Introduction
You think you might be an entrepreneur. And you want to take a screening test to find out. Testing is a very valuable tool which supports your focus on your entrepreneurial strengths and weakness. However, this is not the complete picture. Your skills, education, and experience also provide additional tools that will help you, should you decide to start your own business. The initial step in starting ones' own enterprise is to genuinely analyze if you've got the right stuff to pull it off.
The Procedure
As a first step, decide if you are suited for entrepreneurship by taking a career preference test called the Combined Strong/MBTI Entrepreneur Test. The test is self-administered online. People who are self-motivated will find this action appealing irrespective of receiving help in interpreting the results. Taking a self-administered test is evidence in itself that you are a self-starter.
Entrepreneurial Traits
Numerous studies have established the traits of small enterprise operators over time. The studies examine traits and attributes that appear to target characteristics that typically manifest in effective owner-managers. Testing takes into consideration those qualities that appear to differentiate the business owner that starts up an enterprise from the one that works for other people
There are many key attributes of effective entrepreneurs. Although every successful entrepreneur would not necessarily possess all the attributes, it's likely that most of them are embraced by the successful business owner.
In business, the dedicated entrepreneur always has a sophisticated skill-set of abilities that sets him apart from ordinary managers. These one-of-a-kind attributes lead him to accomplish more than the typical business person, and he is therefore able to find a way to do the things that must be done to keep the enterprise afloat.
Can the individual make judgments swiftly and routinely? Can he make rational choices as well as intuitive judgments in accordance with the circumstances at hand? A 'yes' to these questions means the individual possesses the essential entrepreneur attribute of decisiveness which serves him well.
Is the individual trustworthy? Can the individual be friends with others effortlessly? If the reply to these questions is 'yes', then another essential entrepreneurial quality exists for the reason that each business transaction requires genuine interest in potential customers as a prerequisite to persuading them to buy.
How exactly does the individual respond to problems? An individual needs to have the capacity to identify difficulties early on, then to fairly investigate them and discover remedies. In doing so he'll most likely succeed in running a business.
The Business Enterprise Plan
A strategic business plan is the vehicle with which you conduct the research for your market, decide which personnel to involve in the sale of your product, and validate your revenue and expense financial forecasts. It is the means by which you will convince first yourself and then others who can help you that your company has a road map to success.
Candid Talk
Start your enterprise by retaining only those personnel that are absolutely necessary to maintain basic operations. Later, you can recruit additional qualified people when the budget allows. Setting up an enterprise is not always easy and it also doesn't just materialize simply because you slap together a web site page with some products or affiliate links on it.
The formative years of business launch is often hard on loved ones life. The stress of resistance from a significant other is always challenging when balancing against the requirements of establishing an enterprise. There may also be financial hardships till the business gets profitable which often can take months or even years to achieve. You may need to adapt to a reduced standard of living or put family resources in jeopardy.
If you do not take pleasure in your enterprise and the product you are going to offer, failure is a definite unwelcome option. I say this because starting a business takes determination, more determination than perhaps anything else in life. You must have a burning need to succeed and make the business enterprise work regardless of might come along.
You are going to encounter hurdles. Friends and family will advice you it won't work and that you are doomed to failure. But don't let negativity get in your way. Surround yourself with positive people who will support you in your efforts.
Most small enterprise failures are caused by insufficient preparation. It's impossible to get rid of all of the risks associated with starting a small business. However, it is possible to enhance your chances of success with good planning and preparation.
Tips
The Enterprise owner is usually first on the scene in the morning and the individual who leaves last. Operating a business can wear you down. Be ready to log extended time on the job to achieve the rewards of entrepreneurship. Some business owners feel burned out by having to handle the many obligation on their own shoulders. Strong commitment to make the business enterprise be successful will assist you to make it through slow-downs, in addition to times of burnout.
You need faith along with a desire to achieve success against all odds. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is so much more than simply waxing euphoric over lots of plans or projecting a sharp business acumen. It's about determination, ego strength and just plain tenacity. You will need self-confidence as well as a burning desire to make it no matter what obstacles present themselves. It's essential to work tirelessly in order to develop an enterprise, and have the stamina to keep working until the business takes on a life of its own. Then, it's essential to continuously nurture and support it.
When you have identified your individual skills and education, concentrate on your enterprise know-how. Focus on specific business information instead of general life experience. Then, judge your decision-making abilities.
After you own your enterprise, you're in charge, and plenty of decisions need to be made according to what you believe. Not every one of these choices must be made immediately, but many will require immediate attention. If your standard response to problems is to give problem resolving duties to another individual, then you will likely have difficulties with operating a business.
Values and Balance
In a sense, a true entrepreneur is living a balanced life because he is living his passion.
Perhaps you've decided it's time for you to make that jump. Prior to doing so, it's a smart idea to determine if your persona and pursuits are similar to current business owners.
What various levels of commitment do we put on our business, financial, family, social and spiritual lives? This is a value decision all entrepreneurially-minded individuals should make. The first step in your assessment is to make an honest appraisal of your personal skills and education.
Reflect on your life experiences. Write down two situations where you solved a problem and the decision you made worked well. Then take note of two situations where the decisions you made didn't work so well. You'll want to record everything you discovered from these scenarios.
The academic community thinks that book learning entrepreneurial skills will help provide individuals an edge to bring out several important capabilities necessary for a start-up business owner to follow through on long-term business commitments.
Others say that you simply can't train a person to possess a great concept, but that interpersonal skills, marketing, advertising and basic management techniques can be cultivated. Some believe that entrepreneurs start life with such skills-set potential. Others say that people are molded by early life experiences as well as interaction with mentors.
The Truth about Business Failure
At one time, all an aspiring entrepreneur needed to make a reputation for himself was investment capital along with a unique concept or invention. Times have changed. Entrepreneurs must have the right stuff to tackle the already bloated corporate environment, and it also requires a greater charismatic voice to drown out the competition.
With that said, the failure rate of start-ups is not as conventional wisdom says it is. We have all heard that the majority of enterprises fail in the first five years. But an in-depth study in 1993 by the New Jersey Institute of Technology suggests those figures are a myth.
They discovered that at most 18% of new organizations fail in the first 8 years of business. 54% make it through more than 8 years with their original proprietors or with a change in ownership, and the 28% remaining voluntarily end operations without loss to lenders.
Conclusion
After completing the Entrepreneur Test, it is likely you will get a far better understanding of how you match up against other entrepreneurs. But testing isn't the whole picture. Your talent, education, and expertise also give you tools that will assist you should you choose to start your own business enterprise.
For many individuals, starting an enterprise is the fulfillment of achieving a lifetime aspiration; but disregarding little details in the formative stages can interfere with the successful implementation of that dream.
Last, but unquestionably not least, effective entrepreneurs need to be ready to work very hard and invest many long months and years building up a reputation. At the end of the day, customers want to conduct business with an owner who is honest and who can be trusted.
