Entrepreneurship, probably the most used and dear word in the 21st century. Every nook and corner are full of entrepreneurs who do not even bother what is the definition of Entrepreneurship yet they call themselves Entrepreneur & Hustler in business. It sometimes got me that how come there are a lot of entrepreneurs yet there are a lot of issues around the world and how come the issues are not being noticed by the entrepreneurs who are mentioning that they work on those issues to resolve them and eradicate them from the world. Even more than nowadays I have seen several times that the definition of Entrepreneurship is being measured in the amount of money you get from the venture you have started.
For the most, it is probably safe to assume that it has become a fashion nowadays to call themselves entrepreneurs, and it does not matter when they know or do not know the sole definition of Entrepreneurship. It does not make any sense when you do not know the definition of Entrepreneurship, yet call yourself an entrepreneur. To the ones who do this I would like to request please do not change the definition of Entrepreneurship, what you are doing is maybe best for your business model and maybe you are earning from it but that is not what Entrepreneurship is all about. I have been in this infopreneurship and I would like to clear out some air and avoid any confusion around here.
Definition Of Entrepreneurship:
Let me start with the definition of entrepreneurship itself. If you go ahead and open www.google.com, then search the word Entrepreneurship the result you will get is “Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, i.e. a startup company offering a product, process or service. It has been defined as the “…capacity and willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit.“
The definition of Entrepreneurship itself says that it is the process of designing, launching and running a new business. Once you do that then you can not just call yourself an entrepreneur. Because the real definition of Entrepreneurship is after that line. Because it has been defined as the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit. Unless you make a profit out of your business which solves a problem do not call yourself an entrepreneur.
Without knowing this, people just launch a site that does something and call themselves an entrepreneur and this is a pure disgrace and offence to entrepreneurship. They should not be doing it because it offends and it does not make any sense anyway. I am not saying that you are doing anything wrong but until and unless you understand this correctly you are never going to enjoy the journey and if you fail then you are going to call yourself a failed Entrepreneur which is not the truth because as Gary from www.garyvaynerchuk.com says Entrepreneurs do not Quit. They always keep trying and it is as simple as that when you do not quit and you keep on trying you just can not fail. The idea you started with maybe not having the potential and sometimes it just needs more than an idea to be an entrepreneur. Let’s understand that very clearly.
However, with these also nowadays some think that this is the best that could happen. Entrepreneurship is easy and you could anything you possibly want just by spending 4 hours in a week. Yes, that is the truth but let’s not forget the effort as well. Whom you see today spending 4 hours a week and earning in seven-figure once spent seven consecutive days without even sleeping for a minute. That’s the amount of effort Entrepreneurship requires. Unless you are ready to put in that effort and be consistent about it then as per me you have completely misunderstood the definition of Entrepreneurship.
You might as well have noticed that in recent times every other one you see reacts like a pro blogger or entrepreneur and starts giving free advice. What I do not like about this kind of people is that unless you make a brand, unless you gain the trust of the people who are your readers, then how can you suggest something to them. I have seen sometimes people blindly believe some entrepreneurs. That’s because they have put in the efforts to gain the trust and after that only people are believing them blindly.
Reality Of Entrepreneurship:
Basically, what I am saying is Entrepreneurship is not easy. It is hell tough and you will be put to the ground when the time comes but that does not mean you should not try it. Is it going to be tough? The answer is Yes. Is it going to be hard? The answer is Yes. Is it worth the pain? The answer is Hell Yes. I am not in a position now to call myself a serial entrepreneur as I am not making my living out of it but I have seen enough to say that Entrepreneurship is not everyone’s cup of tea but if you put in the effort then it is going to take you to the highest peak of success you might have ever dreamed about.
People think that it is easy and everybody starts doing it but let me tell you the real deal. The real definition of entrepreneurship and the reality of an Entrepreneur life. And I urge you to make note of it as it might change your career or it might help you decide whether you are heading in the right direction or not.
- There are forces outside your control, being an entrepreneur you can not control everything.
What I mean is there are some things that Gary calls Market. You can not control the market. You simply can’t. You just have to live with it. Sometimes you might have your interest in an area that does not have a market from which you can make the living. Even if you have an interest, you can not simply create the market. You have to live with the fact that whatever market is existing you will have to build a business around it. You can not build a business and then create a market for your business. It does not work like that. Sometimes market collapse, governments intervene and you will have to live with that. This thing comes with the definition of entrepreneurship and you have to understand it.
Your first iteration of your own idea will be proven wrong.
When you start creating a business then you come up with an idea. But you will see that once you start working on that most of the times the first idea that someone has come up with normally is proven wrong and it does not work how you anticipated it to work. Again, this comes with the very definition of entrepreneurship and you will have to accept this even if you do not want to. As I mentioned before these all come with the definition of entrepreneurship so you just have to live with it.
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It takes a good idea to start but it takes a hell of a lot more than that to succeed.
Definition of Entrepreneurship is ideas. You might as well know very well that Entrepreneurship is all about ideas. Find a problem and provide a solution with an innovative idea and your business will boom like anything. That is true but then when it comes to reality then it is not true. In real life with a good idea, you need more than that to succeed. Consider your great idea just a start of nothing and you will have to do much more than that to succeed with that idea in mind.
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If ever you wish to become a billionaire you will not become overnight.
By the definition of entrepreneurship, it comes with a misconception that if you start your business today then you will start becoming successful the next day onwards, which is not true. Not even close. When you start your business it will initially just FAIL. Understand this. I must say failure is needed indeed otherwise you will not value the results you get.
 But you will have to accept it, embrace it and move forward and use the learnings from those failures. You can not become successful overnight. There is nothing like the overnight success that exists in the dictionary of entrepreneurs. Be consistent and you will see the results.
