Working for Yourself Self-employment & Entrepreneur

What’s the Difference?  Self-employment: being a franchisee, doing contract work, freelancing, being an agent or distributor for a product or service.  Entrepreneur: someone who starts an enterprise or business.

Entrepreneur  French word “entreprendre” which means “to start, undertake or embark upon something.”  Entrepreneurs see problems that need solutions.  Where others see a problem, they see an opportunity.  Read profiles on pages and discuss.

Myths & Realities  Entrepreneurs are born, not made.  Entrepreneurs are gamblers, addicted to taking risks.  Entrepreneurs are independent.  Entrepreneurs are motivated only by money.  Entrepreneurs undergo more stress than people in traditional jobs.  You can learn to be an entrepreneur by learning a set of skills.  They take calculated risks  They may work independently, but they rely on many others.  Not true. They are also motivated by a desire for independence & fulfillment in their work.  Different people find different things stressful. No one would deny that hard work involved.

Young Entrepreneur Profiles  Devise a list of adjectives to describe these 3 individuals: Stefanie, Ashley and Dameion.

Interesting Facts  Over 30% of young people between 18 – 35 rank becoming an entrepreneur as their profession of choice, ahead of traditional occupations such as lawyer, teacher, stockbroker.  Approximately 30 percent of small businesses in Canada are owned by entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

Do you have what it takes?  Answer the next 11 questions “yes” or “no”.

Could you succeed in Small Business?  1. Do you have a burning desire to be “on your own?”  2. Am I confident that I can succeed?  3. Am I willing to take calculated and moderate risks?  4. Am I a self-starter?  5. Am I able to set long-term goals? Can I stick with them? Even if I’m faced with a difficult problem or situation?

Con’t  6. Do I believe that money is the best measure of success?  7. Am I creative? Am I always looking for new approaches and ideas? Am I innovative?  8. Am I good at making decisions? Are my decisions generally sound?

Con’t  9. Am I willing to market my product or service?  10. Am I a good organizer? Do I pay attention to details?  11. Am I flexible? Do I adapt to change? Can I handle surprises?

Facts  E: xamine needs, wants and problems to see how they can improve the way needs and wants are met and overcome.  N: arrow the possible opportunities to one specific “best” opportunity.  T: hink of innovative ideas and narrow the to the “best” idea.  R: esearch the opportunity and idea thoroughly.

Facts  E: nlist the best sources of advice and assistance they can find.  P: lan their ventures and look for possible problems that may arise.  R: ank the risks and the possible rewards.  E: valuate the risks and possible rewards and make their decision to act or not to act.

Facts  N: ever hang on to an idea, no matter how much they love it, if research shows it won’t work.  E: mploy the resources necessary for the venture to succeed.  U: nderstand that they will have to work long and hard to make their venture succeed.

Facts  R: ealize a sense of accomplishment from their successful venture and learn from their failures to help them achieve success in the future.