What Type of Entrepreneur are you?
I have been an advocate for entrepreneurship for many years, I believe in the opportunities that entrepreneurship can offer, however I also know that not everyone can be an entrepreneur. I have also come to the realization that there are different types of entrepreneurs, while someone may succeed as an entrepreneur in one field, that person may not do so in another field due to the fact that it may not be his entrepreneurial type. I believe the first thing one needs to do is to determine whether or not they are an entrepreneur or have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.
Many individuals decide to get into entrepreneurship without much preparation. They come from different walks of life and decide to go full steam into becoming an entrepreneur without really taking stock of one self. The fact that you may be able to become an entrepreneur doesn’t mean it is the right time for you.
It is very important for someone to understand their strengths and weaknesses when deciding to become entrepreneurs, it is important to understand that:
· – Proper work ethic and discipline needs to be developed, time needs to be spent working on your business and not slacking
· – Control your spending, in deciding to become an entrepreneur, it’s important to know how and when to spend money.
· – Have a strong urgency of now. You need to understand that things need to be done in order to get your business off the ground and procrastination is the greatest hindrance to entrepreneurial success.
· – Reinventing the wheel is overrated. When deciding to get into entrepreneurship, many individuals try to do something that has never done before. That’s overrated, as an entrepreneur you can look at what already exist and try to make it better, or execute it differently and become successful.
· –Your wellbeing is very important, your health is your wealth, according to Arianna Huffington, wellbeing is the third metric of success, taking care of your body to avoid burnouts that could lead to health problems. Ensure you balance work and play
· – Keep people around that can guide you, having a mentor can be an indispensable part of entrepreneurial success
Many writers may tell you that to become an entrepreneur you need to
1. Be a risk taker
2. Excellent at sales
3. Willing to work 24/7
4. Outgoing
5. You need to have a killer idea
While all this is really nice I do believe that every entrepreneur I know violates at least one of these and many more not listed there. I believe that what aspiring entrepreneurs need to do is take a look at themselves and figure out what type of entrepreneur they can be or need to be. I believe Rhonda Abrams hit the nail on the head when she broke down your entrepreneurial type into 9 categories, once this is understood, we can all have more entrepreneurial success.
A. First there is the Advisor/Counsellor, these are the individuals who gets paid for giving their opinion. They have a great deal of knowledge and experience that people are willing to pay for. It takes time to build credibility here, but it’s worth it
B. There is the Builder/Creator; these people excel at making things, whether it’s a cake or building a house or just painting. It’s for people who have the desire to create stuff.
C. The Caregiver/Maintainer is the person that provides consistent and reliable nurturing to others. Society has a need for maintenance, be it for peoples, plants, animals or things. If that’s you then you can look towards this route for entrepreneurship.
D. This is one of my favorites, the Communicator/Trainer, these individuals are exceptionally good with words, written or verbal and does very well with communicating complex ideas to others. The number of communication channels has increased in recent years and so has the need for communicators and trainers.
E. There is the Entertainer/Host, these people love parties and love to be the life of the party, they thrive on being with people or in front of people, outgoing and enjoy the spotlight. They can command attention and love making others happy.
F. The Investor/Owner is good with numbers, and loves to take calculated risk and have money available to them (or is able to raise the money) to make investments).
G. The Organizer/Administrator is the one that keep things running daily. They excel at managing multiple task, details and deadlines. They are not the star of the show but without them there is no show. They are detail oriented, making sure all details get attended to.
H. The Seller/Broker are true hustlers, everyone needs good sales people. If you can sell then you’ll always be in demand since there are opportunities to sell anything. Sales are great for self-employment.
I. Then there is the Technologist/Engineer, these people designs, makes, sells or service all those technology gadgets that we all need. They liked figuring out computers, cars, engines when they were only kids. If you can do this you can build a business around it.
Once you understand the type of person you are, it becomes easier to fully understand what kind of entrepreneur you can become. Not everyone can become an entrepreneur, some persons are better at working for entrepreneurs and that’s OK. Not everyone can handle the pressures of entrepreneurship, however everyone is capable of becoming an entrepreneur if he so desires. Look out for more articles and videos in this series that will help you launch you into the path of entrepreneurship.