Are Entreprenuers Born or Made?

"as long as the person has passion, persistence, and valuable mentors. What's your view?"

Are passion and persistence considered innate tendencies?

If you are going to do something and want to do it by starting a small business (or large), you had best like what you are going to do or have a passion for it. An yes you need to be persistent and not a quitter. I think they are desirable characteristics but not innate. Persistence can be developed by that big stick called payday. If you quit you won't get payed. And yeah, you have to like what you are doing, perhaps aptitude may be innate. But liking a job as an employee or in self employment is part innate and part environment exposure.

Most people start a business to make a living. The introvert/extrovert is not really the issue. A butcher is likely a butcher because he wants to earn a living. He may not have even liked the job but saw a place for himself and was satisfied by that fact.

I started my own business because I was frustrated with a very good government secure job. Security is not a motivation but it locks people into not trying something they like. Funny how people think pensions and benefits are all important at very young ages. The fear is more that they have a secure job so why risk anything, even if they do not like it. Most of us get the label entrepreneur but we are just trying to earn a living. And most people who start out are somewhat scared at the onset (the big unknown) but persist and make a good living. If in the end you can do some more spectacular things to make you rich...good fortune to you. I am now retired and reasonably well off. I sold my business not realizing it was gaining equity in the business as I earned a living (and enjoyed it very much). This opportunity to earn a living is available to all. Do it yourself or let someone else employ you... its your choice.

Nature or nurture, that is the question.

Well, personality is not a digital attribute, but a series of scaler quantities. You develop many skills, but it is a lot easier if you are not developing all of your skills from ground zero.

That being said, there are entrepreneurs that have had to spend a lot more effort developing successful skills and personality traits and there are entrepreneurs that had a lot going for them at the start.

In the end you either have the burning desire or at least have the will power to kindle that burning desire, because without it you only succeed by dumb luck, which is statistically very rare.

I can think of no qualities, aptitudes, skills, or passions, that can not be answered by 'nurture' in the case of an entrepreneur.

In my scenario however, I see the tabula rasa beginning at conception, not at birth.

Chris

If you could choose who you would mentor, I would start with someone that has as many innate qualities as possible. It's likely the shorter path to success.

agreed, but that is not an argument to nature vs. nurture.

Geez, and I thought you had preconceived ideas from some former reincarnation.

Just try to profile most "entrepreneurs" that started from scratch and you will find it is not easy to peg a single profile. Its not intelligence, at least I have met a lot of bone-head success stories. Its not personality although it sure helps. Its not an excellent skill and it too helps. In fact it may be a whole host of things and the ability to change frequently as the moment calls. Sometimes it just dumb luck that helps you succeed. Not all successes are measured against a Bill Gates. He had luck in timing, the right idea at the right time. I believe everyone with modest capabilities has an innate ability to be an entrepreneur. Keep your goals modest though.

Where is the nurture aspect? Maybe just being lucky in birth helps. The where, when, and who sometimes are all important.

I give you a GA for the last part. Being an optimist is a very good quality going into business. Can you do it any other way?

I was raised too dogmatic in Catholic values that I now reject to accept any idea of predestination. I like to think life is chaotic and random and thus we become responsible for all our actions. We can be whatever our capabilities will allow us to be. I jest of course (no harm intended) about all religions from a more atheist view.

I had to look up "tabula rasa"

I believe much of the formulation of the wax on the blank slate is established at birth, which will affect the retention and application of the content applied to the surface.

Having so much B schools world around the globe, the population of entrepreneurs should have been many fold, but it is not so. Many engineers and MBA's prefer service.

Most of the entrepreneurs don't even have formal technical or management study based qualification. Though education can litter attitudes and qualities of entrepreneurs, it is the shear attitude makes one to venture. Books can show past histories and facts but can not make entrepreneurs.

It is more on the awareness on product or market opportunities, cost aspects of manufacture and selling, sniffing the customer taste, strategies, facing hardships and taking control of missions. It calls for a good deal of waiting game plan, learning from failures, a sense to correct, risk taking, alternative ideas and futuristic plans, consolidations and implementations.

This optimism, risk taking and shrewdness got to be more of innate than imparted from education. Many times it takes more than decades to start ventures whether big or small. Though not all days becoming greener, at least some days can be fruitful.

Life is just a game, play it with the spirit of adventure, learning lessons from experience and developing reality based conceptions.

