Tag Archives: entrepreneur

Fullfillment

The other day a former colleague of mine posed an interesting question, ” If you were guaranteed success, as an entrepreneur, what business would you start?”

The purpose of this question is not to identify a personal opportunity that was just feasible, (i.e., something you could)  but rather the thing you want to do.

Bonne Chance

Selecting the road well-traveled may be safer but choosing something you really desire is far more likely to be fulfilling.  There is a good chance you will succeed even if it is only personally satisfying not necessarily financially.

Unfortunately, there is never a guarantee of success, the purpose of this question is to remove the doubt which arises from uncertainty so you can identify a business or other opportunity that really resonates with you.

This is not to say fiscal and feasibility considerations are not really important and should be discounted.  Rather ask yourself what you would do if there were no constraints to help filter out default opportunities (those that are just there).

Because it’s there

I have always felt the rationale for climbing a mountain peak needed to be more than because I could (Although that is some people’s answer).

Results are much more satisfying when motivated by a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.  Choosing a career path or entrepreneurial opportunity simply because you can might pan out, and maybe it won’t.

If you seek entrepreneurship, asking yourself what that looks like without constraint followed by the application of reasonable constraints might result in a decision not to proceed.

In and of itself this would not be a bad thing.  Doing something just for the sake of doing it often just does not pan out.

Ideas, Innovation and Entrepreneurs

What are the qualities of a good entrepreneur?   Is it the entrepreneur or the idea that leads to success?

Just to be sure we are thinking of the same definition, here’s a standard one  from dictionary.com:

“A person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk”

There are many well known and broadly communicated success stories of people who started a business with minimal resources and became huge successes. ( Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, etc.)

What is not as widely publicized are the  details of the failures – that is to say what was tried and how it failed.  Of course from a big picture perspective  the failure rate for entrepreneurial start-ups is pegged around 90% ish (depending on whose study you read)  so the likelihood of succeeding is known to be low and readily available in public media.  However, the stories of what did people try and why did it not work are usually not the topic of books, articles, talk shows, etc.  (I guess general in our culture failure is not celebrated).

Stories about lack of success are the opposite of the success stories, however, both examples can help understand what kind of skills, values and approaches form the underpinning of successfully building a business.  It would also help put some perspective on how much of success was attributed to good ideas and how much to the entrepreneur themselves.

The athlete model

While I don’t have a bunch of data or reference points proving my own view, I still believe the majority of the success lies with the entrepreneur themselves.

Consider successful athletes at the top of their sports.   Those in the top ten are probably equally skilled and capable but the athlete that rises to the very top succeeds through motivation and drive.  They vision the win and then they win.  Of course this is not an absolute philosophy but I wager that on the whole it the most critical success factor – believe in yourself, don’t doubt, don’t question – just proceed.

My favorite summary of this attitude is the simple quote from the Yoda character in the Star Wars film series – “There is no try, just do or do not. ”

Is there a point to this post?

Today’s message is short, brief and pointed – trust in yourself, if you think you can, then you can!