Think like an entrepreneur
 If you're thinking about starting your own business, take the test. See if you have a background and personality consistent with a high probability of success in running your own business. Read it carefully and answer the questions honestly. No one is going to see the results but you.
The
questions are designed to stimulate introspection. Think carefully about each
issue. Choose an answer before looking at the explanation. Record that answer
and then read the question's explanation. Mark those questions in which your
answer indicates that you wouldn't make a good entrepreneur, and come back
and think about them again after considering all the questions.
Have
your pen and paper ready? Great, proceed now.
QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION
Are you a self-starter?
Do you like and get along with people?
Has your career so far been primarily in:
Did you engage in business activity as a child or teenager?
How old are you now?
Have you ever been fired (not laid off) because you just
didn't get along with your boss or the environment?
What is your main reason for considering your own business?
How would you react if you started a business and it failed,
losing most or all of your savings in the process?
What kind of gamble interests you the most?
How much management experience have you had?
Do you become totally involved in your work, tending to talk
about it over meals with your family, to friends, at parties, etc.?
Are you prepared to work 80 or more hours a week for an
indefinite number of years?
When you engage in competitive activities (sports, games,
etc.) what is most important to you?
Do you belong to and actively participate in church groups,
civic organizations, social and fraternal clubs, political organizations?
Do you like to solve problems yourself, or are you okay with
getting help and advice from an expert?
How do you handle getting several tasks done at the same time?
How do you rate your organizational abilities?
How is your health and energy?
Are you unemployed?
How do you handle conflict of interest (as in dissatisfied
customers or firing employees)?
How do you feel about authority?
Can you make decisions?
ANSWERS:
1. Are you a self-starter?
A small business owner must have drive and initiative. He or she has to be the prime mover for getting things done day in and day out. Some people say that this is the single most important characteristic of an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, it's sometimes hard to tell if you have this characteristic if you've spent most of your career in a corporate job in which all of your work is initiated for you by someone else. If you chose (a) and consistently generate your own ideas (event in a corporate setting), you have an advantage over those who wait for others to set their goals.
2. Do you like and get along with people?
Nearly all small businesses succeed through people, primarily customers and employees. People who don't genuinely enjoy interpersonal contact on a regular basis are at a distinct disadvantage. Many start-up opportunities are in service businesses where personal contact is especially important. If you can honestly answer (a), you are better equipped to function in a small business environment that if not.
3. Has your career so far been primarily in: Small business
(less than 200 employees); Medium-sized business (200 to 1,000 employees);
Large business (over 1,000 employees); Government or nonprofit organizations?
The most valuable experience for your own small business is (a), working in someone else's small business, especially in the same field. Big business and government experience can actually be a detriment, because the characteristics for success in those areas are often negatives in an entrepreneur. Further, the small business environment is something that must be experienced to be fully understood. If you've never been there, it's hard to know just what you're getting into.
4. Did you engage in business activity as a child or teenager?
The work ethic and entrepreneurial drive show up early; (a) is the most encouraging answer. If you didn't have it when you were young, you're less likely to develop it later on.
5. How old are you now?
For what it's worth, more successful entrepreneurs seem to start in their 30's than at other ages. This age seems to combine enough experience with enough youth to be enthusiastic.
6. Have you ever been fired (not laid off) because you just
didn't get along with your boss or the environment?
Within reason, it's better to have been fired. Entrepreneurs don't like working in someone else's structured organization, and they often make waves about it. They often have trouble with authority and are vocal if they don't agree with the way things are done. Be careful, though, a continuous history of firings can mean you have a serious personality problem.
7. What is your main reason for considering your own business?
(a) or (b) put you in the entrepreneur's profile. The most pervasive characteristic of entrepreneurs is that they don't like working for someone else. They like to call the shots themselves. They also tend to be extroverts who crave recognition. Money is nice but of secondary importance.
8. How would you react if you started a business and it
failed, losing most or all of your savings in the process?
Many if not most successful entrepreneurs have started more than once. Failure is a very real part of small business. It is essential that an entrepreneur be resilient and able to bounce back. If you chose (c), think hard about this whole idea.
9. What kind of gamble interests you the most?
Contrary to popular belief, entrepreneurs are not big risk takers. They don't like to gamble, but are willing to take calculated risks as in (b).
10.How much management experience have you had?
A small business owner has to manage people to be successful. It's better to have made your managerial mistakes on someone else's payroll. (a) is the preferred background.
11. Do you become totally involved in your work, tending to
talk about it over meals with your family, to friends, at parties, etc.?
