Entrepreneurs are Important: Here’s Why

I always start my first entrepreneurship class each year by stating that entrepreneurship is not necessarily about starting a business. Entrepreneurship is really a skill set and a way of being in the world. It is about thinking innovatively and creatively, no matter where you are in your career journey. Yes, that often leads to starting your own business to pursue your passion or need in the market, but entrepreneurial skills are needed everywhere. Here are a few entrepreneurial characteristics that are important, and why:

Finding Opportunity: By definition, entrepreneurs are people who look for a need in the marketplace and fill it. To do so, they are tuned into gaps and opportunities to create solutions. That is a valuable workplace skill, whether you start your own business or work for someone else. Spotting opportunities and truly listening to the challenges your colleagues and customers are facing is a skill. Always being curious and gathering information are going to help you identify ways to create or suggest your own solutions. Contributing in this way helps the overall business and can make you a critical and creative resource.

Being Nimble: Having an entrepreneurial mindset also means being nimble. It means recognizing the problem, but not getting stuck in problem thinking, where you’re focused on the negative aspects of the situation. Entrepreneurs focus on the solution. When you are seeking solutions, you are being creative and can begin making adjustments and taking steps toward turning around the situation or seizing the opportunity. The speed of making these adjustments and learning from the outcomes is key to an entrepreneur’s success.

Always Learning: Being an entrepreneur means always being open to learning what you don’t know. Successful entrepreneurs from Mark Cuban to Warren Buffet to Oprah emphasize how important it is to always be learning. It is also about being humble and really knowing yourself. Look deep to find out what your passions, strengths, motivations and weaknesses are. Then, look around you at the resources you have, such as development programs, books, mentors and places to learn and grow your skill set, like the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center! Also, surround yourself with people who think differently than you and who can add to what you know. That diversity of thought is key to moving any organization forward.

Forward Thinking: Successful entrepreneurs are generally forward-thinking, focused on the horizon instead of the rearview mirror. You can spend all your time living in the past or comparing yourself to your peers. But to navigate a fast-changing business environment, you have to be looking forward and anticipating what is next. The Lean Startup book by Eric Ries focuses on listening to customers, learning quickly, failing fast to learn what you need to adjust and always looking forward.

Helping Others: In helping others, entrepreneurs build valuable relationships. Entrepreneurs go above and beyond for customers, and they build their companies by fostering strong relationships and meeting unmet needs in the market. Find opportunities to help others in ways that don’t take an enormous amount of time or energy, and then deliver. While this seems simple, it is often not done in the marketplace. When I had my business, one of my large retail customers told me that the reason they did business with us is that we were always there to listen and help them when they needed us.

Own the Outcome: This is simply about taking responsibility. With successful entrepreneurs, the buck stops with them. They are responsible for the business, the people who work there and how it operates. They own the outcome, which builds trust and typically comes from people who live their values and passion in their life.

So, being an entrepreneur is important because it is a way of being in life that makes the world a better place. There has certainly never been a more important time to be an entrepreneur than now!

 

Contributor Bio

Bruce Leech leads the DePaul University Coleman Center for Entrepreneurship. As a faculty member, he teaches courses in strategic entrepreneurship and business plan development. An experienced entrepreneur, Leech is the founder of CrossCom National, an information technology data/voice company, and co-founder of Evolve USA, a membership organization for business owners. He has been inducted into the Chicago Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

Leech earned an MBA in finance from DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Michigan State University. He also completed the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

, , ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar