The 3 Pillars Of Entrepreneurship
With the advancement of modern society, achieving a work-life balance and prioritising self-care have become the primary goals of the current generation. As a result, many young individuals are seeking self-employment or, as is commonly referred to, becoming entrepreneurs.
The word “entrepreneurship” is derived from the French word “entreprendre”, which literally means “to undertake” or “to begin”.
The concept of entrepreneurship spans all sizes of businesses and includes small business incubation at one extreme and large-scale, high-growth start-ups and other innovative ventures.
It is therefore considered a key driver of innovation, job creation, and economic prosperity in societies around the world.
As the cliché goes, “Rome was not built in one day”; so is entrepreneurship not an undertaking that one enters into out of the blues to become a successful entrepreneur.
There are indeed several traits, and this article unpacks the 3 essential characteristics of an entrepreneur.
Patience
Patience: Beyond the ability to wait, patience is the ability to remain positive while enduring multiples of delays or setback.
Rarely is the path for an entrepreneur from conception to fruition of an idea easy. It could be waiting for a breakthrough, securing funding, or building a customer base.
With patience as a guideline, every failed attempt is known to be one step closer to success and experience that is valuable.
Patient entrepreneurs are unmasked by transitory setbacks and remain resilient and firmly committed to achieving their vision.
They work for the long-term sustainable growth and, therefore, invest time, money, and effort rather than work for only gaining short-term gain.
These include developing robust business models, building customer relationships, and a team culture. This will also make them, through patience practices, be objective in the decisions taken from the rationale, not driven by emotions.
Perseverance
Perseverance in a more simplified form is that one has not given up in pursuit of what one really wants and stands at most difficult obstacles, of course, dealing with the entrepreneurship world, which deals with much uncertainty and guaranteed both winners and losers.
Successful entrepreneurs are likely to meet unexpected challenges, existing tough competition, and financial constraints, along with market fluctuations.
To face up to the challenges on the way to the vision has been the true hallmark of the successful entrepreneur. Each and every individual could be a dreamer, but all could not be an achiever.
We can learn from and get inspired by some of the examples of entrepreneurs throughout history who took failures in stride before they went on to succeed monumentally.
It was never easy, but a positive approach from their part had always become a key enabler for success.
The light bulb inventor, Thomas Edison was persistent in spite of several failures before finally achieving success.
In Edison’s own words, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
He used every failed attempt as a ladder to success and modified his ideas and methods till he got a breakthrough.
Practicality
Entrepreneurs understand that time is money. They need to take action when faced with challenges.
Being practical involves applying achievable solutions to problems.
Practicality entails making grounded decisions, weighing risks and rewards, and making informed choices with the available resources and market dynamics.
Entrepreneurs should be able to differentiate real opportunities and trends and adapt their strategies accordingly.
They recognise that market research, financial planning, and risk management are essential for steady growth.
While vision and ambition are crucial in entrepreneurship, there needs to be a balance between ideals and pragmatism.
Two important characteristics of a successful entrepreneur are humility, being open to feedback and making improvements, and being practical in business operations, including interpersonal skills and leadership qualities.
Effective entrepreneurs develop relationships, build networks, and inspire teams to achieve greater success.
● Ms Evelyn Gan is a PhD candidate from the Faculty of Business, Design and Arts, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
The views expressed here are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.
