Entrepreneur - covering the basics

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

By its simplest definition, entrepreneurship is the act of identifying an opportunity and building a business around it. That business could make profit for its founders or it could be a business that just focuses on doing social good, but both need an entrepreneurially minded person to get started.

An entrepreneur is the person who can see an opportunity, understand the risks and then take action to turn the potential of an idea into reality.

Entrepreneurs aren’t just businessmen or businesswomen who live on private islands and use private jets to get around. The person who started your favourite local café, the teenager who walks dogs for their neighbours or the creator of your favourite YouTube channel can all be called Entrepreneur as well.

SO WHAT’S A BUSINESS MODEL?

The way that products and services are sold is through business models.

The traditional way to define a business model is: the way in which you intend to make money.

You might sell a product to a customer for 25% more than it costs you, or perhaps you might sell a service for $50 per hour of your time, both are common business models.

Sometimes money isn’t the sole objective, maybe it’s to make the world a better place in a very specific way.

THE ENTREPRENEUR’S MINDSET

Entrepreneurs see the world through a lens of business models. They observe people or ‘consumers’ and see where the money is flowing. They listen carefully to people’s complaints, understanding that in someone else’s problem lies the opportunity for a solution that same person might pay for.

If you want to create your own job, then you’re going to need to develop this mindset as well.

This mindset doesn’t just require being aware of opportunities though, there’s a bit more to it than that. An entrepreneur’s mindset must be able to navigate the ups and downs of the business lifecycle.

Here are two of the most important qualities of an entrepreneur’s mindset:

RESILIENCE

This is undoubtedly the most valuable quality for anyone who wants to create their own job. Business is hard, and you will most definitely suffer setbacks and numerous challenges along the way. If however, you can maintain an attitude of determination, you will be less bothered when things go wrong.