The Twenty-First Century Entrepreneur; Smart or Lucky?
Many innovations have been developed by the entrepreneur but often these mavericks are brushed off as luckier than most people because they were successful.
Everyone knows the Starbucks, Microsoft, and TOMS shoes stories but most people do not realize how much entrepreneur blood is in all of us. The people who had the courage to strike out with a new idea just acted on their own observation skills, assessed their risk tolerance, and decided to persevere no matter what obstacles they encountered.
For every successful entrepreneur there are 99 others who noticed a need within an industry, but did not follow through and take the initial steps that would become their claim to fame. When a gap exists in an industry, the person who actually has a great idea to meet that need is not necessarily the one who does so. Sometimes a casual conversation in a public place, can spark the idea in another person and a new company is born in a garage within that same month.
After the idea is formed into a business solution, the initial steps will require a financial risk of some degree. Money is not usually the deciding factor in the arena of risk. Lifestyle changes, geographic location, and impact on a family will stop more business ventures than money ever will. Risking every aspect of one's life is not always possible just for the chance that the idea will take hold in the marketplace.
Once the idea has been formed and the risks have been managed to an acceptable degree, the sustained work begins. During the initial months of taking an idea to market there is little feedback on the success and hope will wane. If a competitor is found in the same area, the entrepreneur will be tested at the very core of his own belief in his venture. He will go back to the top of the process and reassess or he will persevere with blinders on to be the first to market.
Some of the greatest advances have been made because of the world-changers who were never told that something was impossible. Bless them all!