The ultimate guide to entrepreneurship

What is Entrepreneurship?
In the simplest form ever; “ENTREPRENEURSHIP is about USING your LIFE to MAKE A DIFFERENCE through a BUSINESS.” This is my personal definition of entrepreneurship. And in this definition, lies the 3 critical components that are necessary to successfully pursue your entrepreneurial dreams and eventually build a business that MATTERS! The 3Ps of Entrepreneurship.

The PERSON (who): using your life
The PURPOSE (why/what): to make a difference
The PROCESS (how): through a Business

Let’s look at each critical component in more details.

The person (who): using your Life – The entrepreneurial journey is embarked upon by an individual or group of individuals. And to a very large extent, the success or failure of the business to be created is going to be greatly determined by the founder(s). This is why it’s imperative for us to start the exploration of this subject matter of entrepreneurship from a personal perspective, because believe it or not, business and life are both sides of the same coin. At the very fundamental level, business is not separate from life, but an extension of life. So any attempt to separate one from the other, will ultimately compromise the very essence of entrepreneurship.

The Entrepreneur: Who Are You?
Entrepreneurship is the most unusual journey you will ever embark on in your life, so you’ve got to be absolutely certain it’s how you want to live your life and what you want to use your life for.

Entrepreneurship is not complete without you the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is fulfilled through you; you are the one who gives birth to your business. Your business is whatever you say it is. Your business can and will only go as far as you want to take it. You and your business are inextricably linked. Your business derives its purpose from your purpose; your business derives its meaning from your life. So this leads us to the BIG question every entrepreneur or would be entrepreneur must answer; who are you? Until you have discovered yourself, every business you start will eventually fail. I know this is hard to believe, so I am going to prove it.

According to Bill Aulet, the Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship; there are primarily 3 ways of starting a new business venture. Meaning, there are basically 3 ways of becoming an entrepreneur;
You have a breakthrough technology You have an idea You have a passion Did you notice every one of the 3 ways of becoming an entrepreneur started with YOU? From the above, the only constant element is YOU.

It takes YOU to create a breakthrough technology; it takes YOU to come up with a viable business idea; and finally, it takes YOU to have passion. At the epicenter of entrepreneurship is YOU! YOU will have to decide based on any of these 3 options how YOU want to become an entrepreneur. And your ability to make the right choice will greatly depend on your understanding of yourself as a person. Knowing who you are; what you like and dislike; your strengths and weaknesses; your interests, abilities and skills; your character, temperament and values; your experiences, challenges, desires and realities; all add up to determine your success or failure as an entrepreneur. So going into business without first discovering yourself and understanding who you are, is a guaranteed recipe for failure.

This is because not knowing yourself will hinder your ability to accurately choose the right business that will suit your person. In the end, you will find yourself in a line of business you are inadequately equipped for and will eventually lack the personal qualities to scale through thereby leading to business failure.

You can avoid this by consciously seeking to know yourself better. Remember, entrepreneurship is about using your life to make a difference through a business. So this is your life you are using up to create and build a business, don’t waste it on the wrong kind of business. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
Tito Philips is a young Nigerian that is M.A.D – Making A Difference