HOPSON POTTER BUSINESS

The Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship sponsored a fascinating study of 549 entrepreneurs in order to better understand how entrepreneurs came to be entrepreneurs.

They focused on background and motivational issues, and defined an entrepreneur as someone who founded a company or business, or was an early employee with principal responsibilities from the beginning.

How do you measure up? Are you a typical entrepreneur or did you break the mould?

Take a look at the survey results and evaluate yourself against these attributes.

Statistic: Average age of entrepreneurs is 40

Conclusion: People start relatively young

Statistic: Almost all entrepreneurs (97%) had a bachelor’s degree; almost half hold a masters degree.

Conclusion: A degree seems to be an important ingredient.

Statistic: 75% were in the top 30% of high school; more than half were in the top 10% in high school.

Conclusion: Entrepreneurs appear to be fairly smart people as a group.

Statistic: Entrepreneurs tend to come from middle class or upper lower class backgrounds, and were better educated and more entrepreneurial than their parents.

Conclusion: Entrepreneurship does not run in the family, and you do not have to start out wealthy to know how to make money.

Statistic: Most entrepreneurs (70%) were married when they got started, and almost half had children.

Conclusion: You do not need to be footloose and fancy free, even though entrepreneurship can be all consuming.

Statistic: Just over half of entrepreneurs were already interested in starting a business when they were in college.

Conclusion: Early interest is often there, but more than a third had no interest at all early on.

Statistic: Over half are serial entrepreneurs, with 2.1 businesses started.

Conclusion: Entrepreneurship seems to agree with these folks and they persevere.

Statistic: About 75% of entrepreneurs indicated a desire to build wealth as an important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur.

This factor was even more important to the respondents who grew up in lower upper class families.

Conclusion: Money is a big motivator.

Statistic: Almost 70% of entrepreneurs wanted to pursue a business idea.

Conclusion: Creative thinking seems to play a major role in entrepreneurship.

Statistic: Almost 70% of entrepreneurs wanted to work in a start-up culture.

Conclusion: It is interesting that a creative motivation seems to play such an important role in entrepreneurs.

Statistic: About 65% of entrepreneurs had always wanted to own their own business.

Conclusion: This was a bigger motivator for those from upper lower class backgrounds.

Statistic: About 60% said that working for others did not appeal to them.

Conclusion: This motivator was pretty evenly distributed, from not an important factor to extremely important.

Statistic: 80% of entrepreneurs did not follow this path because they could not find employment.

Conclusion: This finding suggests that, while becoming unemployed may become the motivating factor to kick start a new business venture, it is not the way most entrepreneurs get started.

Statistic: 75% of entrepreneurs had worked as employees in other companies for at least six years before striking out on their own, and many had worked eleven to fifteen years first.

Conclusion: Work experience seems to be important.

How did you rate?

What did you find out about yourself? Are you typical? If not, is that a problem? Maybe not.

Even though there seem to be some very typical characteristics of entrepreneurs, there are few characteristics that are universal (except level of education, but that is becoming a given in the workforce today, so that may not be a big differentiating factor). However, you may want to think about the ways that you differ, and how they may or may not impact your style.

The Death of the Entrepreneurial Spirit
by Connie H. Deutsch
 
A couple of weeks ago, we saw the death of the entrepreneurial spirit in the form of three thirteen-year-old boys who were closed down by cops for selling their cupcakes next to the entrance of the park without a permit.  The person who turned them in is a councilman on the Town Board who came upon them on the second day of their sales and asked if they were raising money for a charity. When they said they were saving up to buy a hot dog cart so they could earn enough money to open a restaurant, the councilman, after telling the boys he would be back to buy something, sprinted away as fast as his little legs could take him and reported them to the cops.
 
As expected, a story like this, pitting hardworking thirteen-year-old students with entrepreneurial vision against big government, first hit the newspapers and then it went viral over the Internet.

The councilman expressed surprise that overnight he had become a pariah around the world.  He couldn’t understand why he had become the most hated person on the planet.  He said, “In hindsight, I should have spoken to the boys” instead of reporting them.  In hindsight??  He needed to think about this in hindsight??  Clearly, this is a government official who lacks critical thinking skills and who demonstrates that he can’t think his way out of a paper bag.

Our country was founded on visionaries like these boys.  The first commerce that I can remember was of the immigrant pushcart peddlers who went through the streets hawking their wares.  They went from neighborhood to neighborhood selling items to eager customers from their pushcarts.  When they started to make a lot of money, big government came in and created laws designed to close them down because they were competing with the newly built department stores.

The city government started charging these peddlers outrageous fees for permits and the immigrants, who lived in squalid conditions and worked hard to support their families, suddenly found themselves at the mercy of big government.  And here they are, again, trying to crush the entrepreneurial spirit of three teenage boys with big dreams, enormous ambition and a lot of hard work.

These boys may not be able to raise the money to buy a hot dog cart or open a restaurant but they will do something to create the money they need.  After all, they are the entrepreneurial visionaries of tomorrow.

The councilman who made it hard for the boys to fulfill their dream may find that these same boys could take up the cause of a different candidate when the next election rolls around.  It might be a good thing for this councilman to remember that even small children grow up and become a force to be reckoned with someday.

I admire these boys tremendously.  They are the stuff of the founding fathers of this country.  They teach us what courage and hard work can accomplish and that if they can do it at thirteen, surely, as adults, we can do no less.

And this takes us back to the councilman .

. .  since he has a whole town against him right now, I wonder if he will have the same grit and determination, yes, even the same entrepreneurial skills as these boys, to carve out a different career for himself if he should lose the next election.

