I suppose none of us can be blamed for it really since survival these days means money, but the true spirit of entrepreneurship seems to be lost in all the technical and logistical processes forming part of running a business. If you introduce yourself as an entrepreneur to someone, what they likely see in their minds is a picture of someone who runs a business in more of a formalised fashion.
They assume this is your causal, after-hours look, whereas they probably imagine you have four or five expensive suites you deploy when you’re power-dressing. The already blurry line between business and entrepreneurship is growing increasingly fuzzy, and while the two aren’t always mutually exclusive, it is indeed important to be able to make the distinction.
The importance of being able to make the distinction perhaps applies more to the true entrepreneurs at heart than those who can be officially referred to more as businesspersons, as this is where and how one should look if they want to rediscover the true spirit of what entrepreneurship is all about. I.e. a true entrepreneur at heart doesn’t necessarily want to be a businessperson, while a businessperson only really cares about the bottom line.
If you are a businessman or a businesswoman, you run a business of some sort – an enterprise which follows traditional business principles of sourcing or creating at a lower price than that at which you sell products or services. We’re heading into entrepreneur territory when we consider pretty much the same course of action, except that’s where enterprise in the true sense of the phrase comes into play.
An entrepreneur does this in an enterprising manner, which means that while they’re under no illusions about the fact that money ultimately needs to be made, they enjoy the process of creating opportunities to generate that money and do so with a bit of flair. An entrepreneur is a problem-solver to the core, which is why they keep moving onto the next venture after one appears stable in its operational success. Entrepreneurs can work all over and find new ways to create that revenue, whether they are going to another country to start up a new business (more here on this process) or they are expanding into other industries with their core idea, they are able to adapt to these situations in a positive and lucrative way.
If you get bored having to man your corner shop for example then you’re an entrepreneur and not a businessman, or at worst you’re an entrepreneur at heart, constantly seeking a greater challenge to the manner in which you engage in business.
Entrepreneurs’ minds are always working, so if you want to rediscover the true spirit of entrepreneurship which lives inside of you, revisit that book of ideas you had and resolve to find a way to implement the next one. If you’re short on resources then the process of trying to come up with these resources or to try and go ahead with the venture without these resources will likely satisfy your entrepreneur’s soul.
Go for that crazy idea – it may not be as crazy as it seems once it has been set into motion, but perhaps more importantly, you might run into a necessary pivot along the way, ultimately making for a pathway to the true source of what will satisfy your inner entrepreneur’s soul.