One thing defines an entrepreneur – constructive action.
They tend to be sales people – doing *anything* to get people to buy their stuff. We all have an image in our head; a “wheeler trader”, picking up any opportunity to try to exploit (and other people) for profit.
Indeed, the term “entrepreneur” seems to have changed in today’s lexicon, from “something you’ve done” (usually to improve people’s lives) to a mix of “crazy hustler” and “someone who doesn’t ‘follow the rules'”. .
The reality of modern meaning cannot be further from the truth.
Entrepreneurship does not appear vocation or work. It’s not a label you put on yourself to make yourself more endearing to a certain party or clientele… it’s the way to do things.
Many “entrepreneurial” types do have jobs. They never recognize themselves as “entrepreneurs”, although they display all the traits of entrepreneurs. The question is, what are these traits and whether they exist you have them – or someone you know.
What is an “entrepreneur”?
Entrepreneur is a word that comes from the French language, generally describing “one who solves problems.”
Although its meaning has changed over the years, the premise remains – an “entrepreneur” is someone who creates a “widget” and has the ability to encourage other people to buy it.
That this “widget” may be a commercial product, service or an idea.
It’s really interesting…some of the greatest “entrepreneurs” in history really have nothing to do with money. They were completely focused on developing a specific “outcome” and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to its realization.
Whether that meant conquering the Persian Empire (Alexander), developing the light bulb (Edison) or creating stable PC systems (Gary Kildall), conquering the Aztec Empire (Cortes), the term entrepreneur indeed denotes one who wants to build something.
THE BIG difference between the “original” entrepreneurs and the new age group of idiots (who usually reinforce a hedonistic lifestyle + seem to be into “crypto”) is that the former were usually in one profession and managed to “leverage” that through the development of increasingly ambitious “projects”.
These projects could be anything…but they are everything was the main “reason” for existence. It was the reason that pushed the creator to keep trying and keep going even when it was questionable whether it was even “possible” or not. Obviously, the reason we remember them is that they not only discovered that it was “possible” but that it was completely doable…hence their success.
How to tell if someone is single
A typical sign – they will surprisingly things…
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interest in esoteric ideas
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the pursuit of interests not directly related to the accumulation of wealth
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strong manifestations of passion for certain subjects
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an exciting character with different ideas (trying to recreate historical events, etc.)
The thing is, REAL entrepreneurs usually don’t care about money in general.
Their main concern is the creation of “things”. What that is is determined by either their character or their interests… but in everyone For example, when a person has achieved great success, he has been completely and utterly focused on doing “his” thing, no matter what.
This is actually important.
It seems that in today’s world, every 18-year-old male wants to be an “entrepreneur” – like it’s a badge of honor or something. If you don’t “grow” you “die”… right?
The truth is that our society has become so focused on convenience that most of these money-grabbing idiots have no business at all, even if they consider themselves “entrepreneurs”.
They have no experience, no skills, and they are only latching on to the latest “fad” to escape the mediocrity that has overtaken Western consumer culture.
Entrepreneurship usually follows YEARS of interest in a particular topic. This usually involves a HUGE investment of time and energy in developing a skill set, experience and “involvement” in a particular space.
The most important thing – entrepreneurship – is to do something “your own way”.
Stay away from today’s idiots
THE BIGGEST problem I see all the time with crowds of idiots is that they ALL follow a “book” or some other “rule” of “how” to be an entrepreneur.
I see it everything time… boys are reading everything biographies, neural studies, the latest books of the big rich fat cat all try to discover the “secret” of massive success.
The ironic thing is that all these things only work on the “outside” side of the problem – the same people who read all the “stuff” end up asking the ONE and ONLY questions… “what am I selling?”- “how do I know will I make money from the product?” – “what secret get rich?”
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If you have to ask “what am I selling”, you are not an entrepreneur.
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If you have to listen to what a “successful” person has to say about a topic, you are not an entrepreneur.
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If you have to follow all the “rules” put forward by others, you are not an entrepreneur.
The fact is that today’s world is full of wannabe losers. Even the “successful” ones aren’t really successful – they may have made a ton of money, but what are they really to achieve? The answer is relatively little (or even nothing).
The truth is, if you want to “be” an entrepreneur, you need to put in the work.
EVERYONE has their own job. Some are models. Some football players. Some of them are programmers. Some are artists.
The “trick” is to do ANYTHING to move the industry forward; if necessary, wash the floors.
Once you start making progress, the “entrepreneurial” stuff comes along the use of leverage any progress made in it is either to build and sell the product or to help the market better appreciate the potential of another device/product.
Traits of “real” entrepreneurs
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Quietly (or at least reserved)
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Fully capable hugging failure (actually using it as an incentive to change/adapt)
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Works constantly on different elements in their “industry” (again, each has a place)
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Not afraid social constructions (just because someone said it wasn’t true)
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Laser focused on ‘them’ want to do (do you want to bring sustainable agriculture to Africa? That’s what a “real” entrepreneur would actually do)
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Not afraid to give freely (most “entrepreneur” types are not tied to money at all… usually don’t have much until they achieve commercial success)
If you haven’t worked it out, the bottom line is the goal.
In today’s world there is very little focus on goals; rather, it is performance oriented.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it robs most people of their passion. That’s good for GDP and McDonald’s – but bad for the creativity hidden in so many people.
If you want to adopt “entrepreneurial” traits, the key is to set yourself up for a specific “purpose” – through which you can invest your whole of life.
If you just look at a Ferrari and think “I want to get rich” – entrepreneurship won’t do it. This is a very a difficult path, where only the most persistent and hardy survive.
You need to put in the work, and only then will you discover hidden opportunities where you can apply your knowledge, experience or network to build something of real value to the world. This real value is then absorbed by the market, which will either pay handsomely for it – or abandon it. This is largely what determines whether someone can be considered an “entrepreneur” or not.