The best entrepreneurs devote their entire energy to their businesses. they live, eat, drink, and sleep their business. If you don't do that and your competitor does, who do you think is likely to win? Some people don't have that kind of dedication regardless of how hard they try. Some have it for whatever job they're doing. Some have it only for a certain field in which they're particularly interested. If you never experience an all-consuming affinity for work, think twice about small business. If you can only generate this kind of enthusiasm for a particular field that fascinates you, be sure that's the field your business is in.
12. Are you prepared to work 80 or more hours a week for an
indefinite number of years?
Small business has been described as working 16 hours a day to get away from an 8-hour-a-day job. Experience indicates that successful entrepreneurs work terribly long hours for many years before they get to relax. If you can't honestly choose (a) or at least (b), you may want to rethink your plans.
13. When you engage in competitive activities (sports, games,
etc.) what is most important to you?
Small business is an extremely competitive world. The best entrepreneurs fixate on winning, on being better than the other guy.
14. Do you belong to and actively participate in church
groups, civic organizations, social and fraternal clubs, political
organizations?
Answer (a) is the best. Successful entrepreneurs tend to be outgoing people who love social contact and genuinely enjoy meetings and groups. The contacts that they make in these groups are very helpful to their businesses. If you aren't already the joiner type, don't expect to change and become one when you start your own business.
15. Do you like to solve problems yourself, or are you okay
with getting help and advice from an expert?
Effective businesspeople get the best answer as quickly as possible. That usually means looking to an expert---answer (a)---even if you have to pay them.
16. How do you handle getting several tasks done at the same
time?
Small business ownership is like a juggling act. You have to keep at least a dozen halls in the air all the time. If you can't divide your attention among several concurrent activities, you're almost certain to fail. Answer (a) is best, but this is a skill that can be learned.
17. How do you rate your organizational abilities?
The ability to organize people and tasks is an extremely important entrepreneurial task. A disorganized business is generally losing customers and money. If you're not an organized person now, the type who would honestly answer (a) or (b), you probably won't become one by going into business.
18. How is your health and energy?
If you haven't gotten the idea by now, your own small business is going to be a tough, stressful grind. If you didn't answer (a), and don't have a great deal of physical and emotional strength and stamina, you'd better think twice.
19. Are you unemployed?
(a) is the most promising answer; (c) can be a disaster. It's rarely a good idea to try to buy a job by starting a business. If you weren't motivated to do it before you lost your job, you're probably not going to be a good entrepreneur now. Getting fired can be a lot like getting divorced. You're very vulnerable for quite some time afterward. Be doubly careful before making any major commitments. (Don't confuse this with question 6---we're driving at a different issue here. It's okay to have been fired in the past because you were independent5, but it's not a great idea to think of small business as a way to create a job if you've just been let go).
20. How do you handle conflict of interest (as in dissatisfied
customers or firing employees)?
Conflicts are a way of life in business. In small business, the buck stops at the owner. There are conflicts with customers, suppliers, and employees all the time. In franchising, there's an added element, conflicts with the franchiser. An entrepreneur has to be able to deal with conflict without letting it get him down. Answers (a) and (b) are okay. Answer (c) may be a real problem. If you find conflict devastating, small business may be your route to a nervous breakdown!
21. How do you feel about authority?
The desire for independence is one of the primary motivators among successful entrepreneurs. Answer (b) indicates that you fit the profile. However, an obsession with independence can spell trouble. No one can be completely independent, especially of customers. Too independent an attitude can be a real problem if your business is a franchise. A franchisee has to be willing to accept the franchiser's model of the business. If you sign the franchise agreement and can't do it their way, you risk losing your investment. In that case, answer (a) is best. It reflects an independent personality but not one so fiercely freedom-loving that it cannot survive within a structure of rules.
22. Can you make decisions?
Decision-making is what entrepreneurs do for a living. The ability to make reasonably quick choices and live with the outcome is an absolutely essential characteristic. (a) is the best answer, (b) is a poor second, while (c) should raise a warning flag.
Do
you have the right stuff? If so, it may be the beginning of the most exciting
time in your life. If not, it's better to find out now.
If
you came up with a majority of negative responses, you probably shouldn't go
into your own business.
If
you're like most people, you'll fall in the middle of the road on most
issues. In that case, you may want to go ahead, but be careful that you
really understand what you're getting into.
Good
luck with whatever you decide
By William Laser PHD
|
here is a power within us. Some people call it inner strength. But the greatest and most accurate reference to it is the Holy Spirit. If the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead would come upon us, it would quicken our mortal bodies. As soon as we persue a special relationship with God we possess this power.
We are already "endowed" with the power to do amazing things -- far more amazing than most of us will ever attempt -- if we'd only understand and BELIEVE that the power is within, not without. He has placed it within us. So let us learn to use it. And we will overcome all obstacles.
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