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When I first started my business, I went to the bank for a business loan. Simple enough, right? I had my business plan in order, an itemized list of everything that I would need to successfully run my business, and all the necessary documents. To put it plainly, I was turned down. Why? Not because I did not have the credit to back it up, or did not have a good business plan. The reason the bank man gave me was “because I did not understand that over 90% of businesses fail within the first year, and that I was not prepared in case mine did.”

While I understand he was attempting to look out for my best interest, I felt cheated. He was not even going to give me the opportunity to fail. On some level, everyone that goes into business for themselves understand that chances are, the business will not make it past it’s first year, and I was no different. The only thing was I had faith in myself that I would not give up trying. The loan processor took that as I would spend my life savings before giving up, and he did not want to see me financially ruin myself.

So what did I do? I set out on the adventure on my own, only using the limited resources and cash fast financial backing that I had. I bought second hand office supplies and furniture. I bought the small cheap laptop instead of the multi-thousand dollar computer specifically designed for what I would be doing. Without the proper money for advertising, I had to get creative. My advertising methods was unconventional, but they worked. I found that I did not need large amounts of money in order to get my business to the world.

Hey Folks,

I was recently at a conference with my colleagues and heard from one of the top entrepreneurs in my business the ultimate in explanation for what defines an entrepreneur.  Most people use the word entrepreneur very loosely and I think that the following will set the record straight.

An Entrepreneur is personally growing

An Entrepreneur is always learning

An Entrepreneur is always looking for opportunities everywhere

An Entrepreneur is seeking advice from qualified people

An Entrepreneur invests in their future

An Entrepreneur is willing to pay a price

An Entrepreneur supports their own business

An Entrepreneur is developing others

An Entrepreneur is a blessing to their community

An Entrepreneur is always developing people skills

An Entrepreneur is an ambassador for their business

An Entrepreneur takes responsibility

An Entrepreneur understands that for every adversary carries with it the seed of equal benefit

An Entrepreneur has long term thinking

An Entrepreneur knows that success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile endeavor

An Entrepreneur sets goals and works towards those goals

Entrepreneurs create jobs and fuel the economy

This is the most concise collection of the characteristics of an entrepreneur that I have ever heard and is truly the heartbeat of what characteristics are necessary to truly succeed as a business owner.  The Entrepreneur is a rare breed.  It takes guts and determination to manifest greatness in one’s life.  It takes the ability to lead others and sometimes be humble.

There is no doubt that many people would like to know exactly how to become a successful online entrepreneur

For a start let us take a look at the dictionary definition of entrepreneur. I think we need to be clear about what exactly an entrepreneur is before going any further.

Cambridge dictionaries online define an entrepreneur as someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves risks

So there is no confusion here. It is very clear. If you start your own business you are an entrepreneur but it does seem to have to also include an element of risk.

You could argue that any new business involves risk and that is certainly true, but successful entrepreneurs are willing to take much greater risks than your average new business starter

How exactly do you become a successful entrepreneur?

Well that has to be the million dollar question. If there were a prescribed and reliable formula, we would all be multi millionaires. There would be no risk and so paradoxically, perhaps no more entrepreneurs!

There are certain characteristics that successful entrepreneurs seem to possess, such as total dedication.

So what drives an entrepreneur and what makes them different to most other people? What is their vision compared to mere mortals?

For certain there are a number of qualities they all share and without them, they would probably not be entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial qualities

You could say that any person willing to work hard at their own business is an entrepreneur but it has to be more than that. Many people try unsuccessfully to make it on their own, and many, in fact most fail, often just giving up because their efforts do not produce the hoped for results quickly enough

Michael Gerber wrote a very popular book entitled The E-Myth Revisited about the myths of entrepreneurship. He explained that entrepreneurs must have three skills to win. Gerber claimed that entrepreneurs must possess and execute the technical, the managerial, and the visionary skills to succeed as an entrepreneur by creating a successful business.

I believe that Gerber was only partially correct. He leaves readers with the impression that the entrepreneur (alone) must consistently possess and exercise all three of these skills for the business to succeed, and for the entrepreneur to win. I believe that the key distinction is that the three skills represent the three FUNCTIONS of the business that must be completed for the business to succeed. I believe that the entrepreneur does not have to perform all three functions personally. In fact, I am convinced that the business and the entrepreneur will be more successful if the entrepreneur DOES NOT personally perform all three functions.

A business is like a chain. It is only as successful as the weakest link in the chain. The three links to any business chain are the technical function, the management function and the visionary function. The success of a business will rarely exceed the level of poorest execution of the three functions. For example, if the entrepreneur performs the technical and visionary functions at an excellent level, but performs the management function at a poor level, the business success will rarely rise above the poor management level. Therein lies the dilemma. The business is limited to the lowest level at which these three functions are performed. Yet, it is extremely unlikely that any one person, in this case the lone entrepreneur, can exercise all three functions to a high enough level at one time to generate the expected business success. Hence, businesses where the entrepreneur must personally exercise all three functions will rarely succeed. Let’s look further at each of the business functions to learn why this is true.