The road to entrepreneurship is often a treacherous one, filled with unexpected detours, roadblocks, and dead ends. There are countless sleepless nights, plans that don’t work out, funding that doesn’t come through, and customers that never materialize. It can be so challenging to launch a business that you may wonder why anyone willingly sets out on such a path.
Yet, despite these hardships, thousands of people embark on the entrepreneurial journey each year, determined to bring their vision to fruition and fill a need they see in society. They open brick-and-mortar businesses, launch tech startups, or turn an idea into a new product or service. With the right motivation, inspiration, and game plan, you can become a successful entrepreneur too.
What Do Entrepreneurs Do?
Entrepreneurs identify a need that no existing business addresses and determine a solution for that need. Entrepreneurial activity includes developing and starting a new business and implementing a business marketing plan, often with the end goal of selling the company to turn a profit.
A serial entrepreneur is someone who regularly launches new businesses, sells them, and then starts new companies. Whether a business owner should be considered an entrepreneur often depends on whether they created the business and other legalities. However, any founder of a successful household-name business began as an entrepreneur.
Financing Your Entrepreneurial Dreams
If you want to become an entrepreneur but worry about finances, don’t let that stop you. Many entrepreneurs seek financing options that bypass traditional banks, such as funding from angel investors who provide capital to cover startup costs (or later, expansion costs). If you can demonstrate high growth potential for your business, you can also turn to venture capitalists, who offer capital in exchange for equity in your company.
Examples of Successful Entrepreneurs
Many people whose names were unknown decades ago exemplify entrepreneurial success today. Here are just a few examples:
Steve Jobs: The late tech leader started Apple in a garage and grew it into the dominant company it is today. Jobs even faltered partway through his career, leaving Apple for more than a decade before returning to take it to new heights.
Elon Musk: He founded SpaceX and has become known for putting the billions of dollars his company has earned towards benevolent projects, including providing clean water to Flint, Michigan, and donating FDA-approved ventilators to hospitals during COVID-19.
Bill Gates: The Microsoft co-founder has often been listed as the world’s wealthiest individual and has become an internationally renowned leader on pandemics and how to handle them. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on combating poverty, inequity, and disease globally.
Jeff Bezos: The founder of Amazon.com originally started the enterprise as an online book retailer. The internet marketplace has since become one of the most valued companies in the world, selling nearly every product imaginable.
Mark Zuckerberg: As a college student, he co-founded Facebook, shaping the future of social media. Initially launched for select college campuses, the service quickly expanded to the broader public, turning Zuckerberg into one of America’s youngest self-made billionaires.
Sara Blakely: She turned $5,000 into a $1 billion company with an invention known today as Spanx. The idea was born out of Blakely’s frustration with pantyhose she had to wear for prior jobs. With no fashion experience, she researched everything from patents to fabrics.
Key Takeaway: Many of the biggest businesses had humble beginnings and evolved into highly successful enterprises over time. Don’t be afraid to change your initial idea to fit shifts in your market.
The Motivations of Successful Entrepreneurs
What motivates entrepreneurs to venture forth when so many others would run in the opposite direction? Though each person’s inspiration is nuanced and unique, many entrepreneurs are spurred by one or more of the following motivators:
Autonomy
Entrepreneurs want to be their own bosses, set their own goals, control their own progress, and run their businesses how they see fit. They recognise that their businesses’ success or failure rests with them, but they don’t view this responsibility as a burden. Instead, it’s a marker of their freedom.
Purpose
Many entrepreneurs have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish and work tirelessly to make that happen. They genuinely believe they have a product or service that fills a void and are compelled by a single-minded commitment to keep pushing ahead. They hate stagnation and would rather fail while moving forward than languish in inactivity.
Flexibility
Not everyone fits into the rigidity of traditional corporate culture. Entrepreneurs often seek to free themselves from these constraints, find a better work-life balance, or work at times and in ways that may be unconventional. This doesn’t mean they’re working fewer hours – often, especially in the early stages of growing a business, they work longer and harder – but rather, they’re working in a way that is instinctual for them.
Financial Success
Most entrepreneurs realise they aren’t going to be overnight billionaires, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in the potential to make a ton of money from a hugely successful business over which they have full control. Some want to establish a financial safety net for themselves and their families, while others aim to make a huge profit by creating the next big thing.
