After reading the following article in today's Sunday
Times, I suddenly had a curious feeling rather similar to the man in
Molière's book (Le bourgeois gentilhomme) who realised that he'd
been speaking prose for 40 years. I suddenly realised that I am an
entrepreneur.
It's been 17 and 7 years since I started my two existing businesses (with
two failures before that) and I often forget how difficult it was to get
them started. So, in the newspaper item below, when I read sentences like
"Entrepreneurs are different from the rest of us. They don't behave
rationally in the way other people do. They're willing to risk everything
to start a business." I actually find myself responding as I'm sure
most people do. I say to myself: "How odd/crazy these entrepreneurs
are!"
I never usually think of myself as an entrepreneur because I'm really
much more interested in ideas than in making money (or, rather, making
lots of money) and delving into something called evolutionary economics,
but when I consider that I have twice lost all my money (down literally
to a few pounds or so each time) then I feel that I must be a genuine
entrepreneur. I'm actually one of these odd/crazy people! But, on
reflection, I actually feel just a teeny-weeny bit proud that I have
created two unique types of business -- modest though they are -- that
didn't exist before but which directly produced about two dozen jobs as a
consequence (and several imitative businesses in each case
also).
Anyway, the BBC are broadcasting a TV programme on the matter, Mind of
a Millionaire, next week. I recognise some of the personality traits
in myself as described in the following article, but not all. Maybe
that's why I'm not a millionaire.
Keith Hudson
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CHILDHOOD SHAPES THE FUTURE WHIZZ-KIDS
The mind of an entrepreneur
Rachel Bridge
They are hugely optimistic, full of energy and extremely exciting to be
around. But they are also stubborn, single-minded and selfish. And they
absolutely hate holidays.
Welcome to the fascinating world inside the mind of the entrepreneur,
where risk is irrelevant, speed is vital -- and failure is not an
option.
In a bid to find out what makes them tick, a team of psychologists and
business experts spent a day putting a group of entrepreneurs through a
series of psychological tests for a new BBC2 series, called Mind of a
Millionaire, which kicks off this Tuesday at 9pm. What they found was
rather surprising.
Adrian Atkinson, business psychologist with the consultancy Human Factor
International and one of the programme's experts, says:
"Entrepreneurs are different from the rest of us. They don't behave
rationally in the way other people do. They're willing to risk everything
to start a business. They pursue opportunities without regard for
resources, preferring to create the opportunity and then find the money
later.
"They believe that everything that happens, whether good or bad, is
due to their actions."
The result, he says, is great for the economy, which thrives on constant
innovation and change, but not so good for dinner-party
conversation.
"You wouldn't want to get stuck in a lift with an entrepreneur
because most of them are not tremendously enjoyable companions," he
says. "They have this amazing focus and single-mindedness and they
don't need relationships with other people. They just talk about business
all the time."
Atkinson says entrepreneurs can be divided into three distinct types: (1)
Social entrepreneurs, such as Paul Harrod, whose company provides
employment for the homeless. These entrepreneurs are driven by the desire
to improve society; (2) Theme entrepreneurs, such as Anita Roddick, who
start businesses within a particular defined area; and (3) Serial
entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson, who look for opportunities to
create wealth anywhere and will often set up one company after another in
quick succession.
All three types are, however, motivated by one of three factors --
revenge, status or power. And the roots of that stem overwhelmingly from
their childhood experiences.
Atkinson explains: "Revenge entrepreneurs are driven to put right a
social injustice to their family or to themselves, which they experienced
as a child.
"Status entrepreneurs are driven to create a situation where they
are highly respected by the people they think matter. Something in their
childhood has made them feel excluded and they are determined to show the
world that they fit in.
"Power entrepreneurs are driven by the desire to show people they
can do whatever they want to do. What drives all of them is the desire to
create wealth to appease their feelings of insecurity. It is not about
money, it is about providing security from slipping back into their
previous existence."
René Carayul, a business adviser and another member of the programme's
team of experts, says one of the most fascinating characteristics of
entrepreneurs is their absolute refusal to acknowledge failure.
He says: "They don't do failure, they redefine it. Failure for them
is a learning experience that will enable them to be even better. If they
fall over, they just come straight back up again. I have never met such a
bunch of optimistic people. Everything is an opportunity, the glass isn't
half full, it's spilling over."
Carayul says there are several things traditional business people can
learn from the way entrepreneurs work. He says: "Number one, making
mistakes is okay. It's a necessary part of learning. Number two, speed is
the key competitive advantage when you're in business now -- it's not who
does it better, it's who gets there first. Time used to be the enemy.
It's now an assassin. And number three, play to your
strengths."
Sadly, for the rest of us, however, Carayol thinks that ultimately
entrepreneurs are born, not made. He says: "If you don't have that
drive, that energy, that focus, then you can't make a chicken salad out
of chicken s**t, no matter how you try."
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