Owning Your Own Business-do You Have What It Takes?

Can you believe that one in ten adults in the United States today is an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is a well know factor to the economic well-being of a country both in terms of economic growth and job creation. The traditional, entrepreneurial ability used to focus on the following three attributes:

–>What decision to make – the new entrepreneur makes the most basic business policy decisions for the business, with this setting the course of the enterprise.

–>Innovation – the entrepreneur is an innovator, attempting to introduce a new way of doing things and new products.

–>The Risk-taker – the entrepreneur is willing to risks his or her time, effort,business reputation and invested funds in the entrepreneurial venture.

THE MODERN AND NEW ENTREPRENEUR

Until recently, innovation and risk-taking, the above attributes, were the 2 dominating factors that defined the characteristics of those who wanted to become entrepreneurs.

With corporate downsizing being a fact of life and us having no control over it,some entrepreneurs find themselves thrust into the role of owning their own business by default.

For anyone either finding themselves in this position involuntarily or thinking about leaving corporate life for the heady world of entrepreneurship the question is, whether or not you have what it takes to be successful … in other words the “right stuff”. Entrepreneurs are not just “born”, believe it or not. Well, some, of course, seem to be naturally-born but for the rest of us, the qualities can definitely be acquired by hard work and application.

THESE ARE COMMON ISSUES

The “common denominator” questions or issues that most entrepreneurs face are finance, planning and implementation.

=> Choosing a plan

Most entrepreneurs are faced with the challenge of starting a new business, whether its through innovation (inventing something new or doing something a different way), finding the right opportunity to get into, or purchasing a franchise. Whichever road you decide to take, serious planning will be involved.

=> Financing

You will need to prepare funding proposals and applications for loans, venture capital,and funds from angel investors. Unless you have saved money for your investment or have ready funds at your disposal,getting finance is the next major challenge and cannot be attempted until your business plan is in place.

=>>Implementing

This will make or break you. People think that just getting started is the hardest part – and yes that is true. But where some businesses may trip is not in the planning and financing stages but in implementing a business plan. The fact that implementation requires a broad range of skills that no one person can be adept at all of them.

Some of the areas you need to think about in terms of implementation are the same as those encompassed by a broad definition of management: public relations, sales, communications, technology, promotion (marketing and advertising), computer systems, bookkeeping, finance, taxes, and the internet.

A PERSONAL QUALITY

Equally important are the personal qualities of the entrepreneur.

Although it is not necessary that you possess all of them, you should possess most of these characteristics: Here’s a list of character traits and work ethics common to successful entrepreneurs.

=>Real Passion -most entrepreneurs have a strong passion for their idea or concept, and their work is their play. If you don’t like what you do, you won’t stick it out when challenges come along, as they probably will.

=> Professional – entrepreneurs are professional in their approach to work. They operate as they would in a corporate environment and don’t allow themselves to be distracted by outside influences.

=> Some Curiosity – entrepreneurs need to understand how things work. They ask a lot of questions. Curiosity therefore triggers innovation.

=> Sponges – entrepreneurs are sponges. They devour information about their industry and are always current on new and emerging trends and technologies.

=> Optimism – entrepreneurs think of problems as opportunities for improvements and new ideas.

=> Look forward- entrepreneurs are not satisfied with the status quo and are proactively carving out their future.

=> Self responsibility – entrepreneurs will take the initiative and personal responsibility for their success or failure of the business (which is usually a temporary state).

=>Must be Competitive – entrepreneurs are competitive and don’t let any grass grow under their feet.

=> Conscious of Time – entrepreneurs realize the value of time and how to make the best of it. That said, entrepreneurs also recognize the value of downtime and time with family and factor these activities into their schedule

=> Nurture entrepreneurial spirit – entrepreneurs seek out and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in their employees and reward them accordingly.

=> Persistent – entrepreneurs never give up. They persist until they succeed.

=> Resource utilization – entrepreneurs utilize ALL of their available resources.

Have you Looked At The Future of Owning Your Own Business

As you know, increasing numbers of people are choosing to work from home either through telecommuting or running their own home business.While this trend has been attributed to the growth in the number of working women wanting to be home for their children, a lot of people now working from home are men.

But understand what it will demand of you and whether you are prepared to give what it will take . If you have determined entrepreneurship is for you, you can be confident that you are part of the wave of the future.