How to Make It as an Entrepreneur

Combining an entrepreneurial spirit with business sense, a recipe for success.

By: Michael Capitano, Staff Writer

At least once or twice, we’ve all had that million dollar idea. Perhaps by chance, perhaps in a fit of inspiration, we identified a gap in the market for a product or service because there was nothing existing to suit our current needs; perhaps we even devised a crude strategy of implementation.

For most of us, all it amounts to is a wish that fades from our minds. No time was taken to develop the idea further, analyze its chances of success or see if someone is already doing it. And that’s okay.

But for some, a great idea can take on a life of its own until it is fully realized—and those people are entrepreneurs.

Can anyone be an entrepreneur? No. No matter how much education or training one receives, it takes a specific type of person with a mindset that is much better suited towards entrepreneurism than conventional employment.

“The age old ‘wisdom’ that entrepreneurs are school-hating, high strung, twenty-something, risk takers is just not enough when we want to understand entrepreneurship,” says Karen Southall Watts, professional coach and consultant for entrepreneurs and small businesses. “There are many accidental entrepreneurs who turn out to be very successful. Just as there are many bright, techie whiz kids who decide they would rather have a regular paycheck and hours. The economic changes since 2008 have led to the rise of legions of freelance and contract workers who are much more successful when they see themselves in an entrepreneurial light and spend less time coveting the 9-5 job that may never return.”

The question is: Is entrepreneurship right for you?

When I sent out the query “Does it take more than business sense to make it big?” to gather quotes for this article, I unwittingly ended up taking a survey of over 100 entrepreneurs. The resounding answer, after sifting through the myriad of responses I received, was that what entrepreneurs have that others don’t consists of a group of correlated factors: courage, resourcefulness, passion, optimism, perseverance, creativity, and so on. There was very little mention of business sense as a necessity.

The answers all point toward the importance of harbouring an entrepreneurial spirit. As we can see, most, if not all of the items listed tend to be inherent traits, rather than learned. In contrast, business sense—defined broadly as having keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing effectively with business opportunities and decisions—can be gained with experience.

Variance in intelligence and circumstances may separate the moguls from the middle of the pack freelancer and entrepreneur, but even small victories can readily be achieved. An entrepreneurial spirit, complemented by business sense, creates a potent combination for success.

What Sets Entrepreneurs Apart

Entrepreneurship has become an increasingly fashionable avenue of work. As such, many people believe that it is easier than ever to become an entrepreneur, and they would be right. It doesn’t mean though that it is the best option for most.

If someone chooses to pursue this path for the wrong reasons (to get rich quick, for fame, to avoid regular employment), failure is likely to ensue. That person is purely driven by external factors that are contingent on success, when there is no guarantee. In fact, entrepreneurs are bound to fail many times more than they are to succeed.

It is those who smile at failure as a step towards realizing their goals and those who give up at any sign of difficulty that marks the line between the entrepreneur and the wannabe. Ideas can always be improved upon and knowledge can always be gained. Having business sense does not ensure the entrepreneur will see the project through to the end.

For Steve Replin, professor, lawyer and author, who has been funding and advising start-ups and growing businesses for over 30 years, passion is at the heart of what it means to have an entrepreneurial spirit:

“There is nothing more important than good old passion, focus and commitment. If there is nothing that you would rather be doing than what you are doing, then it will not be work but rather following your dream. I’ve seen those who have this passion succeed regardless of education and obstacles, and those who don’t have it, struggle to find themselves continually. Anything else is merely ancillary that can help, but only if you are ‘all in.’”

Anecdotal accounts tend to highlight passion and perseverance over business sense. Take, for example, an enterprising university student looking to make some extra cash tutoring who ends up starting a business that is later sold when she graduates, or a teenager with a love for programming who writes a million dollar smartphone app, or a single mother who develops an innovative solution to childcare needs and decides to turn it into a business.

Simply put, entrepreneurs pursue options that allow them to turn their ideas into action. The tricks of the trade are picked up on a learn-as-you-go basis. It’s not business sense, but passion and perseverance as the largest driving forces to be a successful entrepreneur.

Surviving the Learning Curve

Aspiring entrepreneurs come with a variety of backgrounds and skillsets that do not always match what is required to be successful in the market. This is where business sense plays its greatest role. Without proper knowledge of how to commercialize an idea or concept, the venture will fail to get off the ground. But while business sense is a valuable asset for an entrepreneur to have, such a deficiency can be overcome by choosing the right advisors.

Think about the underlying premise of shows like Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank: people who have dedicated many years of their lives to making their dreams a reality seek financial resources and strategic help from entrepreneurial leaders; they team up precisely to have access to insight and opportunities they didn’t have on their own.

