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INTRODUCTION
Starting a business venture sounds easy enough. It only takes a great idea, time to hire a team
to turn the idea into reality and investors to arrange investment for your business. After that, if
all goes according to plan, you will soon start raising money. However, the truth is that business
start-up life is long and full of hardships, with no guarantees of success. However, if newbies
know certain things, they can better prepare themselves for the difficult situation ahead.

Entrepreneurs are certainly not superhuman. Neither do they perform miracles. They are just
human beings. But they are different from many of us.

They possess several positive characteristics which are responsible for their business success.
For instance, they have self-confidence, leadership and creativity. Not many of us have these
qualities. Most of us shy away from business. We prefer to be employees doing jobs which do
not require great risks like bankruptcy. The optimism and positive thinking of entrepreneurs
make a great difference between success and failure. Positive thinking produces favorable
results. We get what we deeply think and believe.

Being hard-working and opportunity seekers, entrepreneurs acquire more profits. Moreover, in
the process, they also create better goods and services for the consumers. Through their
innovations, they contribute to the improvement of the standard of living. So, they do not only
help the economy, they also help society.

Regardless of your definition of success, there are, oddly enough, a great number of common
characteristics that are shared by successful businesspeople. You can place a check beside each
characteristic that you feel that you possess. This way, you can see how you stack up. Even if
you don't have all of these characteristics, don't fret. Most can be learned with practice and by
developing a winning attitude, especially if you set goals and apply yourself, through strategic
planning, to reach those goals in incremental and measurable stages.


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ENTREPRENEUR DEFINED

There are several definitions or meanings of ENTREPRENEUR. Here are some of them:

1. Cantillon defines an entrepreneur as one who bears uncertainty, buys labor and
materials, and sells products at uncertain prices. He is one who takes risks and makes
innovations on the factors of production.
2. In French Concept, an entrepreneur is an adventurer, under taker, and projector. His
function is to supply and accumulate capital.
3. To Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is an innovator. He does new things in a new way. He
supplies new products; makes new techniques of production; discovers new markets; and
develops new sources of raw materials.
4. Peter Drucker says that an entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it and
exploits it as an opportunity.
5. Say, an economist, explains that an entrepreneur is one who shifts economic resources
from an area of lower productivity to an area of higher productivity and greater yield.
6. The American Heritage Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as a person who organizes,
operates, and assumes the risk for business ventures.
7. The pure entrepreneurs are those who launch their own ventures from scratch. They
develop scarce resources into successful business by their instinct for opportunity, sense
of timing, hardwork, and idea-producing activity.
8. According to Geoffrey Meredeth, author of The Practice of Entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurs are people who have the ability to see and evaluate business
opportunities, to gather the necessary resources and to take advantage of them, and to
initiate appropriate action to ensure success.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTREPRENEURS


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1. REASONABLE RISK TAKERS- Entrepreneurs enjoy challenges, but they are careful and
calculating. So, they shy away from high risk situations, because these may not be
attainable. However, entrepreneurs also avoid low-risk situations, because there are no
challenges.

2. SELF-CONFIDENT- Entrepreneurs have strong faith in their abilities. They believe they
can be the best in their field. They do not accept things as they are, because they
believe they can do things better. Affirmative thinking or positive thinking enhances self
confidence. It has been said that we succeed when we think success.

3. HARDWORKING- Successful people always attribute their success to hardwork. Thomas
A. Edison said that success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. It is very seldom that
lazy people succeed in life through their own efforts and resources. Success smiles on
hardworking people. Entrepreneurs, although they are hardworking, enjoy challenges
and difficult tasks, and they love their work.

4. INNOVATIVE- Entrepreneurs are creative. They do things in new and different ways. For
example, they create new products or services, new methods of production, new
markets, and new sources of raw materials. They love to explore the unknown, and to
blaze new paths for progress.

5. LEADERSHIP- Entrepreneurs are leaders by the very nature of their functions. They are
people who are task oriented. They are effective planners, organizers, and
implementers. And they are achievers. Leaders treat their fellowmen like human
beings. They respect human dignity, and are aware of human needs like belongingness,
security, fulfillment and love. Entrepreneurs do not exploit their workers and
employees. Instead, entrepreneurs promote the welfare of their employees. Here are
the essential leadership qualities:


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- Selfless dedication
- Purpose and vision
- Courage
- Conviction
- Enthusiasm
- Integrity
- Tact
- Hardwork
6. POSITIVE THINKERS- They thinks of success and bright sides. Such success
consciousness leads entrepreneurs to success. Success begets success. There is nothing
wrong with thinking and acquiring money and more money if it is used properly.
Individuals who always think of failures and other negative thoughts get exactly what
they think. Their failure consciousness or defeatist attitude gives them failure after
failure. The poor become poorer because they think of poverty.

