people risk management techniques to give them the tools to deal with risk, but how do we teach someone to be more confident? Confidence is more likely to be taught through experience. This characteristic in particular is normally strongly correlated with the environment that an individual is born into. However it can also be said that we do have a degree of control over aspects like confidence and they can be changed.
There are aspects of entrepreneurship that it is easier to teach, such as business and functional management competencies (Heinonen, 2007), but it is the other aspects such as entrepreneurial characteristics that indicate that this is a subject that may require different ways of learning.
Colin
To debate Burns’ opinion about entrepreneurs’ state of mind construction, I think Burn is wrong in the first part of his quotation: “entrepreneurs are both born and made”. Indeed, does an “entrepreneur gene” exist in the human’s DNA? I do not think so. In my opinion entrepreneurs are not born but only made. I mean that the key factor is the education and we can divide up this factor in two points. First of all the parental education, parents give the first opinion about a lot of things to their child and in particular an opinion about entrepreneurship through their jobs and their own view of the subject. Secondly, the school system takes over from parents to develop the taste of entrepreneurship. On this second point I think the school system is being more and more efficient and plays on the entrepreneurship feelings of students. But to my knowledge there are no programmes to explain what an entrepreneur is to the parents. These programmes could change permanently the opinion very common, entrepreneurs are risk takers and parents have to warm their children about entrepreneurship risks. That is why it could be very interesting to analyse effects of a campaign in favour entrepreneurship. I am pretty sure that by taking actions of the sort there will be in the near future generations of entrepreneurs not afraid to set up and create new businesses.
Charles RIOU
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