Introduction
An entrepreneur is an extremely crucial element in the contemporary business world. He or she is an individual who puts into effect initiative through organizing a given activity in an effort to take benefit of an opportunity. An entrepreneur is also a decision maker and settles on what to be produced, the manner of production, and the quantity of a good or service to be produced.
An entrepreneur is also a risk taker. This piece of work gives a critical look at the concept of entrepreneurship and the aspects that surround it. Much emphasis will however be given to the issue of how success could be achieved in the field of entrepreneurship. Research shows that there are common qualities and characteristics that can be depicted in entrepreneurs who have been successful. However, the most significant factor that contributes to their success is their dedication and commitment in their work.
Success in Entrepreneurship
There is much that is contained in entrepreneurship. It is more than just starting a business. Entrepreneurship entails a process through which people discover opportunities, allocate resources, and create value. Creation of value is an incredibly crucial aspect in business. It could be achieved through the identification of the unfulfilled needs or thoughts, the identification of opportunities that are aimed at bringing positive change.
Entrepreneurship also entails taking business problems as opportunities and identifying ways of solving the problems, as well as the customers who pay to have the problems solved. Success in entrepreneurship is determined by the capability of an entrepreneur to identify opportunities that exist in the marketplace, initiating change, and creating value through provision of solutions to problems (Collins 17).
To become a successful entrepreneur, an individual has to possess some characteristics or perform some certain activities. For instance, the individual should be enthusiastic and action oriented. Creativity and dedication are key factors that enhance success in entrepreneurship.
According to Branson (102), it is not right for an individual to enter into a business venture with the main aim of making money or profits, but rather a business ought to be engaging, enjoyable, and allow for maximum input of creativity. However, despite the fact that successful entrepreneurs should not necessarily be motivated by profit, they should regard it as a standard through which achievement or success is measured.
To be successful, an entrepreneur should value the virtue of self reliance, and to be always in a move to strive for distinction through excellence, as well as favor challenges that are of medium risk, that is, those that are neither too ruinous nor easy. Above all, an entrepreneur should be highly optimistic and committed to ensuring that everything is undertaken in the best manner possible, thus achieving maximum success in various business ventures.
Setbacks should be viewed as a bargain priced tuition that helps in getting valuable business lessons through firsthand experience. Shortcomings and failures that have been experienced in the past should not be brought into the present since they are capable of hindering success, and they may even affect the future negatively. Success in the business, on the other hand, should be taken as a driving force towards attaining greater accomplishments (Collins 101).
Entrepreneurs should also do the following in order to become successful. One should think about success. There is a need to dream positively be successful. One should have a clear vision of what is supposed to be achieved. Entrepreneurs should also be passionate with what they do. Passion is crucial in attaining success in everything that an individual does. It is relatively easier to achieve success if one loves what he or she does.
It is natural that human beings are more persistent in their pursuit of goals and objectives that regard things they love. Passion in a business venture cultivates patience and hard work which in turn allows for overall success in business. It is a good idea for an entrepreneur to be gregarious. This is because business is all about dealing with people, and thus the need to be able to handle them in an appropriate way. One should therefore be free to share ideas, products, and services, as well as have fun in doing business.
An entrepreneur should also be confident. This will allow for effective handling of challenges, and thus coming up with solutions to various problems. Confidence also fosters risk taking and identification of opportunities, an aspect that would not be possible in its absence.
To be successful, an entrepreneur should also have a sense of ownership. This entails taking responsibility for getting things done with appropriate care and attention. An entrepreneur should take pride of getting a solution to a problem rather than seeing it as someone else’s. An entrepreneur should be in a position to teach other people how to take charge. The entrepreneur should use individual accountability as an element through which teamwork, profitability, and overall success is to be achieved.
As a leader, an entrepreneur should learn to be good at communication. This is because the most significant element in a business is the human element and communication should be used as a tool through which successful relationships with people can be established. As part of communication, an entrepreneur should also learn to listen to what others say.
This can be seen even in Branson’s leadership where he considers every idea he gets irrespective of the position of the individual or the circumstances surrounding the conversation. To be successful, an entrepreneur ought to focus on his or her strengths, work hard, and have the willingness to learn (Collins 12).
Successful entrepreneurship entails a combination of a variety of aspects. Identification of an opportunity and coming up with ways of exploiting it in an appropriate manner is essential. Branding is, for example, a crucial aspect in business. We find Branson taking his time to come up with an effective brand name, Virgin, not as an instant source of profit but as an aspect that is able to bring a considerable level of success in the business.
Branson believes that business is a win-win venture. Successful entrepreneurs should go an extra mile in the course of carrying out their business activities. Corporate social responsibility is an example of a concept that is worth investing in. A good example is the involvement of Branson in the process of curbing global warming.
Although this aspect would not be beneficial to his business initially, it could contribute to the company’s profit margin in future. Commitment and dedication are key attributes to a successful entrepreneur without which some opportunities would remain unexploited and some problems unsolved (Anonymous par 3).
Although all the above named factors are significant in allowing entrepreneurs to achieve success in their ventures, dedication and commitment remain to be the overall factors that drive all other success factors. To be successful, entrepreneurs should dedicate themselves to the realization of their plans, dreams as well as visions. This idea of being purpose-driven allows success to be achieved in all spheres of an organization and thus there is an overall success.
Dedication allows entrepreneurs to target a goal, determine the objective, refine the brand, and more so, narrow the margin of error. An entrepreneur should be dedicated to attain a positive outcome and be ready to do whatever it takes to achieve the desired result. An entrepreneur should be ready to act beyond the call of duty for the purpose of attaining success that will be beneficial for all the parties involved.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that the concept of entrepreneurship is extremely crucial in the field of business. It is through entrepreneurship that success in business is achieved through identification of problems, opportunities and determination of the best ways to deal with them in an effort to create value.
Despite the fact that there are various common behavioral traits and similarities that exist among successful entrepreneurs, it is clear that the most significant reason for success in entrepreneurship is the dedication and commitment exercised by the entrepreneurs. This is an element that is associated with a lot of benefits, both short term as well as long term. This, therefore, follows that without dedication of the entrepreneurs, achievement of maximum success in a business would not be possible.
Works Cited
Anonymous. “Branson Bets Billions to Curb Global Warming” msn.com, 2011. Web.
Branson, Richard. Losing My Virginity. London: Virgin Publishing Ltd, 1998. Print.
Collins, Jim. Good to Great. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2001. Print.