Growing online presence is serious work and not every body’s cup of tea.
Yes, it is true. Not everyone has a business idea that deals with online presence but it is true that when you prefer online business model it is more beneficial and it comes with the understanding that it will take serious work for you to be able to make a presence online. Again as I have said repeatedly it comes with the very definition of entrepreneurship. It is better to know now than later.
Your family and friends will not understand what you do for the heck of it.
I think this is one of THE biggest problems when it comes to entrepreneurship. You know that nobody would understand the definition of entrepreneurship better than you. Your family and friends for an example will never ever try to understand what you are doing. All the time you will hear that why even are you wasting your time doing all these things when you can just go to some MNC or something and apply for a job. But that’s the beauty and fun of being an entrepreneur.
I know you would understand, so even if your family and friends do not understand the definition of entrepreneurship do not try to make them understand. As long as you understand the definition of entrepreneurship and the reality that comes with it, it is fine completely to avoid making your family and friends understand it.
You will make very small amount from your business for a while.
As I said above there is nothing as the overnight success in entrepreneurship. So if you are thinking of making money out of your business, then for the first year and for your own good forget about making money. Try to be consistent for one year and then I am sure you will see the results. So do not expect to get a huge chunk of outcome from your business when you start. Believe and start with the assumption that you are not going to be paid for 12 months at least when you start out. Even if you start getting it will be like wages. You will not get any huge amount. That is the reality. Accept it or not.
If it even happens, everything takes twice as long in Entrepreneurship.
Every business that starts has a goal in mind. Some have certain numbers of users to get when they start. Some have the goal of reaching a milestone when they start and some have the idea of making to Forbes for example but then, even if it happens at sometimes understand that it is not going to be in sometime soon. Say for an example if you have the target of getting to your goal by six months then by the definition of entrepreneurship the same goal will take 12 months. It simply takes twice as long in Entrepreneurship to get the results or achieve the goals that you planned.
Titles that you might want to use means shit, you have to be the guy who does everything.
When you start a business you might name yourself as the CEO or the founder or something but that does mean nothing. It does not make any sense what so ever unless you have a company that deals with more than 20 employees and a huge user base to support for. Once you reach that level you might think of calling yourself the CEO or something and that will make sense that time. Until then you will have to be the guy who does everything, starting from washing your office floor to delivering the orders and everything else that comes in between.
You can’t do it all by yourself.
Some entrepreneurs have a superhero complex that they feel they can do everything themselves. This kind of mentality just results in being overworked and unfocused. You have to make sure you understand the requirement of your business and you will have to bring other people in. By bringing in others to work with you, there’s also an ability for each team member to be laser focused on what they’re best at.
Creating a team is hard like anything.
Finding a group of individuals smarter than yourself across a broad range of skill takes up way more time than you would ever think. In the early days, you may be super excited about your company, but it’s often hard to get a large group of others equally excited. They may have their own ideas they want to work on, be comfortable with a cushy salary, or generally just not interested in what you’re doing.
Just because you’re excited does not mean others will be excited. If you’re lucky enough, you will hit a certain period of growth explosion that requires you to hire rapidly and be a great judge of character on the fly. Again, this comes with the definition of entrepreneurship itself.
Customers will frustrate you and even will not bother paying you sometimes.
No doubt having customers is a good thing. Even better if you have a lot of customers but supporting the customers is a pain in the ass and sometimes it even gets too horrible situations. I have seen some of my freelancer friends not getting paid for their work and all goes on with them. As we are talking about the definition of entrepreneurship I would mention that this is also a part of it. Sometimes you get a very good customer and sometimes very bad and that’s how it works. Even if you want you can not change it. So you just have to deal. It is not going to be easy when you do not get paid but again that comes by default with entrepreneurship and you will have to adjust and accommodate to it.
Entrepreneurs make only some of their own rules.
Part of the allure of entrepreneurship is getting to be your own boss and call your own shots. In some ways, this is true. You’ll get to set your own schedule and come up with your own office rules. But in other ways, the modern entrepreneur is a slave to circumstance, mentors, investors and customers. They all have a vested say in the direction of the company, and if the entrepreneur doesn’t listen, he/she will lose out on funding, revenue and support. Again this comes by default and being an entrepreneur you will have to accommodate with it.
You will have a whole bunch of new bosses even if you are an entrepreneur.
You’re the founder, so why are you answering to oodles of bosses instead of answering just to yourself? That’s not what the dream was supposed to look like, right? An entrepreneur is never their own boss. In fact, they have more bosses than anyone else. Clients, investors, partners, and even employees can (and will!) tell you what to do. And you need to listen.
On the bright side, you will become one entrepreneur, eventually.
There are plenty of stories about entrepreneurs who dropped everything, quitting school or jobs to pursue their vision full-time. This happens often, but it’s neither necessary nor universal. Today, it’s entirely possible for entrepreneurs to start out with part-time effort, eventually scaling up if it’s appropriate to do so. While keeping in mind all the above points I mentioned I would say if you still continue to work and try then you are never going to fail and you will succeed. 🙂
I guess that is why it is said that An Entrepreneur is someone who would work happily 120 hours in a week just because they do not like to work 40 hours a week. That’s what entrepreneurship needs nowadays to become a successful one and if you wish to make a living out of it. That is what I wanted to let you know about the reality of Entrepreneurship by explaining what is the real definition of entrepreneurship and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Let me know in the comments below what do you think and whether you would consider yourself a successful entrepreneur or not. If yes why and if not why not. Cheers!
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I am a 33-year-old gentleman from a lower-middle-class family hailing from a small village Narasinghpur in Cuttack, Odisha, INDIA. I have a post-graduate degree in M.Tech from BITS Pilani. I started blogging back in June 2014. You can check out my journey and all that I have learnt all these years on my website.
