Are You An Entrepreneur?

Are you an entrepreneur? Online or offline, it doesn’t matter, you either are or you aren’t. Today I was reading a post at my favorite business coaching blog called AsktheBizCoaches.com. It asked…

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

Good question. Do any of these key points hit home with you?

Here are a couple of key points of Schumpeter that McCraw highlights in the article that caught my attention:

1. Failure is a phase through which nearly all people must pass on the way to success. The ability to take a punch and then get up off the canvas to win the fight is one of the defining characteristics of entrepreneurs. This is what we often refer to as the school of “hard knocks” that most small business owners go through to learn how to be a CEO. Nothing is a better teacher than making mistakes.

2. Schumpeter coined the phrase “creative destruction” to describe the incessant changes typical of capitalistic economies. This observation – that the same innovation that creates an opportunity for one business destroys another – became his signature insight. This is why you will rarely meet an entrepreneur who is comfortable in his or her current position. The moment you let up on the gas pedal and get comfortable will be the moment when your competition gains ground on you.

3. An outsider himself, Schumpeter believed that outsiders in general are better positioned to imagine big changes and new opportunities. Because of the tremendous obstacles entrepreneurs must overcome, Schumpeter held that successful innovation is “a feat not of intellect but of will.” This is what Jack and I lovingly refer to as “the grind” that typifies most successful small business owners.

4. A roster of leading entrepreneurs is like a hotel: “always full of people, but people who are forever changing.” What a fantastic visual!

Check out AsktheBizCoaches.com for more information and business coaching help.