The Entrepreneur's Information - Charting the Path to Small Business Success - Essay Example

Entrepreneurial Characteristics Introduction 20 percent of the total population accounts for 80 percent of the total money that is earned through outthe world. Majority of this population are a special breed of people known as “entrepreneurs”. Even though there are many who aspire to become successful entrepreneurs there are only a few who go on to be successful in their respective ventures. Entrepreneurs are not offered favorable conditions or easy ways to success. In most cases, they succeed irrespective of the great setbacks and unfavorable conditions. This makes them stand out from the rest of the crowd. Entrepreneurs are very important as they contribute to the development of the society. One of their main contributions to the society is the generation of jobs apart form the various products and services that they offer. The marginal success rate of entrepreneurs raises various important questions – What do entrepreneurs have or do that makes them stand from rest of the crowd? Why only a very few succeed in being successful entrepreneurs? Do entrepreneurs have special personal characteristics or attributes that result in their success? This essay is aimed at answering these questions. The essay discusses the various attributes, behaviors and skills associated with the entrepreneur that is discussed in the literature. Various authors and researchers have tried to answer this question. This paper relies on their works to answer the questions raised above. Characteristics of an Entrepreneur Various authors and researchers have identified or argued about the characteristics of an entrepreneur. It is now a known fact that entrepreneurs have special characteristics that makes them successful in their ventures. Bygrave (2003) in his article states that it is the environment and personal attributes that shape the entrepreneurial traits in a person. Richard Branson in his acclaimed books repeatedly mentions that his success as an entrepreneur is due to his personal characters and attitude that he developed due to the challenging environment that his mother created in his early years (Branson, 2008). Richard Branson mentions various instances where he is mother created situations and made little Richard realize about the hard truths in life. Bygarve (2003) identifies 10 D’s or 10 personal attributes that can be found in entrepreneurs. Various authors have different takes on the entrepreneurial characters, but most of the characteristics collide with each other. Following are the various entrepreneurial traits identified by various scholars in the literature: Dream: Dream is nothing but the vision. Entrepreneurs have vision for themselves and for their business. They know what the future of their company is and more importantly they have the ability to make their dreams come true. Vision is the most important as this is what drives the entrepreneurs to put the in the efforts to day in and day out realize it. Entrepreneurs have a strong desire to achieve or realize their dreams. The need to achieve is one the primary personal traits that distinguishes entrepreneurs from others (Mohanty, 2005). Entrepreneurs do not settle for anything less, winning is achieving. Entrepreneurs live by the rule that “you are not remembered for aiming at the target but you are remembered for hitting the target”. Self Esteem/Self Confidence: Self esteem and self confidence is what stands out in entrepreneurs. They are supremely confidence in their abilities in accomplishing the tasks that have set out to achieve. They do not let others to affect their enthusiasm or will to achieve the task on hand irrespective of the external situations (McDaniel, 2002). Risk Bearing: This is very important for an entrepreneur. Most people fail to realize their full potential because they are not ready to step out of their comfort zone, while entrepreneurs on the other hand are always willing to take risk (Mohanty, 2005). They are ready to take decisions in uncertain conditions but the point to be highlighted here is that they never gamble with results. Entrepreneurs are capable of calculating the risk associated with a decision and they take risks only when they know that they have a chance to win. Richard Branson stresses this point in his book by giving the example of his reality show in which the winner declined to take a chance with the lucky dip prize. Branson stresses that if the participant had to not decide to decline it, he would have lost respect for him. This is because the participant had no control over surprise lucky gift (Branson, 2008). Hence, it not just the ability to take risk but the ability to take calculated risks where they have a chance of winning (Mohanty, 2005). Determination and Persistence: Entrepreneurs have unshakable determination and persistence. They continue to put in the effort that is required to accomplish the task on hand. They are able to solely focus on the task they want to accomplish without being affected by any outside factors. Also entrepreneurs have a never dying spirit. They persist and never give up until the task is accomplished ((McDaniel, 2002). Locus of Control: Locus of control theory by Rotteris states that the outcome of an event is previewed by an individual as either in his/her control or absolutely out of his/her control. Entrepreneurs are strong believers of their own ability to shape their own destiny. They are not bogged down by external factors. They believe that they are the ones who influence the environment and factors around them and not the other way round (Mohanty, 2005). Curiosity: Curiosity is an important attribute as it leads to creativity and innovativeness. Entrepreneurs are curious about everything around them. It is this curiosity that makes them question the things around and then come up with innovative and creative ideas. It is this curiosity that triggers innovation. It is through curiosity that they turn every obstacle into their advantage (Awe, 2006). Devotion: Entrepreneurs are not bogged down by pressure to do anything. They only do what they love. It is this devotion in what they do that makes them do go that extra mile to achieve their goals (Bygarve (2003). Interpersonal Skills: Entrepreneurs are very good with people. They are always at ease while communicating with people from different walks of life. They are not just effective in their interpersonal skills; they also have the ability to influence the people around them. They are able to inspire people to believe in what they do and to work for their visions. Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy: Self efficacy is the belief of an individual to influence the events in his/her life and act in a certain manner which is distinct from others in order to achieve certain goals. There are various external factors that contribute to the entrepreneurial self efficacious behavior of an individual. Again Richard Branson’s childhood is a great example of entrepreneurial self efficacious behavior can be developed. But the most important thing is that entrepreneurs are always capable of extracting the positive and the best out of the environment. As mentioned above, they always believe in their ability to influence the surroundings and events, and not the other way round (Carsrud & Brannback, 2009). Reflection on Personal Characteristics I had a first hand experience of entrepreneurship while working on the market challenge where in we had to open a stall in Cambridge market. It is very important to have most of the entrepreneurial skills mentioned above in my range of skills to be successful in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial skills, mentioned above all play a vital role and hence have to be found among the range of other skills of an individual wanting to be an entrepreneur. It would not be possible for anybody to be a successful entrepreneur in the absence of the above mentioned entrepreneurial skills. Engaging in the market challenge has helped me in understanding the need of these entrepreneurial characteristics. The market challenge demanded us to be innovative in our approach and also made realize the need for right decision making. We had to consider the various factors before finalizing on the final product. Calculated risk taking was another important aspect of market challenge. Apart from these self confidence, determination, persistence, vision were all important in the process. Hence, the market challenge was of great assistance in understanding the practical importance of the entrepreneurial characteristics discussed in academic literature. Conclusion The essay has successfully discussed and analyzed the various entrepreneurial characteristics that are identified in the academic literature by various authors and experts in the filed. The various entrepreneurial characteristics that are identified in the academic literature are dream (vision), self confidence, self esteem, determination, persistence, risk bearing, interpersonal skills, etc. The essay also has discussed theories such as Rotteris theory or locus of control and entrepreneurial self efficacy theory. It is concluded with my personal reflection on the market challenge and entrepreneurial characteristics. References Awe, S. C. (2006). The entrepreneurs information sourcebook: charting the path to small business success. CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Branson, R. (2008). Screw It, Lets Do It. London: Virgin Books Bygrave, W. D. (2003). The Entrepreneurial Process. [Online]. Available at: http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/43/04712715/0471271543.pdf. Accessed on 30th Dec, 2010. Carsrud, A. L. & Brannback, M. (2009). Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mind: Opening the Black Box. NY: Springer McDaniel, B.A. (2002). Entrepreneurship and innovation: an economic approach. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Mohanty, S.K. (2005). Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship. New Delhi: Prentice Hall. Read More