Legacy
Entrepreneurs are often guided by a desire to create something that outlasts them. They may want to develop a brand that has longevity and becomes an institution or pass on a source of income and security to their heirs. Some entrepreneurs hope to make a lasting impression on the world and leave behind an innovation that improves people’s lives in a tangible way.
Advice from Successful Entrepreneurs
If you’re contemplating whether to become an entrepreneur, first identify which of the above motivators serve as your guiding forces. Then, consider if you have the specific character traits and attributes that will enable you to thrive as an entrepreneur.
Here’s what 25 company founders and business leaders think makes a truly successful entrepreneur:
-
Derek Hutson, Managing Partner at Morgan Creek Strategies: “Entrepreneurship is at the core of the American dream. It’s about blazing new trails, believing in yourself, your mission, and inspiring others to join you in the journey. What sets entrepreneurs apart is the will, courage, and sometimes recklessness to actually do it.”
-
Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa: “Entrepreneurship is a pursuit of a solution, a single relentless focus on solving a problem or doing something drastically different from the way it is done today. It’s aiming to do something better than it’s ever been done before and constantly chasing improvement.”
-
Debbie Roxarzade, Founder and CEO of Rachel’s Kitchen: “Entrepreneurship is the constant hunger for making things better and the idea that you are never satisfied with how things are.”
-
Bruce Bachenheimer, Clinical Professor of Management and Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab at Pace University: “At its core, entrepreneurship is a mindset – a way of thinking and acting. It is about imagining new ways to solve problems and create value. Fundamentally, entrepreneurship is about the ability to recognize, methodically analyse an opportunity and, ultimately, to capture its value.”
-
Deborah Sweeney, Vice President and General Manager of Deluxe Corp.: “The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who possess grit. Grit is made up of persistence, passion, and resilience. It’s the passion to achieve long-term goals, the courage to try again in the face of rejection, and the will to do something better than it has been done before. When the going gets tough and they get knocked down, gritty entrepreneurs bounce right back up and try again.”
-
Tirath Kamdar, General Manager of Luxury at eBay: “The ability to listen, whether it be to the opinions of customers or employees, is also integral to success. While you must have the confidence to make your own choices, it is still incredibly important not to become detached from the people whose needs you are trying to meet.”
-
Amanda Austin, Founder and President of Little Shop of Miniatures: “Being an entrepreneur is like heading into uncharted territory. It’s rarely obvious what to do next, and you have to rely on yourself a lot when you run into problems. There are many days when you feel like things will never work out and you’re operating at a loss for endless months. You have to be able to stomach the roller coaster of emotions that comes with striking out on your own.”
How to Become an Entrepreneur
There’s no single path to becoming a successful entrepreneur. A lot of it can come down to having the right skills, mindset, and ideas at the right time to resonate with the public. However, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of starting a thriving business.
Find the Right Idea
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about finding a profitable idea; it’s about finding one you’re passionate about pursuing. Almost any industry has room for new entrepreneurs, and identifying the subject you care about most can motivate you to stay on course.
Develop a Business Plan
It’s not enough to say you want to start a business; you also need a solid plan for how to do so. A business plan can help solidify the financial goals you’d like to reach. It can also tell you how to reach them while enticing potential investors to fund your venture.
Determine Your Clientele
Not many businesses become successful without serving customers or clients. Most ventures won’t appeal to every member of the public equally, but you can gauge interest in your idea before opening your doors. The demographics of the people most interested in your business can help you make other decisions, like your store location and ad buys.
Market Your Idea
Even if your product or service has garnered interest among friends, family, or online forums, that’s a small sample size. You need to get a sense of what the public thinks. Marketing your idea in the right places and highlighting what sets it apart from competitors can help draw people to your business.
Network with Industry Professionals
There are likely people in your industry whose expertise and insights can help you move your business forward. They’ll know your market inside and out, and they may even be willing to share some secrets with you.
Sell Your Idea
Starting a business requires an initial cash outlay. With the right preparation and pitch, you can get funding from venture capitalists or angel investors who will take a chance on your venture. Most of them receive more pitches than they can fund, though, so make sure your pitch is thorough, clear, and thought-provoking.
Prepare for the Future
Starting a business is just the beginning. You also need to be able to adapt to the market’s ever-evolving needs. Be prepared to refine your business to fit consumer demand, always staying one step ahead.
The Bottom Line
Entrepreneurship can be both a difficult yet rewarding journey. Understanding what motivates you, having a clear plan, and being willing to adapt are key to finding success as an entrepreneur.
