Do You Have What It Takes?-owning Your Own Business

In the United States one in ten adults is an entrepreneur, can you believe it.

Traditionally, entrepreneurial ability tended to focus on three attributes. Entrepreneurship is a major contributing factor to the economic well-being of a country both in terms of economic growth and job creation. Here are the three:

–>Decision-making - the entrepreneur makes the basic business policy decisions for the business, thereby setting the course of the enterprise.

–>Innovation - the entrepreneur is an innovator, attempting to introduce a new way of doing things and new products.

–>The Risk-taker - the entrepreneur is willing to risks his or her time, effort,business reputation and invested funds in the entrepreneurial venture.

NEW AND MODERN ENTREPRENEUR

The 2 dominating factors that defined the characteristics of those who wanted to become entrepreneurs were the above attributes, innovation and risk-taking, until recently.

Some entrepreneurs find themselves thrust into the role of owning their own business by default with corporate downsizing being a fact of life and us having no control over it,

For anyone either finding themselves in this position involuntarily or thinking about leaving corporate life for the heady world of entrepreneurship the question is, whether or not you have what it takes to be successful … in other words the "right stuff". Entrepreneurs are not just "born", believe it or not. Well, some, of course, seem to be naturally-born but for the rest of us, the qualities can definitely be acquired by hard work and application.

HERE ARE SOME COMMON ISSUES

The "common denominator" questions or issues that most entrepreneurs face are finance, planning and implementation.

=> Choosing a plan

Most entrepreneurs face the challenge of starting a new business,be it through innovation (inventing something new or doing something a different way), finding the right opportunity to get into, or buying a franchise. Whichever road you choose, it will involve serious planning.

=>>Financing

Unless you have saved money or have funds at your disposal,getting finance is a major challenge and cannot be attempted until your business plan is in place and up & running. You will need to prepare proposals and applications for loans, venture capital, and funds from angel investors.

=> Implementation

This is what will make or break you. Many people think just getting started is the hard part - and it is hard. But where many businesses stumble is not in the planning and financing stages but in implementing their business plan. The simple fact that implementation requires broad range of skills that no one person can possibly be adept at all of them.

Most of the areas to think about in terms of implementation are those encompassed by a broad definition of management: promotion (marketing and advertising), public relations, sales, communications, technology, computer systems, taxes, bookkeeping, finance, and the internet.

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Equally important are the personal qualities of the entrepreneur.

Here's a list of character traits and work ethics common to successful entrepreneurs. Although it is not necessary that you possess all of them, you should possess most:

=>True Passion - if you don't like what you do, you won't stick it out when challenges come along, as the passionalte person inevitably will. Entrepreneurs have a strong passion for their idea or concept, so much so that their work is their play.

=> Professional - entrepreneurs are professional in their approach to work. They operate as they would in a corporate environment and don't allow themselves to be distracted by outside influences.

=> Some Curiosity - entrepreneurs need to understand how things work. They ask a lot of questions. Curiosity therefore triggers innovation.

=> Sponges - entrepreneurs are somewhat like sponges. They devour information about their industry or product and are always current on new and emerging trends and technologies.

=> Optimism - business owners think of problems as opportunities for improvements and new ideas.

=> Forward looking - entrepreneurs are never satisfied with the status quo and are always proactively carving out their future.

=> Self responsibility - entrepreneurs take the initiative and personal responsibility for their success or failure (which is always a merely temporary state).

=> Usually Competitive - entrepreneurs are naturally competitive and will not let the grass grow under their feet.

=> Time conscious - entrepreneurs know the value of time and how to make the best use of it. That said, entrepreneurs typically also recognize the value of downtime and time with family and will factor these activities into their schedule.

=> Nurture the entrepreneurial spirit - entrepreneurs nurture and seek out the entrepreneurial spirit in their employees and reward them accordingly

=> You should be persistent - entrepreneurs persist until they succeed. They never give up.

=> Resource utilization - entrepreneurs utilize ALL of their available resources.

Looking At The Future of Owning Your Own Business

As you know, increasing numbers of people are choosing to work from home either through telecommuting or running their own home business.While this trend has been attributed to the growth in the number of working women wanting to be home for their children, a lot of people now working from home are men.

But understand what it will demand of you and whether you are prepared to give what it will take . If you have determined entrepreneurship is for you, you can be confident that you are part of the wave of the future.