When it comes to entrepreneurship, it’s worth noting that not all small business owners are created the same. It goes a little deeper than personality though. The type of entrepreneur you are can have an effect on how successful you are at starting a small business.
In this article, we look at several types of entrepreneur, and the pros and cons that go with that particular type. Read on, and figure out which one you are, and how to make the most of it.
The Gung Ho Enthusiast
This type of entrepreneur has an enviably enthusiastic attitude to their small business venture. The trouble is, they probably also have unrealistic expectations, and think that their new business will become the best thing since sliced bread overnight. That rarely happens.
Keep the enthusiasm – it’s what keeps many entrepreneurs going when things get tough. But be a little more realistic. It’s better to have lower expectations, and exceed them, than to aim too high, and miss your goals.
The Passionate One
These entrepreneurs are driven by one thing and one thing only – a passion for their business or industry. While they may be the best in the business at what they do, they probably lack business acumen, or even the inclination to tackle tasks like administration and finances.
Passion is great – it’ll make going to work feel like anything but a job. However, business requires you to do the tasks you don’t like so much too. Aim for balance, and you should be fine.
The Business Veteran
Business veterans are usually older entrepreneurs, who have been around the business block. While they have the skills and knowledge to make a business work, they may shy away from technology and other more modern approaches to business. That can mean a lot more intensive labor.
Using your business knowledge to build a company is a great idea. Just make sure that you combine all that skill with modern time saving methods and technologies. If you’re not comfortable with that, hire a team that are, and while you take care of the business, let them take care of the tech.
The Lone Wolf
This type of entrepreneur tries to do everything, and be everything to everyone, all by themselves. While it’s great to know every aspect of your business inside and out, no man is an island, as they say. If you try to sustain the lone wolf approach for too long, you’re heading one way: burnout.
If you can’t afford to hire staff to help you full time, find people or companies you can outsource too. This is especially true for mundane tasks – after all, your time is worth more than that isn’t it?
The Ideas Guy or Gal
Another type of entrepreneur is the one who is brilliant at coming up with excellent new ideas, but not so great at putting them into practice. Either the idea never makes it off the drawing board, or it fizzles out along the way, because they lack the skill to sell it, or run a company.
Ideas are the lifeblood of entrepreneurship. If you’re not too great at taking them from concept to product, however, enlist a partner who is. A well balanced team, made up of an idea person and a doer is the entrepreneurial dream team!
The Philanthropist
These types of entrepreneur usually spot a need for industry in their community or elsewhere, or they find a way to help communities by starting a small business of some kind.
While helping people is great, your first goal as an entrepreneur is to have a profitable business. Don’t let your need to help cloud your business sense. Find a balance between helping others and helping o grow your business, and you can achieve all of your goals.
What Kind of Entrepreneur Are You?
I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who could add a few types of entrepreneur to this list. However, the fact remains that all entrepreneurs have strengths and weaknesses, and those strengths and weaknesses will determine how your business does.
If you haven’t seen a description that suits your entrepreneurial style in this list, then why not sit down with a piece of paper, and list the areas where you are strong, and what needs work. Then, come up with ideas to get around those weaknesses, and capitalize on the strengths.
Anybody has the potential to succeed as an entrepreneur. Being honest about what you can and can’t do is the first step however, so figure out where you need a little help, and then go out there and find it. It’ll make starting a small business that succeeds a whole lot easier.
As a successful, under-30 serial entrepreneur, Gary Whitehill’s game-changing endeavors have been featured on television and in magazines and newspapers across the nation. Read more about Gary here.
Matthew Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur, and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Adam. Matthew is co-author of the newly released book:Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.
I think many people will recognise these archetypes and most will have tendencies to one or another. I agree with Michael Gerber (writer of the E-Myth series) that most people starting up their businesses are Technicians. This is the classic situation where you work for a big corporate and realise your company is making lots of money out of your talents and believe it’s time to have that money for yourself.
The key is to understand that however good a technician you are (web designer, baker, candle-stick maker) you need to learn the skills of how to manage yourself and your business AND how to set its direction and (crucially) market it effectively.
Marketing is the “secret sauce” of all successful businesses: whether it’s the personal recommendations a landscape gardener hopes to get or the Adwords traffic an ecommerce site needs to survive: without a good grasp of marketing you don’t stand a chance.
@Kevin: Really great points. Love the concept of marketing as the “secret sauce.” It’s absolutely true – marketing, more than any other single factor (beyond perhaps the entrepreneur’s own drive to succeed) can truly be the difference between success and failure. If you don’t understand marketing, you’d better find someone who does to help you grow your business. Thanks for the comment!
Hi everyone,
@Kevin – I liked your comment, it’s insightful and easily sums up the main idea of this article. I think that passion, along with a desire to improve and make things happen really account for so many entrepreneurial endeavors, in business, personal life (hobbies, free time activities, social activities). It’s pretty important to realize early in time that you can actually do your own thing. There’s too much mimesis out there – in thought and action – adding up to a very common, shared lifestyle that we don’t fully enjoy.
Nice article, though.
Kate
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