7. DECISION- MAKERS- Entrepreneurs make decisions. They cannot avoid this. Being
creative or innovative, they always make decisions on how to improve their products,
how to create markets, how to increase consumers satisfaction, or how to maximize
profits. The success of their business depends on their ability to make the right
decisions.

Decision-making has six distinct phases:
1. Identifying the problem
2. Gathering the data about the problem
3. Analyzing the data
4. Formulating alternative solutions
5. Selecting the best solution, and
6. Implementing the solution/decision


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CHOOSING THE BEST SOLUTION

The problem has to be identified and defined. Then gather the data relevant to the problem.
Organize and analyze the data to be able to come up with alternative solutions. The next step
is to determine the best solution. Naturally, the best solution is measured in terms of
profitability. But the solution implementable?

In the final analysis, it is the implementation of the solution that counts. A best solution which
cannot be put into practice is not a solution. Peter Drucker, a renowned economist and
management consultant, mentions four criteria of choosing the best solution:

1. Presence of risk
2. Economy of effort
3. Time factor
4. Availability or resources

An ideal solution is one that does not create another problem, and it is economical in terms of
time, labor and money. But of course, the final determinant is the availability of resources. For
instance, are there competent employees, adequate funds, necessary materials and facilities to
implement the decisions or solutions?

IMPLEMENTING DECISIONS

Entrepreneurs are generally careful. They implement their decisions on a trial basis or limited
scale. This is to test the feasibility or profitability of their decisions. If they happen to be right
in their decisions, they implement their business projects in full scale. The Idea is that if they
were wrong in their decisions, their losses have been minimized. However, the problems of
implementing a decision can be eliminated or minimized if the decision has been the product of
group action.

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CONCEPT OF A FILIPINO ENTREPRENEUR

1. SELF RELIANT - An entrepreneur counts mainly on his own efforts, and succeeds mainly
by doing a good job. He relies principally on his own merit and work. His self-reliance is
founded on hard work.

2. RISK-TAKER- He rises to a challenge and transfers problems into opportunities. His
daring is built on his competence which is marked by openness to new ideas, new skills
and new developments. Despite his setbacks and mistakes, he is willing to start all over
again.

3. INDUSTRIOUS- He has a strong sense of pride in the workmanship of his product. He is
quality conscious in all the components of his business. He is also precise in counting
costs and in assuring the value of money for his product or service.

4. HUMBLE- The true entrepreneur has the humility and single-mindedness of purpose.
Where there is a chance to earn, no matter how lowly the task, he is at work patiently,
unmindful of his social status. To him rolling up his sleeves, getting his hands dirty is
nothing to be ashamed of. Patience is his badge of security. Humility is the quality that
enables him to build a business from resources or opportunities, simple needs and
humble beginnings.

5. HELPFUL- He learns how to work with others aside from different fields, conscious that
with their help, effectiveness can be multiplied. He thinks of others, especially those
working for him, and of the opportunities for the advancement he can provide for them.

6. CREATIVE- He has a sense of perseverance and a spirit of initiative. Never satisfied as the
things as they are, he continues to improve, trying new and better ways of doing things.

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7. HAPPY- The joy of this entrepreneur lies in the satisfaction of a customer, whom he puts
first over everybody else. He therefore attends to the real needs of his customers with
dispatch, efficiency, and graciousness. A service-oriented person, he is happy man for he
has discovered that the joy of giving is its own reward.

DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1. ABILITY TO CONCEPTUALIZE AND PLAN- The entrepreneur must view all the aspects of
the business, such as product, price, cost, inventory, etc., He must be able to plan for the
total operation of the business. His ability to foresee future problems of his business is
an excellent asset.
2. ABILITY TO MANAGE OTHERS- Management is getting things done by others. As a
business grows, more people are needed. The entrepreneur must be able to organize
work properly so that his employees can perform their jobs efficiently and effectively.
Good human relations and communications are very important for the entrepreneur.
3. ABILITY TO MANAGE TIME AND TO LEARN- The entrepreneur is a generalist. Especially
when the business is still small, the owner does everything: clerk, salesman and
manager. He should also acquire basic training in small business management and
specialized courses in accounting, finance, marketing, and personnel relations. A real
entrepreneur does not actually stop learning.
4. ABILITY TO ADAPT TO CHANGE- Not a few individuals resists change. They stick to
traditional or established practices. This is the culture of many Filipinos, particularly the
unschooled. A businessman who refuses to adapt his operations to changing needs and
tastes of consumers is most likely to fail.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730



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