Business Writing
Have you taken the 2 Minute Isenberg Entrepreneur Test?
Daniel Isenberg on HarvardBusiness.org asks if you should you join the millions of people who take the plunge and start their first ventures? He believes that there is a ‘gut level “fit” for people who are potential entrepreneurs.’Internal drivers that compel people to create their own business. To demonstrate this he’s developed a 2–minute Isenberg Entrepreneur Test.
Should You Be An Entrepreneur? Take This Test
Do you want to be an entrepreneur? He lists 20 questions. Answer Yes or No.
Here are the first ten.
1. I always look for new and better ways to do things.
2. I am rarely satisfied or complacent.
3. I can’t sit still.
4. I don’t like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.
5. I like being my own boss.
6. I like challenging myself.
7. I like to get people together in order to get things done.
8. I like to question conventional wisdom.
9. I like to win.
10. People get excited by my ideas.
Harvard Business – Should You Be An Entrepreneur? Take This Test
How did you score on the Entrepreneur Test
How many Yes answers did you get? If you answered “Yes” on 17 or more, it’s time for some soul searching and start thinking about what kind of business you want to set up.
How To Start
Research by the Kauffman Foundation shows that:
- Learn to plan and deliver a product/service
- More 50s+ are setting up their own businesses.
- Talk to customers.
- Talk to people who have started their own business
- Talk to people with whom you would like to work
- Think about small businesses you might buy
Entrepreneurs reframe the salary vs. entrepreneur choice as between two different risks:
1. Risks about their 9-5 jobs, such as boredom, nasty boss, lack of control over your fate, and getting laid off versus
2. Fears about being an entrepreneur, such as failure, financial uncertainty, embarrassment, and lost investment.
Are you ready to be an Entrepreneur?
He makes four other points:
- Entrepreneurs believe that their own abilities (e.g. leadership, resourcefulness, hard work) or assets (e.g. money, intellect, access to customers) mitigate the risks of entrepreneurship.
- Risk is a personal assessment: what is risky for me is not risky for you.
- People who set up their own businesses don’t make more money.
- The “psychic benefits” —challenge, autonomy, recognition, excitement, and creativity — make it all worthwhile.
What do you think? Is this true?
