Anyone Can Be a Successful Entrepreneur - Essay Example

Anyone can be a successful entrepreneur Introduction In the modern world, entrepreneurship has become the most common job choice for many people. Given the rewards and challenges running a personal business, it is important to consider various characteristics of an entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur should be goal-oriented, hardworking, initiative, self-confident and persistent in his/her actions. Other than the personal traits, anyone can become a successful entrepreneur if he/she is good at making decisions, ready to take risks and learn from failure. Time consciousness is another important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. Heeding the lessons learnt from failure is one of the famous quotes of Bill Gates, who is the owner of Microsoft Corporation. Mack Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook quotes that the biggest risk is not taking risks. It seems that anyone can become a prosperous entrepreneur if he/she acquires characteristics, which are consistent with the traits of the already successful business people. Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur There is a great likelihood that those people who set realistic goals may succeed in business. The goals set should also be challenging, but, can be attained after some time. People willing to become prosperous in business ought to be goal oriented in that they monitor the progress of work and assess whether the set objectives and goals are achieved or not. The assessments should be carried out over specific periods where progress in business operations is evaluated continually. Although, money is used to measure the performance of a business, successful entrepreneurs tend to achieve the set goals first before even determining the profits (Weidinger, Fischler and Schmidpeter 2013, p. 154). Completing the tasks enables the businesspersons to evaluate the financial performance, for example, after a fiscal period of one year. Hard work is another important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. Thus, people should be ready to be committed to their jobs, working for long hours so as to achieve success. The hardworking people should be aimed at achieving high levels of financial performance without destroying the environment or compromising with people’s health. Although people may hate the materialistic approach to life that is usually adopted by capitalists, in business one ought to work hard to achieve success. Anyone can become an entrepreneur if he/she becomes committed to his/her job and almost making it a hobby. Benjamin Franklin is a famous American writer who wrote several business quotes to guide people in their work (Baron 2012, p. 345). He claims that waking up early and sleeping early makes one healthy wealthy and wise. Thus, anyone should be ready to conform to such requirements relating to hard work in order to succeed in business. Being initiative and imaginative will enable anyone to excel in his company operations and make profits. One should be ready to seek personal responsibilities and engage in activities whereby failure or success is expected. Taking the initiative to fill the leadership vacuums will enable the measurement of your impact on an existing problem. In other words, one should assess his/her capabilities by taking risks. Additionally, successful entrepreneurs are ever creative, imaginative and innovative in their businesses (Gasparski, Ryan and Kwiatkoski 2010, p. 45). For example, Steve Jobs, who is the CEO of Apple Inc. quotes, “let no one inhibit your abilities, be creative and innovative.” Thus, one should be aggressive in implementing ideas that have not been previously applied to achieve success. The combination of initiative and imaginative traits will enable one to approach problems and solve them effectively and thus remain in business. Self-confidence is the ability to belief in one’s abilities in doing things. People should be confident in their actions and believe that their abilities can achieve success. The knowledge, skills and other capabilities should enable one to be more aggressive in implementing ideas setting challenging goals and working on them. Anyone can become successful in business if he/she is ready to spare no energy or resources in achieving the goals and objectives of the business (Headd and Kirchoff 2009, p. 540). Being independent should also be the guiding principle in business. One should not wait for others to work for him or her. When one is independent, he/she becomes self-disciplined in that he/she can conduct the business operations without supervision. One requires such traits even before venturing into the online business, selling grocery products or starting an IT firm. Risk taking is essential to entrepreneurial success for both new and existing entrepreneurs. People should be ready to venture into businesses in which they are not sure of the returns on investment. However, one should ready to take calculated or moderate risks, which have the corresponding financial loss in the event of risk occurrence (Westhead and Wright 2013, p. 90). These risks are often unforeseen, for example, financial crisis, fire or theft. In addition, the risks pose challenges and leave little chances of success of the entire business. As stated earlier, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook believes that the biggest risk is when one decides to take no risks. In this sense, Zuckerberg finds that one should be ready to take risk without the fear of failure. Starting a new business usually involves taking risks and the progress in the operations also requires risk-taking and hence the risk-taking aspect is unavoidable to all entrepreneurs. Time consciousness is another important characteristic of a successful entrepreneur. In business, time should be utilised efficiently so as to achieve the set goals and objectives. Time should be measured in man-hours to ensure tasks are executed to the fullest. In this way, long-term goals can be achieved gradually. Entrepreneurs should implement strategies and policies as quickly as possible because this may mean failure or success in business. Another aspect related to time in business is the long-term involvement of an entrepreneur into projects. Anyone willing to venture into business should be ready towards distant goals, which range from five to seven years. It, therefore, means that people should dedicate their time and energy to business as they try to achieve both short-term and long-term goals (Headd and Kirchoff 2009, p. 542). Being patient and persistent is very important when one wants to succeed in business. Entrepreneurs should have the