Are you an Entrepreneur?

Some characteristics that may help you to

learn how to be successful in your life

and to become an entrepreneur!

An entrepreneur is an individual who accepts financial risks and undertakes new financial ventures. The word is derived from the French "entre" (to enter) and "prendre" (to take), and in a general sense applies to any person starting a new project or trying a new opportunity.

Many societies place great value on the entrepreneur. To encourage their activity, they may be offered access to inexpensive capital (money and equipment), tax exemptions and management advice. An entrepreneur has the greatest chance of success by focusing on a market idea that is either too small or too new to have been noticed by established businesses. To help new technologies come to market, many universities establish help for entrepreneurs hoping to turn leading edge research into marketable products.

Some common characteristics of an entrepreneur include creativity, the ability and willingness to make decisions, and a generally risk-taking personality. An entrepreneur may be driven by a need to create something new or build something tangible. As new enterprises have low success rates, an entrepreneur must also have considerable persistence and be able to accept failure and the willingness to try again.

On the next 2 pages is a short article explaining some information to help you understand what the term “entrepreneur” means and what makes a good entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs are generally highly independent, which can cause problems

when their businesses succeed. In a small company, the entrepreneur is able

to personally manage and control most aspects of the business, but this is not

possible once the company has grown beyond a certain size. Management

conflicts often arise when the entrepreneur does not recognize that running a

large stable company is different from running a small growing company. The

problem is often resolved by the entrepreneur either leaving to start a new

venture, or being forced out by shareholders. At Apple Computers, for

example, one founder, Steve Wozniak, left to pursue other interests, while the

other, Steve Jobs was ultimately fired and replaced with a CEO from a much

larger company. Note that many years later, Jobs returned to the helm. He

learned from others and persevered to then again run his company. Steve

Jobs was a great entrepreneur.

On your worksheet, you can make some notes about this article.

---Econedlink - Lesson Plan Student Article

See what successful peopleshare about what it takes to become an entrepreneur!

Let’s take a look!

Barbara Corcoran Entrepreneur from “Shark Tank”

1. You take action!

2. You get into hot water and make mistakes.

Sometimes when you are trying new things and figuring them out, you may make some mistakes. Pick up the pieces, say “Sorry” to anyone you may have offended, and keep working toward your goals!

Software Company

3. You are fearless!

Entrepreneurs feel that their investments of time and money will eventually be successful. They work long hours and invest a lot of money because they are not afraid that they will fail!

4. You can change and grow!You need to be able to look at lots of possibilities and change to a different path if the path you have chosen does not work. You need to grow with every new thing you do. Learn from doing things. Change will take place; therefore, you need to be ready for that change. Like the change! Embrace the change! Technology is out there and changing all the time. Use all change to become better at what you do!

5. Surround yourself with great advisors!

Sometimes it takes a team to create a product. Entrepreneurs know how to find that team. They do not hire people who always agree with them. They find others who have experience. They conduct research for new ideas; and, they find people who can help them do things that they need help with in order to become successful.

Jessica Alba

6. You are creative, crafty and can solve problems!

You nay not have all of the resources that you need right in front of you. You may need to create some new resources out of old things. You may need to look for people and businesses that have things you need. You may need to communicate with others to solve problems. MacGyver on TV may not have all the resources but he knows how to use the ones he has.

7. You can manage money well.

Entrepreneurs know how to spend their money wisely. They know how much they have at all times. If they do not have enough or are not good at saving, they hire someone that is good at managing money to help them to be successful. As a student, even though you may not have a lot of money, you need to know how to handle it so that you will have some for the next day!

Rising entrepreneur and author

Jeremiah Brown

8. You don’t accept failure. You try again. You can’t sit still!

Entrepreneurs work very hard, are not lazy, and put in many hours to make sure they will succeed in anything that they try to do. Even if something fails the first time, many will try it again. They love to be on the go. Entrepreneurs stay and work after others have gone home. They are eager and energized to get the job done! They stand out in a crowd. They do not mope when they fail! They rebound quickly!

Ofelia Melendrez

U.S. VP and General

Manager, Southern

California Region

McDonald’s USA She is accountable for the management of a $2.1 billion business units including more than 800 McDonald’s restaurants.

9. Evaluate your own performance!If you want to be an entrepreneur, you will need to look at what you are doing and creating, reflect and evaluate what you have done, ask for feedback from others, and be able to go back and re-do to make it better! You may need to do this for yourself. It is like writing a paper in English class and then editing it after you wrote it the first time. Ask others to help you edit it and accept their feedback to make it better!

Photography

10. Challenges motivate you!Entrepreneurs are not discouraged by people who say, “You cannot do it”. Candace was told that a cupcake store would never bring in enough business to make it work, and now she has stores in 8 states. You need to have an “I can do it!” attitude!

11. You work and play hard.Entrepreneurs are people that work and play hard. They may be there long hours. They may fall down, get hurt, and then rise up and do it all again. Are you a part of a sports team or a club that works hard? You may lose or you may not be successful each day; but, you are willing to get up and try again!

What 5 characteristics do you think make a good entrepreneur? Now that you have

read about those who have done it, what do you feel are your top 5? We know you have

what it takes to be entrepreneurs!

This PowerPoint has used some information from the following resources and has links to the following references.

15 Characteristics of Entrepreneurs - Entrepreneurship Magazine

Econedlink - Lesson Plan Student Article