Characteristics of an Entrepreneur - Essay Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Characteristics of an entrepreneur Course: Introduction There is no one simple definition of an entrepreneur. Generally an entrepreneur is someone who organizes resources with the purpose of making profit. He is an individual who puts up a business taking on financial risks with the hope of making profit. An entrepreneur is further defined as someone who organizes, operates as well as assumes risks for any business venture. Entrepreneurs start business ventures since they want to create meaning. They possess an ever present desire to make the world a better place. Making money is a means to an end for an entrepreneur (Mohanty, 2005). The arguments build on the theory of entrepreneurship and the basic qualities of an entrepreneur. The essay illustrates characteristics of entrepreneurship that are important for anyone who dreams about becoming an entrepreneur. This essay explains the main characterizes of an entrepreneur that I have I have developed over time and those ones that I have not developed using practical examples. The essay starts by explaining the characteristics of an entrepreneur that I believe I have already developed through my life experiences which comprise of motivation, focused passion, and self-improvement and always learning. The next part demonstrates three characteristics of entrepreneurs which include leadership, risk taker and being focused that I have not developed using renowned entrepreneurs. Discussion My Mother passed on when I was only 14, consequently I learned to develop and improve and mature my personality as well as morals by remembering my mother’s teachings. Moreover, I observed and learned from others’ mistakes as well as my own. My brother went to university to study mechanical engineering but failed despite trying again he failed once more, and dropped out. His experience gave me the motivation to pursue my university education seriously and with zeal. I did not want to fail like him; I learned from his mistakes and wanted to make my family proud. I come from a country that is very wealthy, Saudi Arabia, and from every corner of it I am surrounded by families and friends that are wealthy and who live the high life and are financially capable. Besides monetary value I see the power and respect some individuals have solely for the family name due to their family business. seeing that on a daily bases and seeing what i would be able to have if i worked hard gives me the motivation to work my fingers to the bone to create a name for myself that will be known for decades to come and the respect and power, not to mention the luxurious lifestyle. "Money is the motivation, Money is the conversation", Tauheed Epps. It is not easy for an entrepreneur to be successful if he is not passionate about his or her work. Passion keeps passionate energy that allows an entrepreneur to focus on his work. My focused passion is to make money and help people. When I was 9 years old during our Eid holidays I had raised money from the gifts I received from my family. I have the motivation of working hard in life to get what I want. An entrepreneur has to be passionate about his business. There should be a driving force to make him wake up every day and work hard. My passion about being wealthy and living a comfortable life drives me to achieve what I set my eyes on. However, there are characteristics of an entrepreneur that I have not developed fully that comprise of Leadership, risk taker, and being focused that I going to discuss in the second part. Leadership character is very important to any entrepreneur since he has to start a business from scratch and mobilize resources and human resource to build it up (Congregado, 2007). Without leadership qualities it is not easy to achieve this feat. As an entrepreneur I must have networking ability that will ensure I connect with other people to make the business a success. An entrepreneur has to lead other and drive the agenda of the organization. Without leadership qualities it will be very difficult to mobilize other people for the purpose of achieving the purpose of the organization. As an entrepreneur I have to be inherently proactive and be ready to lead others. A leader has to inspire and encourage members to achieve both personal and organizational goals in order to realize growth. An entrepreneur must possess the ability of developing a vision for the organization as well as to inspire employees to pursue success (Casson, 2003). An entrepreneur has to establish and maintain positive relationships with clients, customers, employees, investors, financial lenders, and lawyers for the success of the entrepreneur’s venture. The late Steve Jobs demonstrated hands on leadership qualities in order to steer Apple to success. He gave innovative workers to be autonomous in their innovation and allowed innovative centers to be created. He inspired employees to be creative and set aside resources to be used in innovation centers. Leadership exemplified by Steve Jobs made Apple to become a leading technological company with new exciting products (Shavinina, 2006). Without strong leadership qualities Steve Jobs would not have led Apple to a new level of productivity and innovation. I feel that I have not had enough opportunities Risk taker: An entrepreneur has to be willing to take risk. As an entrepreneur I have to truly believe that I can succeed. Entrepreneurs are risk takers that are ready to dive deep into the future full of uncertainty. An entrepreneur has to risk money and time on unknowns. Entrepreneurship nourish with the willingness of assuming risk motivated by creation as well as implementation of new ideas (Branson, 2015). Usually new ideas are not straight forward and their outcome may not be instant and positive. As an entrepreneur I must be willing to take risk. As an entrepreneur I have to be patient before my efforts bear fruit. The path cannot be obvious and uncertainty may cloud the future. Success is not guaranteed and an entrepreneur has to be prepared for anything. Consequently is important to be a risk taker. An entrepreneur has to be ready to learn from failure where he fails. A risk taker like Sir Richard Branson demonstrated high level of risk taking by diversifying into so many industries like air travel, printing and other mega companies that he has a responsibility of leading. Sir Branson started out his business venture desire at a tender age of 16 when he by publishing a student magazine. He had no precedent to follow but he trusted his instincts and capability to achieve what he had set his eyes on. Risk taking ability has enabled Sir Branson to build a business empire from scratch (Kuratko, 2008). In my life I have not had opportunities to demonstrate my risk taking ability since I have had a peaceful childhood and loving people. I need to think of business ventures and invest in one of them despite the uncertainty it entails. I feel I have not developed the qualities of a risk taker who invests in a venture despite there being possibilities of losses. Being focused is ultimate for an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur has to set goals that are achievable and pursue them to completion. Sometimes I am clouded with so many ideas that I do not seem to find one that I can focus on and perfect it. I have to be selective and be able to tell what I want in future or which industry will I like to venture into. Self-belief and disciplined dedication has to be part of the qualities of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur cannot achieve these qualities without being focused. Bill Gates had to focus in order to build Microsoft into a reputable software company (Baron & Shane, 2007). He chose a niche in the market and pursued to meet its needs. Without focusing on the needs in the market it will be hard for one to success as an entrepreneur in the competitive world and changing trends. Conclusion A discussion about the characteristics of an Entrepreneur helps in understanding the journey of entrepreneurship and what makes a successful entrepreneur. Risk taking is an important characteristic of an entrepreneur that makes him invest in business ventures that have mixed odds. An entrepreneur has to be psychologically prepared for the outcome and learn from every failure while building on his strengths. Successful entrepreneurs across the world started small but they developed their small business ventures into multibillion business empires. Uncertainty is part of the journey of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur has to be motivated and focused on the goals that he has set. Leadership qualities are paramount for an entrepreneur to mobilize resources and plan to succeed. There are many other qualities and aspects that define a successful entrepreneur that have not been discussed in this essay. The characteristics discussed are not the only blueprint for success as an entrepreneur. Understanding your environment and spotting opportunities and being able to risk by investing define the path of an entrepreneur. I am focused on becoming a successful entrepreneur. References Baron, R., & Shane, S. 2007, Entrepreneurship: A Process Perspective, Cengage Learning, New York. Branson, R., 2015, The Virgin Way: Everything I Know about Leadership, Penguin Publishing Group. Casson, M., 2003, The Entrepreneur: An Economic Theory, Edward Elgar Publishing, London. Congregado, E., 2007, Measuring Entrepreneurship: Building a Statistical System, Springer Science & Business Media, New Mexico. Kuratko, D., 2008, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, and Practice, Cengage Learning, New York. Mohanty, S.K., 2005, Fundamentals of entrepreneurship, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., London. Shavinina, L.V., 2006, Micro-social factors in the development of entrepreneurial giftedness: the case of Richard Branson, High Ability Studies 17 (2). Read More