courage to face challenges commonly associated with starting a business. Examples of business challenges may include inadequate capital, poor infrastructures, and unreliable sources of raw material (Jayawarna, Rouse and Kitching 2013, p. 39). One should not easily give up in business because challenges will always emerge even in the future. For instance, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com and Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. have faced challenges since they started their businesses. They didn’t give up and, today; they have achieved great success. Therefore, anyone can become prosperous by using different approaches in facing the business challenges, for example, seeking funds from established entrepreneurs in times of a financial crisis. Meeting challenges when starting a business prepares one for more complex issues likely to affect the business in the future. Anyone willing to start to start a business should have decision-making and problem-solving skills. Good decision-making skills enable one to make decisions promptly when a situation or problem occurs. Solving problems involves taking the necessary actions when a problem occurs in everyday operations. These skills are essential especially when one wants to become the chief executive officer (CEO) of a company. One should have that courage to make decisions fast and solve problems as soon as they occur. The aspects of decision-making and problem-solving can be linked to other traits such as being persistent self-confident. One should be determined to solve issues until certain tasks are completed. Additionally, he/she should make decisions confidently even when the problem arises again in future (Keupp and Gassman 2009, p. 611). Learning from failure is crucial as far as entrepreneurial success is concerned. Anyone willing to start a company should be ready for certain problems to occur. In addition, they should learn from failures to avoid repeating similar mistakes in the future (Kumar 2008, p. 221). For example, Bill Gates of Microsoft Corporation believes that heeding the lessons from failure is the most important thing even when celebrating success. For example, companies may yield high profits in a financial, but, indicate a sharp drop in the profit margins. The profit margins are key indicators of financial performance and hence business people ought to maintain or increase them as the business operations go on. In most businesses around the world, managers tend to ignore certain issues when they achieve success. These minute issues end up causing financial losses in the future. Fraud is a good example that may lead to the collapse of businesses. Using criticisms to inform the decision-making process can enhance the performance of a business. In addition, when entrepreneurs critically consider criticisms, they can as well invent new technologies, products or management systems (Kuratiko 2014, p. 342). Thus, anyone willing to start a company should be open-minded to critic reviews. In this way, they can identify certain issues often previously unknown and address them effectively. For example, in the electronics, software and e-commerce industries, there are many criticisms, which impair or enhance the performance of certain companies. That is why Jeff Bezos of the Amazon.com argues that if one fears to be criticized; one should not then invent something new for the sake of goodness. It, therefore, means that one should be ready for criticisms, which would then inform decision making in certain business aspects. Anyone can become a successful entrepreneur if he/she uses resources effectively. Common resources for a business may include money, labour and time (Minniti et al. 2007, p. 140). Financial management is essential to ensure the business operations do not consume a lot of money. One should prepare cost estimates for the business and prepare budget plans for each aspect of the business, for example, the money allocated to inventory, land and buildings, fixed assets, and more. Human resource management involves selection, placement, staffing and compensation of employees among other issues. It is advisable for new entrepreneurs to incorporate employee management issues as they formulate business plans and strategies. Time management would involve conducting the business activities within the allocated time, which could be in man-hours. In summary, the idea is making good use of the available resources for the effectiveness of business operations. Conclusion Entrepreneurial success is determined by the character traits of the entrepreneur during the start and running of a business. Anyone can succeed in business if he is a risk taker, goal-oriented, hardworking, and self-confident. Additionally, an entrepreneur ought to have good decision-making and problem-solving skills and be time conscious. One can as well emulate the established entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, among others. It seems that entrepreneurship associated with rewards (profits and interest), as well as challenges and problems. Therefore, a new entrepreneur should be ready to meet some challenges in his/her journey towards achieving the set goals and objectives. Based on the discussion, entrepreneurs should also be ready to manage the dynamisms associated with running a business. References List Baron R A 2012, Entrepreneurship an evidence-based guide, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar. Gasparski W, Ryan L V & Kwiatkoski S M 2010, Entrepreneurship: values and responsibility, New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers. Headd B and Kirchoff B 2009, The growth, decline and survival of small businesses: an exploratory study of life cycles, Journal of Small Business Management 47 (4), 531-550. Jayawarna D, Rouse J and Kitching J 2013, Entrepreneur motivations and life course, International Small Business Journal 31 (1), 34-57. Keupp M M and Gassman O 2009, The past and future of international entrepreneurship: A review and suggestions for developing the field, Journal of Management 35 (3), 600-633. Kumar S A 2008, Small business and entrepreneurship, New Delhi, I.K. International Pub. House. Kuratiko D F 2014, Entrepreneurship: theory, process, practice, Mason, Ohio, South-Western Cengage learning. Minniti M, Zacharakis A, Spinelli S Rice M P & Habbershon T G 2007, Entrepreneurship: the engine of growth, Westport, Conn, Praeger. Weidinger C, Fischler F & Schmidpeter R 2013, Sustainable entrepreneurship: business success through sustainability, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Westhead P & Wright M 2013, Entrepreneurship: a very short introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Read More