What is an entrepreneur? The media these days seems to equate an entrepreneur with the owner of a business, be it local or global.
Ask the proverbial man in the street for the name of an entrepreneur and you’ll hear Branson, Bill Gates, Stelios. Locally, it might be Malcolm Walker, Steve Morgan, John Hargreaves. All well-known business figures who have built a business from scratch and made a high-profile fortune in the process.
But is every business owner an entrepreneur, and is the boardroom table the only place to find one?
No, of course not.
There are thousands of businesses run by individuals, families, and partners who only want to make a decent living and have little interest in fast growth: they would be better described as owner-managers. The business owner who claims to be an entrepreneur might have the soul of a manager and be, if not allergic, to risk, having what the doctors call an intolerance to it.
A corporate finance expert put it this way: ‘Managers want rewards with no risk. After two hours in the first meeting, managers’ eyes glaze over and they tend not to come back for the second meeting.’
On the other hand, inside organisations, whether it’s a small company, the local authority, a FTSE 100 corporation, an orchestra or a physics lab, there are entrepreneurs: people who spot opportunities and are prepared to take a risk, work hard, make changes and push things forward. These hidden entrepreneurs might be anywhere: the call centre, the shop floor, the second violins, the R&D department, even the council chamber.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a PhD or left school without taking an exam; whether you come from Kensington L6 or Kensington SW1, speak Scouse or Serbo-croat. If you have a winning idea, energy, drive, are prepared to listen and learn, can find good people to join you, others to help you, and are prepared to take risks, then the rewards are there for the taking.
What about the difference between an empire builder and a serial entrepreneur? It boils down to personality. One entrepreneur might have a passion about building one company that will dominate the global market: Bill Gates and Microsoft, for instance. Another might adore new ideas and the buzz of fast growth, so creates, builds and steps back from each business as it becomes established. Richard Branson, or Stelios Hadji-Ioannou, who try very different markets: music to airlines; airlines to pizza. They are the tip of the spearhead, they are the innovators, pattern-breakers, enthusiasts for the new.
There is a difference between a true entrepreneur and an opportunist, however: an entrepreneur wants to change the world; an opportunist only wants to make a quick buck, get out and move on.
Self-awareness is key: what do you want out of life? What are your strengths? Where does your talent lie? And how can you compensate for your weaknesses?
• entrepreneur:
1. A person who organises entertainments, esp. musical performances.
2. A person who undertakes or controls a business or enterprise and bears the risk of profit or loss.
3. One who seizes an opportunity for profit
• enterprise:
1. An undertaking, especially one that is bold, hazardous or arduous
2. Disposition to engage in enterprises; initiative and imagination