Money WhizDom: Entrepreneurship as a career choice
Peter Drucker famously said, “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice."
Choosing entrepreneurship as a career choice not only requires courage and vision, but a deep desire to succeed and overcome at all costs. This career path is replete with unique obstacles and challenges that require more than just theoretical and practical knowledge to resolve. The DNA of a successful entrepreneur is coded with traits like effective communication skills, good networking abilities, mental resolve and grit, excellent theoretical and practical knowledge, hard worker, people skills like good listening ability, capability to motivate and drive individuals, respect for others, and above all a self starter who believes in the idea and his or her people.
Deciding to go solo might be an easy decision to make, but sticking to your guns in dire times requires persistence and doggedness. But once you make the initial move, leaving no stone unturned to attain prosperity should be the primary goal.
An ominous misconception is that inexperienced startups can lead to disasters. This is absolutely untrue if the entrepreneur believes in himself/herself and the idea. Experience definitely counts but if Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, or Michael Dell waited to gain, “experience,” we wouldn’t be bombarding our friend’s walls and wasting two hours a day on Facebook. So never wait for the, “perfect time,” to start an enterprise because it might never come.
More often than not, the simplest ideas receive resounding and overwhelming success. Over analysis and excess scrutiny only lead to inaction and missed opportunities. Following a simple mantra of trying to identify a vacuum in the system and subsequently filling it with an uncomplicated product or service is sure to get credible recognition.
Another pivotal factor in your success as an entrepreneur is where you get your advice from. When you aspire to do something different and unique, the world is against you, the odds are against you and criticisms and denouncements will bestowed upon you with generosity. It’s essential to get your advice and guidance form an individual who is at a social, economic and financial position that you aspire to be in and not your friend or professor (people who have got practical not theoretical experience), because a drowning man is of no help to another drowning man.
The US is a capitalistic economy and the thriving free market system is conducive to entrepreneurs. Every entrepreneur dreams of selling his product or service in the US market. The environment in this country is encouraging to entrepreneurs and one should take help from the different sources. The US Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov) contains a treasure trove of information on a number of aspect s like writing business plans, finding potential investors, getting tax help, sourcing raw materials for your product, etc.
Another excellent source of help and information is the Virginia Department of Business Assistance (www.dba.state.va.us) where specific information helpful to businesses in Virginia is well laid out. Issues like licensing and permits in the state, taxes and rebates applicable only to Virginia businesses, etc are explored in detail.
In Blacksburg, we have access to the world class Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center which is home to numerous startup companies. They too help in all aspects of business startups like idea incubation and improvement to venture capital funding. Another good source for ideas and networking is the ELITE club at the Pamplin College of Business. ELITE meets regularly with the common theme of entrepreneurship and encourages idea generation amongst students.
Approaching a profession lawyer for incorporation and other legal aspects early on could be a toll on the bank account. A cheap, easy and efficient way is to submit all legal documents for incorporation online at a one stop legal website called Legal Zoom (www.legalzoom.com). At Legal Zoom, you can incorporate as an individual, LLC, partnership and for any state, etc for a competitive price.
In the end, entrepreneurship cannot be mastered by reading books or attending lectures. Like flying a plane, irrespective of how much flight simulator one plays, getting your hands on the controls of a real jet is what matters. Similarly, diving in and putting your plans, ideas and thoughts into action is what counts. This is essentially what Drucker meant, that Entrepreneurship is not a science or an art, it is in fact a practice. So, think big, start small and act now!
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