Entrepreneurship 101

Entrepreneurship is a special form of leadership, or better yet if an entrepreneur wants to be successful, he/she had better excel in leadership. I often ask my students if they can become the CEO of a company upon graduation or for that matter while taking my class. The answer is yes if they are an entrepreneur and start their own business. Entrepreneurship is special because it is an opportunity to get to the top of an organization based strictly on ones own merits.

I believe that entrepreneurship is very special because it is where for the most part innovation takes place, large companies are loaded with layers of bureaucracy that stifle creativity. With the advent of the PC and Internet entrepreneurship has received a huge boost, there are many examples starting with Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen, Google, and more recently MySpace,YouTube and Facebook.

Its’ contribution to the economy is significant. Since the ’80 small companies (less than 500 employees) have created 34 million new jobs while the Fortune 500 companies have lost 5 million jobs. Perhaps more impressive is the fact that small companies provide 75% of the jobs in our country.   

It is also so very important because it is good for the human spirit and mind because it provides a person with the "freedom" to think as you please and implement your ideas, "do your thing". As long as you can pay your mortgage, meet payroll, and your employees are happy, you are "right". It doesn't matter if someone else thinks that you are wrong or they can do it better. Or better yet if you were working for them they would force you to do it "their" way.

Entrepreneurship also provides the "freedom" to be creative. I have always wanted to be an artist, to be able to create something special.  I can draw, sing but have never been able to do it well enough to paint something beautiful, sing well enough to earn a living doing it or write a song worth listening to. Entrepreneurship has been the outlet for my creative spirit. I have been able to create programs, products that people pay their hard earned money for, companies, and a work place environment that allowed our people to learn, express themselves freely and openly, grow, participate in our cooperative effort, share in our success and prosper.

One issue greatly misreported is that being an entrepreneur is a lot more work than working for others. This is a myth! I worked a lot harder for others than myself because I had to in order to keep my job. Also I have found it to be much less stressful because in the long run it is easier than working for others (much less red tape). The decision makers often are risk averse especially in large companies so whenever I had a great idea working for others at some point in time there was someone to say "no" you can't do that.

The other myth is that it is that there is much more security working for others. In today's world this is especially not true (look at the huge number of jobs being cut by large corporations). It has always been true that an individual is only as secure as their ability to perform, especially now.

Finally, I was successful working for others however my real success came as an entrepreneur, not only as a business person but as a human being. My performance and results were much better because I had the "freedom" to "do my thing". I also had the freedom to share my success with people that want to learn and the less fortunate. I would never have found the success, happiness and self gratification that I have found as an entrepreneur, working for others. Most important my family, students and many less fortunate people would not have benefited either.

Being a successful entrepreneur and selling my company gave me the opportunity to return to school, earn my PhD and become a professor. I love teaching entrepreneurship because it is "real" in that we apply everything we learn (it is not just an academic exercise although we do pay a great deal of attention to academics also). My students learn by doing and we actually create real life businesses. They also pay more attention to what I have to say (and do), work harder because they see me as being someone who can help make their "dream" of being an entrepreneur come true.

The focal point of my class is new venture creation. My purpose is to help my students learn how to recognize (or create) an opportunity which is basically an exercise in problem solving, and then how to create an organization to develop the opportunity.

What is so gratifying is that they keep me in the loop for ever (they send me e-mails from around the world telling about what they are doing in business and life. Of course they also still ask me for advice which I love to give to them because I want the best for them).

If you are interested in this special form of leadership, and would like to know how to recognize and opportunity and bring it to market, read my Opportunity Model. I will be posting articles on improving leadership skills that will be helpful to entrepreneurs and leaders in general.