Beginner’s Guide to Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship can be defined as the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as “one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods”. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity.

The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses; however, in recent years, the term has been extended to include social and political forms of entrepreneurial activity. When entrepreneurship is describing activities within a firm or large organization it is referred to as intra-preneurship and may include corporate venturing, when large entities spin-off organizations.

Also, an entrepreneur is someone who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and is accountable for the inherent risks and the outcome. Having defined the two keywords, we need to proceed further to get to know what it takes to become an entrepreneur. This guide might be directed to beginners alone but established entrepreneurs also can learn from it. If you have ever dream of becoming an entrepreneur or you want to become a business person, consider this post as solution to your searches.

To become an entrepreneur, you need to have GUTS. Guts is defined as being bold and daring, able to face challenges but for the sake of uniqueness, I would transform ‘GUTS’ into an acronym. This is because you really need to know to do these things as a beginner. After which you master them with your heart and then progress on your entrepreneurial journey.

1. G = Good Knowledge

An entrepreneur must have good knowledge of his or her environment. You can’t make an impact in what you don’t know There is nothing called chance. An entrepreneur must know what goes on in his or her environment. The environment here can mean your area of specialization, your neighborhood, or your sphere of intended influence.

To become an entrepreneur, you should be very aware of things in your sphere of influence. For example, let’s say there is a scarcity of something valuable in your environment and you don’t know about it. Someone else will find a solution to that scarcity. And funny enough, the person might be a complete stranger in that environment. Stop wasting time on what won’t take your far. Crave for more knowledge in your sphere of influence. In addition, Startup Coaching can help you in your quest for personal knowledge; helping you to assess your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth, thus enabling you to reach your dreams.

2. U = Understanding of Problems and Solutions

To me, I define an entrepreneur as someone who find solutions to problems and makes a profits doing so. So in essence, in addition to having a high level of knowledge in your intended sphere of influence, you must understand the problems those in your environment are facing and understand the exact solutions they need. It’s just like finding a hot market and filling it.

Invest your time in surveying and understanding problems that don’t have a concrete solution. Then go ahead and find concrete solutions. For example, taking some time to rest might be a solution to malaria but using the right prescription of medicine is the best solution to malaria.

What problem do you want to solve? An entrepreneur must understand everything about the problem he or she wants to solve. After which he or she must also find the solutions to the problem. All entrepreneurs are solution providers but what differentiates all of them is the way they provide solutions and how effective their solutions are.

3. T = Training

No one is born an entrepreneur, we all learn what it takes in books and in real life experiences. In addition to books and experience, we become entrepreneurs by undergoing specific training to sharpen our effectiveness. Training gives us the opportunity to prepare ahead for situations yet to come. Training gives us extra courage to become effective entrepreneurs.

Is there anything you want to be the best at as an entrepreneur? Train adequately. Perhaps, you’ve found a solution to a specific problem associated to your sphere of influence but you don’t know how to go about it. It’s time to train. You can train by:

• Reading good books written by successful people.
• Finding an experienced mentor.
• Attending seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings, and meetups.
• Startup Coaching

I cannot overemphasize the importance of training in your entrepreneurship journey. The truth is you don’t know anything. Personally, the more I learn, the more I realize that I know nothing.

4. S = Skill Acquisition

Skill acquisition is different from training. For example, you can train in marketing as an entrepreneur but you need to develop marketing skills through practice before you can actually market effectively. Training informs, skills acquisition transforms.

In essence, you need to start practicing what you’ve trained for. You can have all the knowledge in your environment, understand problems and solutions and also have all the training, but it all comes to nothing if you don’t act on them by virtue of skill acquisition.

Our world need more entrepreneurs who are ready to provide solutions to the problems that we face each and everyday.

How would you recommend getting started as an entrepreneur?