What motivates entrepreneurs to start new businesses
Every year we speak to hundreds of entrepreneurs, all seeking to grow their businesses.
Some are able to achieve this successfully, as they have a business plan and marketing strategy in place, and they have invested in all the tools to gear them up to achieve their business goals.
Some are able to achieve this successfully, as they have a business plan and marketing strategy in place, and they have invested in all the tools to gear them up to achieve their business goals.
Others have every good intention, but are hit and miss–relying on luck rather than a more strategic approach.
Then of course, there are the dreamers who do nothing more than dream and talk about their aspirations.
Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of steely determination, bravery and thicker skin than you might have first thought. There will be people that want to see you succeed, but just as many that secretly (or not so secretly) want to see you fail.
For an entrepreneur, that's all part of the parcel, and what motivates them to actually deliver upon what may have first started out as a good idea, is different to what motivates others to make career moves.
In the first place, there are a few things that motivate an entrepreneur to start their own business. They include:
Desire to do things better
They see an opportunity in the market to do something better than it has been done before, and therefore work out how they can deliver upon this notion. They may seek capital from outsiders, or take the risk and self-fund their business idea, all because they believe that the market will be more receptive to a better quality product or service.
They hate working for others
Working for a boss is the worse thing in the world for most entrepreneurs. Not because there are too many bad bosses out there, but because they want the freedom to explore their full potential without someone holding them back. In fact, they are looking for no restraint at all and definitely no boundaries.
They are predominantly introverts and prefer to work on their own terms
As an introvert, I know first-hand how important it is to not be put in intimidating situations or being forced to do something that comes naturally for an extrovert. Most male entrepreneurs are introverts, yet a majority of female entrepreneurs are extroverts, who are slightly more ambitious than their male counterparts. While I don't have an affinity with the stereotypicak female entrepreneur, I can attest to this being the norm.
Light bulb moments are rare
A budding entrepreneur has a light bulb moment, and all of a sudden their future becomes clear. They decide that they want to be an entrepreneur and perhaps they have come up with a brilliant idea, disruptive by design, or a way in which to make more money and with greater efficiencies than they have seen done before. That magical light bulb moment is something many entrepreneurs can attest to.
They are a millennial and being an entrepreneur is the coolest job on the planet
They have grown up in an era where Mark Zuckerberg, a self-confessed nerd, is one of the richest men in the world, without a university degree. They read the papers and see how 18-month-old companies like Instagram turn their founders into billionaires overnight, and Uber, AirBnB and a number of other companies don't even have a product, but easily disrupt age-old industries.
Being an entrepreneur is cool, but it's hard. It requires so much more than just a good idea and some money. Motivation is key, but so is an ability to execute a plan- or at the very least employ people who can do it for you.
Entrepreneurs are different, and are usually proud to walk in the opposite direction to everyone else.
Leave a comment
Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.
comments ( 2 )
Charlotte Greene
24 Feb 2016Having grown up with an entrepreneur for a father whom followed his passion for Project Management to start multiple businesses – I feel I know a little about what motivates entrepreneurs. I found it interesting that this blog mentioned, in relation to entrepreneurs not wanting to work for others, that they actually ‘want the freedom to explore their full potential without someone holding them back.’ Having worked side by side my father and seen him day after day sitting at the coffee shop at 6am, scrawling his ideas and visions on a large black sketchpad – the above quote really resonated with me and I found it to be quite true. Indeed, entrepreneurs seem to march to their own drum – they do not wish to be bound by the standard working hours of 9 to 5 nor confined in an office space.
ReplyThe article also argues that entrepreneurs need to have the motivation to carry out their plans or ‘the very least employee people who can do it for’ them. However, I actually believe that this is one of the greatest challenges entrepreneurs will face – that is, employing others to carry out their well-thought vision. Most entrepreneurs I have come across have an exact idea of how their project or plan should be executed and do not appreciate when others do not carry it out to their likening. They find it difficult and nail bitting to take a back seat while overseeing their employees’ actions and must restrain themselves from saying ‘your doing it all wrong!’ Entrepreneurs can only do so much to unite and inspire their employees to follow their overarching vision, especially with the same burning desire and passion that they themselves embody. In fact, I have witnessed my father be disappointed time and time again by employees who have put their own needs and agendas before the business – so I can understand, as this article points out, how the path of entrepreneurship can be plagued by many challenges. But I would like to say good luck to all those brave entrepreneurs who are daring to start their own business - may your relentless passion to see your vision through to the fruition help you overcome any challenges that may come your way.
Samantha Lew
15 Feb 2016This is a really interesting post about entrepreneurs! It is fascinating that most entrepreneurs are introverts because in the past, I have worked with entrepreneurs who are extremely extroverted. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from working with them is that they need to be good at networking. They’re going to be meeting tons of different types of people who could potentially help their business. Entrepreneurs know that there is a lot to be learned from others who have gone through the same experiences or from those willing to give a helping hand. I can see that being an extrovert in that sense could come in handy but of course no individual is the same and we all run on our own clocks that work the best for us.
Reply