Yet seeking out such help isn`t necessary. What is important is being aware of opportunity and being able to act on it when such opportunity arises.

That is why the focus of institutions and consulting firms dedicated to advising entrepreneurs is to provide an understanding of what is involved in being an entrepreneur, how they might acquire and protect the resources that will allow them to pursue their venture, and how to turn their concept into a marketable product or service.

According to Dr. Philip Walsh, director of the Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute, the main goal is to teach the entrepreneurial process of “idea generation and development, market assessment, idea valuation, intellectual property protection and idea deployment strategies.” Entrepreneurs are given the tools to enable them to pursue their projects.

While these skills are helpful, he pinpoints that the most common essential indicator of entrepreneurial success “is the passion required to work hard over long periods of time with the possibility of failure hounding you. In some cases failure becomes inevitable but the entrepreneur’s passion for their idea allows them to treat the failure as a contribution to their learning curve and they innovate further and move on… This passion contributes to a positive approach and a willingness to take risk.  These traits need to be inherent in the individual but the experiences of other entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial process can be taught so as to ease the path towards being a successful entrepreneur.”

It’s the entrepreneur’s inner drive, not training programs and advisers that determines whether or not the strong starting momentum will not be lost with every bump along the way.

As a cautionary note, young entrepreneurs should be wary of the various scams and predators that are out there ready to take advantage of their naivety and eagerness to have their first big break; success doesn’t happen overnight. With finances and a future at risk, entrepreneurs must be conscientious about their decisions and ready to handle the pressure.

Entrepreneurs who have the passion and desire to succeed will quickly come to learn the value of being careful when engaging in research and development for their ideas, and thereby avoid being persuaded into situations that could cost them their entire venture.

Ensuring Success

While dreams of success are nice, the reality of entrepreneurship is that it will be a grueling endeavour that requires effort and patience to understand the mechanics of starting a business and interacting with the market. It’s easy to get caught up in the rush and forget about the downsides of risky decisions; at the same time, it can be hard not to question if it is even worth it to continue.

As an aspiring entrepreneur gains experience, it is an entrepreneurial spirit tempered by business sense that forms the crux of a successful venture. This blend forms the base requirements of what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

On a practical note, it is important for an entrepreneur to maintain control. You must own your idea every step of the way. Be ready for any obstacle, financial or otherwise, and have a well-thought out business plan.

The early stages should focus on investing in the legal and physical aspects of the venture to develop ideas, rather than paying outsiders for services that will not contribute to the growth of your business. Managing your resources responsibly will go a long way in gaining credibility and future investments. The application of entrepreneurialism requires constant reflection of what adjustments can be made to improve your product or service—to make an idea work always consider the value added.

Sustaining Your Vision

When it comes down to it, an entrepreneurial spirit is necessary for success; business sense can be seen as a spirit guide. Be sure the goals you set are realistic, practical, and with an actual purpose to benefit both your life and your venture.

With over 20 years of business experience, serial entrepreneur and past Global President of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, Troy Hazard has experienced both the lows and highs of business ownership and entrepreneurism. For him, being an entrepreneur is more than having business smarts; it is a lifestyle, one that needs a vision in order to achieve success:

“I had to determine a vision that included a personal plan, a life plan, a business plan and a people plan. With clarity of purpose you create a greater opportunity to match your personal vision with your business vision. Then your business is working for you, you are not working for it.”

He adds that rather than being controlled by fear, blame, and ego, it is confidence that allows entrepreneurs to lead through values, vision, and vulnerability, and that being creative and adaptable to change is the key to long-term success. Being an entrepreneur is about being conscious of the changes in the market to position oneself accordingly.

“Learn from the past; apply that to the present, to protect your future. It’s not rocket science. We all know the market moves in cycles as does business, so why is it we all forget that? We buy into the illusion in business that the bad times were just a moment never to be repeated, and the good times will never end. It’s simply not true. Business happens in cycles and if you look as far back as the great depression the cycles are very similar, boom boom boom, bust, recovery. It happens that way because as humans we continue to fall foul to two very simple human emotions, fear and greed, and that’s what drives the market and business cycles. And while that’s nothing to be proud of, that is, unfortunately, the track business and the market take.”

The trick is to have the vision stay above the fickle nature of the market and the passion to resist falling victim to the same trappings that continual re-arise. The mark of true entrepreneurship is having enough guts and sense to know when to stay the course and when to try something else.

Michael Capitano is a second year law student at Osgoode Hall Law School. He is an aspiring novelist and essayist. He enjoys spending most of his time reading, writing, and playing video games.

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Image Courtesy of Wonderlane, via Flickr