Who is an Entrepreneur?

Definitions may vary, and specific requirements may exist for each industry, but anybody can be an entrepreneur. Anybody. An entrepreneur is a person who runs a business, any person who turns ideas into sustainable ventures.

Some people are of the notion that people are born entrepreneurs. This is simply not true. It is a skill, and every skill can be learned, improved upon, and updated. This ability to learn and improve is often the mark of a successful entrepreneur.

The Personality of an Entrepreneur

Drive and Energy: An entrepreneur needs to have the capacity to work hard for long hours to grow their business. Long hours and hard work are the rule rather than the exception.
Self Confidence: An entrepreneur must develop confidence in their ability to achieve set goals in order to realise their dreams. Entrepreneurship can sometimes feel like the ramblings of a mad scientist to people on the outside. Your belief in your ability to deliver will translate into other people’s faith in your business.
Commitment: Entrepreneurship is a labour of commitment. It is the long-term process of being involved from idea to fulfilment. And even after that, sustainability and expansion become the new focus for many businesses. There are no shortcuts.
Persistence: Entrepreneurs frequently must overcome hurdles, solve problems, and complete unwieldy tasks. They must remain motivated – against all odds – to find solutions and push past obstacles.

Is Passion Important?

We are all full of ideas. Sometimes we may be lucky enough to stumble upon an idea we are passionate about. This sort of idea is the best starting point for any entrepreneur. It is better to build a business rooted in something you are already passionate about, as it will be easier for you to push through tough challenges and stick to them.

Having a passion for business has proven to be a key factor for many successful business owners. But passion alone is not enough to make any venture successful and there are instances of entrepreneurs whose businesses began as a necessity rather than a passion project.

Identifying Needs

The great success of every business idea is that it meets a need and has the potential to solve a problem.

Needs identification is the process of discovering what a customer finds essential, their constraints, pain points, and motivations. It is a sales technique used to understand how your goods or services will be of value to the customer. This information is consequential to how you approach your idea and turn it into a plan.

Your first step to identifying a need is listening to people around you or in the communities you want to work.

The years since the pandemic have been turbulent for businesses. Sustainability has become an even more pressing concern for small business owners, exacerbating an issue that was already a threat before the pandemic. Even though lockdowns have eased, some enterprises are still recovering, even three years later. The businesses that thrived found a way to remain active despite the lockdown.

Innovation and resilience are now a necessity for every business.

Starting a Business

The start is always an idea, but a business idea is not a solution. The successful implementation of ideas becomes solutions. Your ability to move an idea into reality is the main aim of every aspiring entrepreneur.

Here are a few helpful steps along the way:

Developing a business plan.
Market survey.
Getting funds for your business.
Register your business.
Advertise your business.

Developing a business plan

No one should start a business without a plan. A good business plan is vital. It gives the entrepreneur a roadmap to follow, refer back to, and use to pitch their business idea.

Need help with your business plan? Here are some helpful ERT resources to get you on your way:

Market research

Market research helps you learn key things about your competitors, potential customers, and the potential success of your business early on in your planning process. It is a necessary step to take before starting a business.

Learn more about the importance of market research and get valuable tips to help you get started on this video.

Raising Capital and Related Resources

It will be important to raise capital and other resources to implement your business plan. Capital is mostly money, but you might be able to get value for free or in deferred payments.

Want to learn more about capital? Check out this advisory. You can also take a look at our list of opportunities to see if there is something for you.

Formalizing your business operations by registration, tax, and other regulatory requirements is vital to accessing loans, grants, and other private and public sector support for startups.

Take a look at our advisory on business registration.