IDEA, CAPITAL, RESOURCES 'What else do you need to be an Entrepreneur'

These days the words ‘Entrepreneur’ and ‘Start-up’ are highly fashionable and used with a lot of pomp. And needless to say, that in this free world they are used with no restrictions. Rags to riches stories sell, the hero in all the movies defeats a bigger than size villain or threat which is beyond the capability of normal average beings. It’s always generally the David vs Goliath story. A story of self-belief, wit, courage and doing the right thing over everything else. This is the same reason why the word ‘Entrepreneur’ is glorified. An ‘Entrepreneur’ starts with just the match-stick and the box to set alight to his idea. If the match can set fire and create the warmth required to get some smiles is dependent on a lot of other factors. Not every match will set a lasting fire. And not every idea is a successful business. So the one which is makes a good story and is out everywhere. The public loves them, the media loves them. They become an inspiration. And the success or failure of the ‘Entrepreneur’ is never mathematics, the variables are too extreme to believe in perfect calculations.

At best all we have is to make some calculated risks and hope to give our match the best chance to succeed. And at the same time not go too hard at it and break it. Being an ‘Entrepreneur’ requires a balance between intense focus and at the same time calmness. In all this drama what we miss is the basics and gets blurred with the glorification of this certain word. Every single year, thousands of Entrepreneurs venture out in your city. We never hear about the thousand stories. We hear just a handful and they are the happy stories. But there must be something common in the very few who survive and make it to dream another day. And at the same time, there must be some common pattern in all the missed dreams too. So what is that one trait. Can it even be defined? If it can be, then doesn’t it make it very easy for every aspiring entrepreneur to acquire it. Of course not. Knowledge how doesn’t guarantee success in achieving it. There is a reason the best coaches were never the best players and vice versa.

Knowing the Inner Potential

It’s not that important to be an entrepreneur, what is most important is that ‘why’ you are one. And the reason ‘why’ will have to surpass everything else and be your strongest urge. So as long as we have the urge to stay irrespective of the results, we are only going to observe, analyze and improve and put up a better show. You can use different words to describe this urge – self-belief, conviction, persistence. It’s all of them, you’ll have to have the self-belief in the idea and yourself, the conviction to fight through the tough waters, and the persistence to last for longer than required with the same intensity. All this combined will make sure a majority of the conventional logic which leads to negativity is thrown under the towel. This urge is what will tap into some power in you which is beyond the intelligence and logic you understand from the books, it taps into a power you already possess which is your ‘instinct’. And ‘instinct’ never works with self-doubt and half measures. It is the biggest and the most natural strength we as humans have and the most necessary one for an ‘Entrepreneur’.

It’s all About the Instinct

Why do you want to do what you are doing? It can’t be because you hated your previous job or your boss. It has to be something pure and very directly related with what you are doing, maybe it is just the passion in creating something new and giving it to the world, maybe it is the feeling of responsibility and giving back to planet earth and the beings by making the world a better place, may be its about spreading smiles and making your customers comfortable, may be its about making money and creating value. But whatever it is, the conviction and the self- belief in the same needs to be bonded by life. Nothing can come change and question this and it is this belief what’ll pull your instinct out and make sure you last long enough to be successful. I personally don’t believe in exit strategies, if your house is going to be on fire, you have an option of killing the fire early be looking at the solutions, or you can just look at the exit and run. Exit strategies don’t make an ‘Entrepreneur’ they make him doubt his very existence.

The world needs entrepreneurs to succeed, they balance the capitalistic world we live in. Nations and multi-nationals live on proved and tried formulas, but every formula was the birth child of an idea. And, every idea started in a small mind of some entrepreneur. Check out Elon Musk, Jackma, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry ford, Jeff Bezos, Larry page & Sergey Brin and many others. Yes of course they are just the minute few successful ones of the millions who’ve tried. But they all did have this common urge, the complete focus and being super sure on ‘why’ they do what they do. “Failure was never their fear. Not trying was.”

Note: please note that use of his/her in the article is of no particular reference or preference to any gender. It is just for the ease of flow of thoughts through the article.