What basic skills do entrepreneurs need?

simonread · Apr 10, 2005

As part of our service we provide training for entrepreneurs, and we are currently reviewng our training portfolio to decide if we are providing the right types of courses to meet the needs of entrepreneurs.

Examples of courses that we currently provide are - 'How to do your own PR', 'How to attract more clients', and 'Creative marketing for consultants'.

To help us with our review I'd like to ask the following questions -

1. What minimum basic skills do you think entrepreneurs need to start-up and run their businesses?
2. Are entrepreneurs good at recognising their own skills shortages, or are they too full of self-belief to recognise, or admit to, areas of weakness?
3. Do you believe that entrepreneurship (specifically relating to being a creative thinker, and being a risk-taker) can be taught, or are entrepreneurs always born rather than bred?

Regards,
Simon

National Business Innovation Centres
www.innovationcentres.co.uk

profitxchange · Apr 16, 2005

This depends what your definition of an entrepreneur is. I am currently involved in judging entrepreneurs for a business award scheme and the things that are emerging from the really successful ones are :

They have a new spin on a business opportunity. it is never me to.
They are obsessive and passionate about making it work
They do not consider the risks.
They get the very best people in the business to support them.
They go for the big kill its never incremental growth its always step.
They are rarely the doers they are the thinkers / strategists.
They will establish multiple businesses concurrently.
They get unconventional funding, often clients, suppliers and friends.
They will ultimately exit the business and do it again.

The one skill that comes out is they really get a handle on the critical numbers and ratios. Operational not accounting.

Does this help?

simonread · Apr 17, 2005

That's great feedback - many thanks.

The only area of your feedback that I would question is whether entrepreneurs consider the risks. Many of the best entrepreneurs I have met tend to assess all of the risks and then develop strategies to minimsie those risks. After that, they just go for it. That said, I have also met people who do not consider the risks and only tackle obstacles as they encounte them.

Thanks again for your comments.

Ozzy · Apr 18, 2005

Hi Simon,
profitxchange has covered a few points which make sense. A good result would be for members here to post why they consider themselves a good Entrepreneur.

From my own perspective, and covering what you say above, I feel I do consider the risks before taking a plunge. Where an Entrepreneur (and I'll include myself in that categfory) is that the negative weight they add to a risk is not as great as it would be to someone else. By this I mean when weighing up whether to do something or not they will identify a risk but not view it as such a greater risk as someone who perhaps would not be classed as an Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs are also self motivating, and do not necessarily need the praise and motivation from someone else.
One question I would have is, can people only be a natural Entrepreneur or can people become an Entrepreneur?

Turi · Apr 18, 2005

This will sound really cliche'd but business people either have it or they don't. I believe there are some skills you just cannot learn or acquire. I've known a few people who have gone into business on their own and out of them I could easily predict which will go the farthest. It's that business savvy people have, or the drive to get somewhere. A few examples:

My mother owns a market stall and will be confined to that stall for as long as she wants to go on. Nothing more.

My brother set up his own tiling business nearly two years ago. He's got his head screwed on his shoulders and has done the business courses I have. He will be comfortable as long as people need tiling.

A fellow student at 19 was running his fathers Italian restaurant for a while and I know this lad has the drive and will most likely succeed. I don't know what it is with these ethnics but they are hardworking and just seem made for business.

You've got to have drive and ambition. Sure you build up your other skills, understand the environment weigh up the risks but you've really got to 'have it' get far.

simonread · Apr 18, 2005

To pick up on Richard's comment, I think that Entrepreneurs can be created, as well as being born.

A good friend of mine spent a long time building up the courage to start their own business - several years in fact. They had the right professional skills to provide the service but lacked the business skills to run the company.

They were very risk averse, and feared failure on every level. Eventually they built up the courage to start the business and the company is now going from strength to strength. More interestingly, they are no longer afraid of risk, and are opening new companies, and acquiring other businesses as they continue to grow.

Jumping over the first hurdle is always the hardest, after that it gets easier.

Simon

profitxchange · Apr 18, 2005

I note this theme is moving away from th original - perhaps because it is not easy the define what is is that makes an entrepreneur. I would still make the point they cannot be trained!

We can all characterise an entrepreneur but it is much more difficult to identify how you might creat one or improve the performance of one thru training.

It is more a coaching and mentoring by entrepreneurs that is more likely to create more entrepeneurs its not the classic chalk & talk process by Trainers. It has to be done by entrepreneurs that understand what it is/was that enabled them to do what they have done. Equally mere replication will not produce an entrepreneur.

Ozzy · Apr 18, 2005

OK, then is an Entrepreneur a simple block of rock. It has the potential to be something amazing, but it needs the tools (training) and artists (mentors/trainers) to help it get there. It just needs to want to get there.

SillyJokes · Apr 18, 2005

I'm not sure we count as an entrepreneur really but I have skills now that I didn't have when I worked for other people.

I am far more self motivated. Where I was moaning and griping about work when in paid employment, now I really try and focus on the positive and use every set back as a learning experience.

You might have to be a natural born entrepreneur to get the levels of Sir Alan Sugar (to pluck a name from the air) but perhaps you need only learn to buy low and sell high to make a good living for yourself.

