An Entrepreneur's Mindset
Posted On Monday, July 13, 2009 at by Sun JunWhat sets apart a business owner from an employee? A lot has been written about what personalities and traits make up a good entrepreneur. On the first session of my Development of Enterprise class, that was exactly what was discussed by our professor. Coming from someone who is not only a business start up consultant but someone who actually started and managed a lot of businesses himself, I found some of his insights really interesting. Here are what he thinks encompasses an entrepreneur's mindset.
An Entrepreneur's Mindset
1. Ask
An entrepreneur knows how to ask. He is not ashamed to ask people, even those that he barely knows, what their secrets are. He is eager to learn trade secrets hoping to be able to apply them in his business ventures as well. Our professor also noted that you'll be surprised to find out that a lot of entrepreneurs are actually more than willing to share their knowledge if only people knew how to ask them.
2. Reciprocity
Entrepreneurship requires reciprocity. Based on his experience, he related that sooner or later you would be put in a situation where in you need to ask someone a favor. He then added that when that someone grants you your favor, be ready to return it someday. This is what he called reciprocity. I believe this is quite true. This even happens among friends. Although I do believe it, I'd like to think that there is a limit to the favor one can ask from somebody else, especially when the favor being asked from you is already encroaching on your moral values.
3. Opportunist
An entrepreneur is an opportunist. He strolls along and sniffs out opportunities available in his environment. He then capitalizes on these opportunities. Labeling an entrepreneur as an "opportunist" connotes a bit of negative image. I'd like to disagree with our professor and say that an entrepreneur is an "opportunity seeker" instead. I believe an entrepreneur is not only someone who knows how to start a business but is also someone who strives for what is good for the community. In this sense, although he seeks opportunities in the community, he should only try to grab hold and capitalize on opportunities that will be beneficial to all stakeholders.
4. Resourceful
An entrepreneur is very resourceful. Faced with a daunting task infront of him, an entrepreneur is able to adjust and to look for ways to accomplish the task. Amidst limited resources, he is able to find ways to produce enough for the task at hand.
5. Optimist
An entrepreneur is an optimist. He sees the glass as half full. He finds beauty and opportunity in everything. He is not easily discouraged.
6. Persistent
An entrepreneur is persistent. He knows that failure is part of every success. He doesn't let a minor set back discourage him. He perseveres and continues on with the journey until he achieves success.
As a final note, our professor commented that all these personalities are interconnected and that they measure how much you love your enterprise. Intensity comes with your passion and love for your business.
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Kindly email me a list of the top 5 Philippine schools offering undergraduate or graduate courses in entrepreneurship. I hope they have their own websites so I can take a look at their entrepreneurship course programs/curricula. Anyone offers any type of entrepreneurial internship at cooperating companies? Thanks.
Hi Multilingual Education/Philippines!
I'll have to get back to you on this. I'm not very acquainted anymore with the programs of the top universities here in the Phils.
I know for a fact though that Ateneo now has a separate entrepreneurship course (unlike before when it was just taught together with other business courses).
I'll try to ask around about this. Hopefully other readers can fill us up on this as well.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Nice descriptions of an entrepreneur mindset. If I may add, entrepreneurs should be innovative. The innovation that the entrepreneur do is what makes them shine among others.