What Is An Entrepreneur?
Dan Sullivan
What you’ll learn in this Multiplier Mindset blog post:
- The qualities required to be an entrepreneur, such as passion, a love for what you do, and a high risk tolerance.
- The importance of cash flow management and understanding your target audience for the success of your business.
- The significance of focusing on your Unique Ability and finding intrinsic rewards in your work as an entrepreneur.
I often get asked, “What is an entrepreneur?” Everyone knows that the term “entrepreneur” refers to someone who’s gone into business for themselves, taking responsibility for their financial security. But most people don’t know what qualities lead someone to decide to become an entrepreneur and what it really takes to live a successful entrepreneurial life.
The qualities an entrepreneur needs.
It’s a lot easier to get a job working for someone else, just doing what you’re told, than it is to start a business of your own. So, to be an entrepreneur, you need to have passion for something. You need to love it and not be able to get enough of it.
A lot of the joy you get is from applause for what you do, so you never want to stop. You’re excited to get out of bed each morning to see the results of what you did yesterday and to see what you can get done today.
Since doing something on your own that hasn’t been done before means you could lose it all, you need to have a reasonably high risk tolerance. You often won’t be sure where your next paycheck is coming from.
Self-confidence is also an asset for an entrepreneur since you need to be aware of and communicate the expertise that you’re bringing to the table.
What non-entrepreneurs don’t know.
Anyone asking the question, “What is an entrepreneur?” might just have to become one to fully understand. There are surprises encountered all along the entrepreneurial path.
If there’s a god in the entrepreneurial heaven, its name is cash flow. You need a cash flow routine because you also have to market your business. It can take a while to get these two things going because you can’t just create and solve problems and then start marketing—you have to do both at the same time. I’ve seen too many bankruptcies and failed businesses because the entrepreneur didn’t get the cash flow aspect down.
An entrepreneur has to find the right audience—the right check writers. And you have to think in terms of their goals. You have to understand that all of your money is in the aspirational future of your best clients.
Another fact most people don’t know about entrepreneurs is that they don’t have to be the CEO of the company. They can hire a CEO. Entrepreneurs are seeking freedom, and that includes the freedom to do only the activities they want to do.
What keeps us going.
Every person has a passion or interest in some kind of activity. At Strategic Coach, we call this Unique Ability. When you’re working in your Unique Ability, you find it endlessly fascinating and motivating. Successful entrepreneurs don’t have to spend any time doing anything that isn’t in their area of Unique Ability.
If you became an entrepreneur just for money or status, it’s the wrong job for you. Entrepreneurs get paid as a by-product of doing what they love to do and providing people with value.
So, what is an entrepreneur? It’s a person who loves what they do and for whom their work is its own reward.
