In our last blog post, we
discussed some macro level examples of entrepreneurship, and also wrote in
length about the hand education plays in developing entrepreneurs. In today’s
blog post we’d like to talk about what makes an entrepreneur. They are after all
just like regular blue collared workers, but with one major difference - they
work for themselves. In order to understand how they became entrepreneurs, we
need to look at some of their unique traits, which separate them from the rest.
1. Curiosity
Look at some successful
entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They were curious individuals,
who wanted to understand more about computing. Entrepreneurs are like that,
they are curious little devils who would do anything to satiate their curiosity.
If you want to be an entrepreneur learn to ask questions. The more questions
you ask, the more you learn and the more you learn the more knowledge you will have over your domain and this will empower you to take your business ahead.
2. Creativity
You have learnt all you could
about the market and the competition, but how do you creatively come up with a
solution. That means thinking of a new product or a new way to do things.
Consider this, there are a lot of artists on the web, trying to make it big. However,
due to the investment involved in running and operating a website, many of
these artists don’t have a forum to showcase their talents and earn money.
Seeing the need in the market for a solution that can let people sell their
skills online, Sampad Swain, the founder of Instamojo developed a product that
could allow people like me and you to do just that.
3. Clarity of Vision
Look at what’s happening at
Yahoo today. For years the company had been running their search engine as a
distant second favorite to Google. But after seeing Google’s mercurial rise to
the top not only in search, Yahoo felt it needed to do something more. In comes
Marissa Ann Mayer, former spokesperson for Google. She comes in the role of a
President and CEO for Yahoo. Why did Yahoo take this drastic step? For years it
was in a losing battle against Google, because it lacked vision. Yahoo failed
to see that Google had become the de facto search engine and it failed to
capitalize on other opportunities in the sea that is the world wide web.
Because of their lack of vision, Yahoo decided to get in a top dog to their
organization to give it a fresh boost. We’ll just have to wait and watch if it
works. But that’s the harsh reality, market conditions and factors change so
fast that an entrepreneur must always
stay on track with it and see that the company’s long term vision is
met.
4. Communication Skills
An entrepreneur will find that
half of his/her day goes in just giving presentations. Presentations to
investors, government officials, agencies etc. That’s why communication skills become of prime importance. If Steve Jobs didn’t conduct his legendary press
releases for Apple, the company may never have made it so big. Today Apple is
valued higher than every other company in the world and this is much in part
due to Steve Jobs gift of the gab then just the products.
5. Leadership Acumen
As an entrepreneur not only do
you have to believe in your product, but you have to make every stakeholder
believe in it more than you do. Entrepreneurs need to be able to work with
others closely to achieve company objectives. This means leading and taking
charge of people and ensuring that everyone is sufficiently motivated to
building the best product ever. Flipkart which began e-commerce services in
India in 2007 started only by retailing books. Over the years, it expanded its
product portfolio to include everything from electronics to fashion. It has
also recently launched its own payment gateway (Pay Zippy) and is well on it’s
way to become the online megastore. All this wouldn’t have been possible if not
for the leadership acumen within the organization.
6. Love taking risks
LG and Samsung became the first
companies to launch curved smartphones. What’s that you ask? That my friends,
is a risk. It’s no secret that Samsung has made a lot of money on the back of
it’s android smartphones, but even Samsung knows what other manufacturers do,
that the market has become too fragmented with too much competition and less
differentiation. Say hello to the curved smartphone. It isn’t radically
different from the regular smartphone except it’s curved and boasts a better
display. Will it work? Is this a gimmick? Only time will tell, but one thing is
certain - to get ahead one must take risks and this is even more important for
an entrepreneur.
Are you a natural born leader
and a risk taker? Do you want to start a business of your own and join an elite
list of entrepreneurs? It’s a hard road ahead but one filled with exciting
adventures and countless rewards.
No comments:
Post a Comment