As long as the entrepreneurial spirit is nipping at the heels of the “status quo” our economy in America just may have a chance of recovery. Those entrepreneurs who “have a better idea” and go out and invent or market their ideas will create jobs. The more entrepreneurial ideas that are realized the more prosperity and growth for America. New start ups equal growth and money flow and this is the medicine that our country needs.

All around us people are getting laid off and are out of necessity finding their yet undiscovered source of creative entrepreneurship. They are turning “lemons into lemonade” and taking their job experience into
new industries and creating wonderful ideas, services and products. Most of these people are resilient and know that their best commodity is themselves and they are expressing it by creating their own niche in the market place.

Like many business historians know some of our largest companies and millionaires have been created during recessions and depressions like IBM and GE.

When the entrepreneur is up against all odds they come out swinging and our economy is better for it. The best thing our government can do is step out of the way and let the talented next generation of entrepreneurs do their work without being hindered.

The direction many entrepreneurs are going is to the internet. They will market their new ideas and products on the internet to off-set high advert costs and get the word out quickly. They will learn how to personally brand themselves instead of a corporation. They will work for the most part from a home office to cut expenses. They will learn how to blanket the web with their new company name through video marketing technology and press releases.

Their new employees will be websites and auto responding systems. They will own their world and be better for it.

Being laid off is difficult but not at all the end of the world, but rather a place of new horizons and self generated capital. These new internet entrepreneurs will be needing a mentoring system for showing them the way past the possible pitfalls of the internet. Being aligned with someone who has the knowledge they need will allow them independence without the long learning curve. The internet is a place to help entrepreneurs work their magic and get themselves healed after the rampages of a lay off.

The entrepreneurial spirit that was formed in dissatisfaction with the tyranny and control found in England over 200 years ago, spurred on by a people driven to find their way in a hostile world. This spirit lives on today, and is still under attack by those who seek fairness and sameness. Freedom is the underlying brick in the wall forming the base and the sure footed ground for the entrepreneur. The two ideas are inseparable and cannot exist apart from each other.

It is interesting to realize that some of the greatest companies in the world, such Microsoft, Ford Motor Co., and Coca Cola, were born out of a deep desire and yearning for freedom. These companies were not born out of a good idea or product, but out of freedom. The good idea or product is the vehicle to live out this desire to change the world and make a difference, finding significance by making life’s circumstances better for themselves and others.

The entrepreneur, at his core, is dissatisfied with the norm, the expected behavior to just go along and be an institutional unit that is merely seen a taxable unit that provides time and work in exchange. This dissatisfaction occurs in the entrepreneur’s thoughts as well as his emotions. The freedom growing and taking form in their core existence, elicits an emotional response so strong and powerful, it forces a move, a change in direction and destiny. The entrepreneur is the most powerful force on earth, driven by a desire to create, work, build, expand, serve, and give.

Freedom, the engine driving the entrepreneur spirit, is forced to a creative process that cannot be held back or down, by legislation, by inferior ideologies, or powerful men.

It is truly an unstoppable force. The creative process, which forms ideas, inventions, and ideologies that last, is a direct challenge to sameness. Sameness removes all distinctiveness, seeking uniformity of purpose and appearance. Modern housing developments build the same home a hundred or even a thousand times. Auto makers across the spectrum, seem to be closely aligned because the manufactured cars seem to offer very similar appearance, features, and price. The innovative auto products are found in the smaller entrepreneurial manufacturers that fight the trend of sameness. The creative entrepreneur changes the future, simply by sending a subtle insult to the sameness trend. Freedom drives the entrepreneur to create a better future.

A better future and hope that exists as we look forward to what can be, rather than what has been, depends upon the commitment to the virtue of work. Looking forward is fine. Having good ideas and a desire to improve things is great. But without a work ethic, none of it really matters. The true entrepreneur is hard worker, waking each day with positive outlook for that very day, as well as the next week, month, or year. Because the entrepreneur is creative, driven by freedom, he wakes wanting work, not as slave to a job that pays you for your time, but as a free man choosing to extend effort towards his goals. Many who have the entrepreneurial spirit, lack this basic quality, never really impacting there world. Deep confusion follows this person all the days of his life, He would be described by most, as a man full of ideas, as positive man, probably well liked by all, but he just could not seem to get anything completed. Freedom drives the entrepreneur to create, and work completes the process. It is that simple.

Lastly, we must look at the results. Results matter. What is the result of the entrepreneur creating, working and accomplishing? Some would describe the entrepreneur as selfish and arrogant, wanting to be noticed, or seeking wealth rather than serving the needs of others. The truth is, a true free man, not only seeks to establish freedom in his or her life, they are driven to establish this for all. A true entrepreneur is creating products, services and ideas that are improving all areas of our lives. They do benefit from their efforts, no doubt, but their efforts infuse this world with the energy, convenience, and much more. The entrepreneur becomes the thermostat. He affects the temperature of every room he enters. He does not sit there quietly accepting things as the way they will always be. He always sees something better, something new, not because he wants more, but because he cares. The entrepreneur wants to improve life and make things better. The entrepreneur is not selfish, but they are the greatest givers in all of history.

If you wake in the morning with dissatisfaction, dreaming of a different life, you need to evaluate what you are doing and how you can change your life. Please be encouraged to begin today the process of breaking free from sameness, from the lack of significance, seeking the creative life that you have always desired. It was planted in you centuries ago by those who have gone before us, establishing freedom and foundations that live on even today. The truth be told, those things born out of the entrepreneurial spirit live forever and have lasting impact. Be encouraged, you are able to accomplish far beyond even your current imaginings, and you can change the world.