We don't take risks before doing a lot of maths to see how it is likely to pan out and we don't tend to take risks. However other people seemed to regard us as nearly mad to give up paid employment to run a joke shop when we had four kids to bring up. So it depends upon your perspective perhaps. We didn't consider it a risk.

I think we have spent a lot of time doing things ourselves which we would have been better getting someone else to do. In this regard we could be considered to be blind to our weaknesses.

Basic minimum skills needed? You haven't mentioned the importance of buying and selling at the right price. Both these are critical to a business' success and should be skills that can be taught.

I reckon you could also teach someone to look at the over all bigger picture - otherwise you can get mired down in minutae. IE You can fret over giving an unwarrented refund to a customer who is having you on, but in the scheme of things what's £30 when you turned over £5000 that day?

All this said, there is an attitude you get when you work for yourself successfully, or perhaps the success comes when you have this attitude. You talk in positives, you treat people well, you work harder, you plan carefully and you don't suffer fools gladly.

lindaruffell · Sep 13, 2006

Entrepreneurs are extremely self motivated, confident, realistic people. They like to have self control, a sense of freedom, setting their own schedules and pursuing their dreams and passions and extremely hard working (they refuse to get sick!).

I agree some skills you just cannot learn or acquire. You need to have that fire in you. An entrepreneur is always with a new heart and mind trying to win over difficult situations. Once achieved a goal they quickly replace it with a greater goal.

Top Hat · Sep 13, 2006

Maths - the ability to work out if it can ever be profitably and analyse the risks
Commitment - Hard work
Focus - The ability to get straight to the important issues and sideline the rest
Lateral thinking - New better ways of doing things, don't just follow the rest.
Confidence - that you can do better job

DuaneJackson · Sep 13, 2006

I think they can be created, but thoe that are created will never be as good as the naturals.

As Simon said, it's getting over the initial hurdle and taking the plunge.

You have to confront the most pertinent question from "who moved my cheese": What would you do if you wasn't afraid?

Meg · Sep 14, 2006

This is a tough question to answer because there are so many things that are required to be a good entrepreneur. Many of my friends have mentioned most of them in this forum. But one thing I would like to mention is 'discipline'. This quality may seem to be too simple but one thing I have realized from my own experiences that, this discipline can create miracles in ones life as well as business and without this, ones life, and of course, business can go haywire. So, I would say that a good entrepreneur should always maintain discipline in whatever work they do.

Rob Holmes · Sep 14, 2006

Ozzy said:
One question I would have is, can people only be a natural Entrepreneur or can people become an Entrepreneur?

I wouldn't say anyone can do the best job BUT..

I really believe that it's something that can be unlocked in most people - heres my gut feelings on how...

I've found the main thing that blocks entrepreneurship is the fear of the consequences of taking risks. (What would you do if there was no risk in doing it?)

As lessons are learnt and the skill to analyse and project concepts are honed up - people get braver, failure becomes less likely and ironically the fear of failure reduces.

This means that those who never do things because of the fear of consequences stay not doing things - but those who, although they have a fear, continue and get better and better at risk taking, take more risks (that seem small to them but big to others), fail less and generally with bigger risks is a bigger return.

Faith and accuracy in your decision taking ability grows as you take more risks despite your fears - so long as you learn from the results (whether you succeed or fail) !

Rob

<edited: adding further thoughts>

Deleted member 6464 · Sep 14, 2006

Hello,

Interesting----------

I think the first things an entrepreneur needs is Passion and determination.

Passion and determination would help you to get over the fear ; which is ok as the say " feel the fear , but do it anyway" , it would also sustain you in business.

It is knowing some of the risks ( you can't know all) by talking to enterpreneurial minded people , not people that want to sit in their comfort zone and would like you to take the sit next to them

, but going for it anyway and dealing with it as they come with good advice and support.

Willingness to learn .

And as someone mentioned discipline this is very important , even if you are a born entrepreneur , lack of discipline can ruin you along the way.

I guess my answer would be , yes entrepreneurs are born , but in the right environment they can be good or great .

best wishes,

funmi

haren_ent · Apr 16, 2009

Hi all,

From my perspective true entrepreneurs are born with qualities that are inherent (May be it's in their DNA to a certain extent in a form that is latent). How much we dwell on the fact that there are certain types of qualities that define an entrepreneur, there are some distinct characteristics (Which are more unrevealed than not) that are present in each and every entrepreneur that are virtually inimitable in their own terms, definitions and frameworks (which are 99.9% of the time known only to themselves).

Talking in a general perspective entrepreneurs can be bred. There are emerging trends of entrepreneurship related education worldwide which aims at upbringing entrepreneurs with systematic education. There are skills like language, communication, leadership and management which are perfectly capable of being imparted on individuals. This increase awareness will create entrepreneurial mindsets among individuals and further enhance and advance those who are born with those latent entrepreneurial characteristics.

Constant risk takers, with inherent ability, who are not vaguely making decisions but who possess the inner drive to make something out of nothing and creating business value which makes economic senses is my definition of a true entrepreneur.

Harendra Hewakuruppu..
Fairy Land Tea Factory,
Sri Lanka.

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