Finding Success as an Entrepreneur
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See how common characteristics of entrepreneurs take them down the road to success. Learn about Thomas Edison and what helped him transition from inventor to innovator and then entrepreneur. Learn common mistakes entrepreneurs make and what to do to avoid them. Find business success by learning from those that have gone before us.
![en.tre.pre.neur
[ahn-truh-pruh-nur]
-noun
1. hard to define
What is an entrepreneur?](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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Finding Success as an Entrepreneur
- 1. What Does It Take?
- 2. en.tre.pre.neur [ahn-truh-pruh-nur] -noun 1. hard to define What is an entrepreneur?
- 3. How do they think? Optimistic Persistent Creative Confident
- 4. It is rare that an entrepreneur is both inventor and innovator. Image credit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngreathouse/2012/06/07/few-entrepreneurs-are-both-inventors-and-innovators-which-are-you/
- 5. Image credit: http://luciusblog.com/nature-of-entrepreneurship-how- to-improve-your-nature-of-entrepreneurship-and-achieve-better-results-in-business/
- 6. BASIC Entrepreneurs Through the Years Top left: Henry Ford Top right: Thomas Edison Bottom left: George Eastman Bottom right: Steve Jobs http://www.incomediary.com/30-most-influential-entrepreneurs-of-all-time-2
- 7. BASIC Failed Tried again 1 His Success Invested wisely Made money 2 Applied skills Taught others 3
- 8. Know Your Customer “Customers don’t innovate, customer’s validate.” -Scott Cook, Intuit
- 9. Fatal Flaws of Today’s Entrepreneur 1. Customer problem doesn’t exist 2. Customers don’t know they have a problem 3. Customers are unwilling to pay for a solution 4. Solution doesn’t solve the problem
- 10. Pivoting ? 1. Know when to pivot 2. Use good judgment 3. Refocus and take what you have learned www.graphicriver.net/goashape
Editor's Notes
- Growing up, I remember that every time my Dad wanted to learn about something, he would find one of these books. Funny enough, there is even one for Enrepreneurship. But can you learn how to be successful from a book? Is an entrepreneurial spirit born or learned? What does it take to succeed as an Entrepreneur? These are all questions that we will answer shortly.
- In order to figure out what makes an entrepreneur successful, we need to define what an entrepreneur is. The true definition is a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. But that doesn’t explain who an entrepreneur is? What are they made of? How do they think? What are their characteristics?
- Entrepreneurs can envision success long before they attain it. It is a specific mindset they live in. They are optimistic, persistent, creative, and confident. If you live in the mindset that you wont or can’t, then that is the exact result you will get. You have heard life coaches and motivators say over and over, “close your eyes and see yourself accomplishing exactly what it is that you want to.” I imagine successful entrepreneurs do this without a second thought. Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Success takes hard work and living in the mindset of success is the first step to getting to the top.
- When doing my research, I struggled with finding a person in history to consider an entrepreuneur. I found plenty of inventors in history and slightly fewer innovators, but I learned that it is rare that an entrepreneur is both inventor and innovator. Read chart…. However, some of the most well-known entrepreneurs have found a balance between all of these characteristics. They are able to deal with complex problems, and relate them to customer problems. They are able to work individually and then know when they can’t do it all and rely on a team. We will talk about one of them in depth and what he did to find success.
- I came across this picture and it really made me think. (read quote) But not all entrepreneurs get to this point. So what are the contributing factors to the success of an entrepreneur? Are there certain rules or path that they all follow? We can take a look back at some entrepreneurs that found success that you may have heard of and find out what helped them.
- Henry Ford, made mainstream automobiles a reality. He liked to tinker. Once he took apart put together a timepiece that he father gave him just to see if he could. He had what it took to become one of the most influential entrepreneurs after several failures. But he knew that those failures contributed to his success. He said, Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward. The second picture is Thomas Edison. One of the raritys that is inventor and innovator, he was no stranger to failure either. We will talk about him more in a minute. The next picture is George Eastman. I had to include him since he made so many strides forward in the world of photography. He too was an inventor and an innovator. He founded the Kodak company in 1884 and brought photography from a very expensive hobby to the public so anyone could take pictures and preserve memories forever. The last picture is someone we have become quite familiar with over the course of this program. Steve Jobs took a garage based business and turned it into a multi-billion dollar Apple empire. He was forced out by his own and yet he kept on fighting. He came to a crossroads and he made one smart pivot after another. He evaluated what he was doing and what he needed to do differently. One quote that I particularly love is, “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
- Thomas Edison like most entrepreneurs was an agent of change. When he was 21, he patented the first 1,000 inventions in the United States. But he was more than an inventor. He understood the most important principles for success and that helped make him a . He knew the value of hard work. He said, “opportunity is often missed by people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” He knew he needed to find success, because that success funded the next adventure for him. He said, “I always invented to obtain money to go on inventing.” He also knew that if he was going to put hours into an invention it was going to need to be one that the public wanted.
- Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb like you think, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Others had gone before him but faced challenged like some of the early bulbs had flaws like an extremely short life or were too expensive to produce, therefore they couldn’t be scaled commercially. Edison saw opportunity here and found a a solution to an existing problem. Shortly after that, he founded the Edison Electric light company. He made the comment that we will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” Edison was asked several times what inventions was he most fond of. He always replied, the ones that could be commercialized. He knew that it wasn’t the customer’s job to know what they wanted. I am not certain if he did any rapid experiments or customer test panels, but he had to have known what they were looking for because he was quick to abandon an idea or invention that the public didn’t need. Common mistakes that are made by entrepreneurs today start there. It is important to not be victim to one of these fatal flaws.
- Pivoting is changing course to redirect or refocus your company or product while still utilizing the resources and learnings that you’ve gathered a long the way. Thomas Edison was an expert at this. When one way wasn’t working, he quickly was able to abandon it and move on to the next. 3 important things to consider are 1. Know when to pivot 2. Use good judgment 3. Refocus and take what you have learned. Pivoting is key in the journey to success for an entrepreneur.
- Sometimes we have to look to the past to figure out ways to sustain in the future. Following some of the entrepreneurial habits of Thomas Edison can guide us on the right path to success. Remember to be innovative, learn from your mistakes and know when to change direction, and don’t fall into some of the common traps we discussed and you can certainly find success. Oh, and you may have to come up with 10,000 wrong ideas before you get to the right one.