You're right in the attitude that it takes to approach a venture. The no-quit attitude that it takes to work through the challenges of starting a business that will meet the needs of a possible customer is something that can be learned. There are certain personality traits that will lend themselves to certain parts of a developing business venture; "D's, cholerics, Type A, Lions", taking the bull by the horns and not giving up. The good thing about personality is that we can learn to operate outside of our primary God-given personality traits by reading, placing ourselves in situations that force us to strengthen the areas of our response to varying situations, and by associating with mentors who will challenge us to stretch and learn to be comfortable exhibiting and operating in our secondary personality types. Time very wll spent is to take a personality profile test that let's you know where you are specifically so that you can better see the areas that you need extra help in. There is the statement that says "knowledge is power" and that is correct because the proper information helps us to be able to make good decisions which will/can bring about the results we're looking for in the business/relationship. Knowing what our real, and not our perceived, strengths and weaknesses are is critical to the success of a venture.

Being a successful entrepreneur also deals highly with how willing a person is willing to learn about approaching problems/situations that come up in which the person doesn't have much practical experience in particular areas. He needs to have a brain trust/mentors who are specialized in specific areas; i.e. finances, legal, marketing, etc.; in which he/she does not have the expertise. He also needs to be teachable, which is also harder for especially the "D" personality type.

Chris mentioned a couple of books that are good for developing a certain mindset to a business venture. If you are cloudy in your thinking about why and how you're going to start the process you are already "behind in the count". Psycho-Cybernetics by Leonard Maltz is a good information source for how to look at a business and how to keep it in perspective. The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David Schwartz is good to assist in the motivation side (the WHY), because there will be many things that can derail the process to being successful with a venture unless we know whether it will be worth going through all the "garbage" to get the job done. The mental part of the process is as critcal as the technical side. Another good book that deals with that is The Ant and the Elephant which deals with the subconscious thinking and how it affects the implementation of a plan of action.

Other critical questions to ask are: does the product or service meet the needs of a lot of people, what are the trends of business, how will I connect to the people with the needs etc?

facilitiesmgr

Nice meeting you in CR4. Thank you for the comments and valuable thoughtful inputs to the discussion. The choice of product or service is the critical point in the design of ventures. It should be specialized, need based output for the market and to be original in nature.

Many people play the imitation games, bring in unethical competitions, spoiling their health as well as others and collapsing the overall balance, discount sales, stock lots and so on. That calls for real innovation and product development.

An entrepreneur is responsible for himself and the whole of the mission calling for complex adaptations.

It takes straight out BALLS! Either you have them...or you don't.

My experience has taught me, Yes self taught, that these types of people are born to be. You can't mentor balls! Though I have herd of some who have tryed...

Even though one might have these traits, without the proper education and skills combined with the right amount of fore site (what makes an entrepreneur who he or she is) balls will just get you in trouble...

Ask yourself this question, are you willing to walk onto an active freeway in order to pick up a hundred dollar bill...

The difference between you and an entrepreneur is, he is willing to do it at night, in the fog, wearing sun glasses!

Wow! great image, the last part not the first. Can I save it for my book that I haven't started?

Do not underestimate necessity as a driver for starting a business. It can happen to anyone without regard to gender or wimpishness (I don't think that is a real word).

It has been my observation that foreigners have what it takes to be successful entrepreneurs; especially those from Asian countries. In their home countries, many have already been entrepreneurs. They have had to in order to survive. They work very hard and are not afraid to take chances. Many have tried, failed and tried over and over and never quit. They are not bound by government regulations. I see many in this country that "play dumb" and go on to succeed where others get bogged down in such mundane matters as licenses, insurance, business hours. If they get caught, they just pay their fine and required fees and they are still ahead of the game. As NiCrMoNoMore says, it takes a lot of balls. I think the foreignors and Asians especially have the innate tendencies. But to answer, I think those born into beat the made by 10 to one.

never quit...

Failure is not an option, it's a reality.

Amen Brother...

I am currently starting this adventure and am finding that the place a person has in a business depends on type of person one is and it generally takes more than one person. Although alot are a single person in business there are people who influence this person.I myself am a dreamer not a business minded person I am learning on a very steep curve about business,securities,intellectual properties ect. but it can be learned but it will be acward on the other hand a business minded person may find easy what I'm going through but may not be able to see a diffrent possibility or adventure.

I agree with you, partnership is an option that the creative/inventive engineer should consider for going into business. There's a lot of work to running a business. A hardworking partner who knows the business side of things is one good way to hedge your bets on a first venture.

Be careful with partnerships. It requires more thought than marriage. I have been involved in partnerships and only later found out they fail at a very high rate. I did buy my partner out but in the process lost a very good friend.

Nomatter how you did in the business I'd say you lost on the deal

Well, it has been said, the only ship that will not float is a partnership.

There is some truth to that and it can be seen by the ratio of successful partnerships compared to all other forms of business.

A lot of those problems can be avoided by getting every detail of the business arrangement down in writing. However, it is not easy.

Consider enlisting what is known as an 'angle'. These are generally retired business owners or executives that donate their time as mentors to fledgling startups big and small.

I have always wondered if there shouldn't be more partners in a marriage.

seriously though, I think it is sort of true. In the old days, more marriages survived due to the patriarchal mandate, which gives the marriage a dominant partner. In my age, men and women are seen as equal, and that marriages do not last as long because of the resulting power struggles. There are obvious differences between marriages and business partnerships, but there is lots of common ground too.

If you can't make a marriage work with someone you 'love' and mate with, then how will you resolve issues when you aren't. it is suggested that you won't, especially when your personality profile might suggest a large DIY streak. I think it all comes down to respect and communications between partners.

chris

Marriage is more complex than a single issue driving the divorce rate, but the social changes we have undergone have given marriage and the definition of "commitment" a much different meaning than it had 50 years, 100 years, and even further back in our history.

Before anyone advocates for polygamy consider this from Ayaan Hirsi Ali in her book "Nomad":

"We who are born into Islam don't talk much about the pain, the tensions and ambiguities of polygamy ...... It is in fact very difficult for all the wives and children of one man to pretend to live happily, in union. Polygamy creates a context of uncertainty, distrust, envy, and jealousy. There are plots. How much is the other wife getting? Who is the favored child? .... Rival wives and their children plot and are often said to cast spells on each other....Polygamy is everything a happy family is not."

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Now apply Ali's observations to business partnerships and you will get a gist of the problems you may encounter entering such a business union.

It is not my intention to condemn any other's beliefs but rather to present one observation from a survivor's point of view. Ali is the survivor of her upbringing and I have experienced similarities in business. I am sure no one enters these circumstance with anything less than high hopes. Just be wary.

I will still contend that the primary reason to start a business is to earn a living. Good and bad things can happen along the way. I believe more good than bad can result from entering a business of your creation.

"I will still contend that the primary reason to start a business is to earn a living."

I don't think so! You can earn a living working for anyone and put far less time, ulcers, and effort into the endeavor.

"I believe more good than bad can result from entering a business of your creation."

If you think that failing within the first year is bad, then you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Running a business requires an enormous amount of effort in time and money to make it work. Even after all that work the failure rate for new businesses within the first year of operation is statistically between 70 to 80%!

I have watched (and helped) many other entrepreneurs start and run their businesses and I can tell you the level of personal commitment is extraordinary compared to what is expected of you as a regular employee. It is typical to work two to three times the number of hours, endure great stress trying to pay the bills, and watch your savings dwindle to zero. Then borrow money and help from family and soon to be ex-friends to hopefully get past that magic 1 year struggle.

For the 20 to 30% of businesses that succeed you may get lucky to do more than just eek out a living doing it.

While I don't mean to offend, anyone that thinks that starting your own business is a good way or the primary reason is to earn a living has not investigated the prospect very well nor have a good understanding of what drives people to do this successfully.

The rest of the statements about Islamic marriage is just off topic.

I congratulate you on your courage and fortitude to succeed. Sometimes people are faced with no other alternative but going on their own. You are in a minority club for that very reason.

That being said, I think your statement that most people start their own business to earn a living is more of a product of your own circumstance than a broader analysis of business in general.

I can say that because I spent most of my career working closely with various entrepreneurs performing startups from small to mid sized companies and I have a very good idea of what makes these people tick. Not one of them got started with I need an income as their primary goal. There was a bigger driver for these people and income is far lower on the list of priorities in life.

For most people there are many other alternatives when it comes to income than going on their own (present economy may skew that somewhat). It is easier to take a job doing just about anything else compared to marching out on their own. Or, today you can sign up for what seems to be perpetual unemployment.

Successful business entrepreneurs are generally motivated by other things than simply putting food on the table. It's the nature of the beast. Most people avoid risk like the plague. Entrepreneurs that are successful revel in it and the stress that surrounds it and they have a strong urge to win at everything they do. It is part of their temperament.

Some like the thrill of starting a company and then selling it so they can do it again. Some want a cash cow that pays the bill. Some want to build a legacy and some get thrown into the position by fate and sink or swim.

Self employment is not for everyone and a simple statistical analysis shows most people are employed by others. This is not by accident, but driven by choice.

Not withstanding, there are many individuals that go to a Tony Robbins-like pep-rally and leave inspired to strike out on their own. They usually fail because all they bought was a basket of enthusiasm of someone else's dream to sell you a vision. They only have to sell you that vision and once the sale is made they go away onto the next dreamer leaving the buyer totally unprepared and without the skill set to succeed. I have a feeling that a number of that 70 - 80% of first year failings are part of that crowd.

"There are many individuals that go to a Tony Robbins-like pep-rally and leave inspired to strike out on their own." It is true that many people will go to a motivational event and come out fired up about life and what is possible, only they aren't really prepared for the "rubber meets the road" part of the journey. The excitement is good for the beginning of a venture but there has to be a whole lot more that motivates. That motivation has to be a "gotta have it". I heard it referred to one time as a "clear and compelling vision; which is a picture of what could be, followed by a conviction that it should be." The preparation for an entrepreneurial mindset isn't something that happens in a short period of time at a rally. It may take years to develope the proper mindset so you don't wind up in the 85% statistic of businesses that fail in the first year.

One thing an entrepreneur will remember though is that a failed event doesn't make him/her a failure and he will evaluate his venture, make his adjustments and try something else (Plan, Do, Check, Adjust - from Launching a Leadership Revolution).

Just for the record, I did start a business without any stress to earn a living. I left a very good job with the local Ministry of the Environment. At the time the government tried to convert me from monitoring the environment to policing the environment. My interest was and still is with ground water microbiology and geochemistry. To pursue my field of choice, I simply struck out on my own. My wife had a very good job and supported me in my endeavor. I did earn a living but I also gained life long friends and got to participate in some very interesting projects. When I finally sold the business, I was rewarded for years of hard work. I did sell it to people I knew would carry on the business in a good manner. They will earn a living and pay me from the profits proceeds for several years. It was/is a win win transfer for me and the new owners (former employees).

I have read elsewhere in this thread that Asians may have innate qualities to start a business. I doubt that, but I do believe they go into business to earn a living. Have you ever thought about all those small jobs in landscaping, carpentry, meat butchering, cooks, pottaporti handlers, etc. A lot of businesses do not require a lot of technical knowledge to be able to hang a shingle. Although, some people are very good at what they do for a living. People who start these businesses see an opportunity to earn a living and take it. It is what they must do to earn a living.

You may be dealing with a different professional field in your good mentoring and are dealing with different objectives. Perhaps you see a different side of the coin. Whether objectives are altruistic or somewhat more grandiose the goals are the same. We all must earn a living with a hope of getting rich. It is hard to disagree with your comments. One thing I would advise anyone entering a business to do is to hire a good accountant. You would be surprised at the knowledge and history they bring to the table when it comes to starting a business. That was one step I took without regret.

Again, I really congratulate you on your venture. You have a great spirit for it.

"We all must earn a living with a hope of getting rich. It is hard to disagree with your comments."

Not everyone is a high flying, go getter. There are many businessmen/women that are perfectly happy to earn a modest living and they sleep very well at night with out the stress and fatigue of working themselves to the bone. These types of businesses are called cash cows.

are you sowing dissent in my harem?

ga.

chris

Yes

We were all born to be made into Entrepreneurs. Said another way; we all can choose to live our dream (express/evolve our idea).

How does one become an expert to make the claim that it takes more than a good idea to made a successful entrepreneur anyway?

With vision and passion, ideas "..will also seep into my other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps, which creates my dreams" (Og Mandino). The law of attraction takes effect. All the resources, such as mentors, skills, knowledge will present themselves.

"How does one become an expert to make the claim that it takes more than a good idea to made a successful entrepreneur anyway?"

Ask the owners of the 70 to 80% of businesses that fail during the first year, each year.

If they learned anything at all from that experience it would likely qualify them as an expert in the field and I am sure they can confirm that it takes much, much more than a good idea and probably much more than what they thought when they first opened the door.

Being an entrepreneur is to be a leader. Contrary to your claim, not everyone is cut out to be a leader (every chief needs indians).

Additionally, there is nothing wrong with being a follower. Most of us are and many of those followers live a productive and happy lives.

Me I can only speek for myself , I'm a dreamer, as such I have lots of ideas and would like to see at least one through to reality.

I feel as though if I don't at least try it will be a waste of this creative mind I've been given.

ps. I've just recieved my PCT aplication confermation YAAAAHOOO

Welcome to CR4.

Alberta, Alberta, Alberta.

congratulations.

Some are born talented.You can spot them at very early stages of life while some others have humble beginnings and develop skills by aquinting with others