1. What does it take to be an entrepreneur?
Super-project.eu
Lecture 2

2. Skills, Abilities and Characteristics
Contents
Aims & Objectives 1
Common Myths 2
Skills, Abilities and Characteristics 3
Summary 4

3. Aims for the session By the end of the session, students will:
Have discussed some common myths about entrepreneurs.
Understand the differences between entrepreneurs and owner-managers, and how owner managers can remain entrepreneurial.
Have considered the skills, abilities and characteristics exhibited by successful entrepreneurs.

4. Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are born not made
Entrepreneurs are lucky to have special abilities/circumstances
All entrepreneurs start off with an innovative cutting edge idea
Entrepreneurs high risk takers
You need money to become an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial skills can be improved
Special circumstances are not enough, hard work is needed to succeed
Many just notice problems and try to solve them, iterating as they go
They are calculated risk takers
Many entrepreneurs start with the resources they have at hand

5. When do we stop being an entrepreneur…
..and become an owner-manager?

6. Entrepreneur or Owner Manager?
Initial Start Up
Establishment and Management

7. Skills, abilities and traits?

8. Personal Characteristics

9. Self-awareness Self-efficacy
Recognising and analysing your skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses
Self-efficacy
Believing in yourself and in your ability to accomplish a set goal.

10. Motivation & Perseverance
Staying focused and not giving up
Having the determination, patience and resilience to put your ideas into action
Not being deterred by obstacles and failures
Examples
Steve Jobs famously said ‘I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.’
Sir James Dyson developed 5,126 prototypes of bagless vacuum cleaner that failed first.

11. Coping with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk
The nature of the work requires tolerance to uncertainty and ambiguity.
Having higher sense of purpose and belief in what you are doing helps to cope with uncertainty.

12. Accepting and coping with failure
Failures in business are inevitable, up to 50 per cent of businesses close within 5 years of starting.
Failure is a great learning process
Many famous entrepreneurs and great minds failed many times
Examples:
Edison famously said ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work’.
Richard Branson has launched many businesses that have failed, for instance, Virgin clothes, lingerie or bridal wear

13. Interpersonal Skills

14. Mobilising others Working with others
Convincing, motivating and inspiring other people to support your idea.
Bringing in other prople’s experience and perspectives, networks, resources to help implement your idea.
Working with others
Being able to cooperate and work with others such as:
partners
employees
buyers
suppliers
investors
other stakeholders.
Being able to delegate tasks and trusting your team

15. Creativity Vision Thinking about alternative solutions
Spotting problems,
Having many different ideas
Vision
Thinking strategically and guiding action,
Having imagination and using it to think about the future and plan accordingly.

16. Practical Skills

17. Valuing ideas Mobilising resources Taking initiative
Evaluating ideas to see what potential is in them to create economic, social or cultural value
Mobilising resources
Obtaining outside support such as expertise and funding
Convincing others to invest their resources into your project
Having a sound business plan and good personal reputation
Taking initiative
Having a courage to implement your idea and take matters into your hands without expecting any instructions from others

18. Planning & Management
Being able to assess where you are now and where you want to get (what is the goal of your project),
Thinking of all tasks that must be completed, resources needed to complete them and strategies to achieve your goals.
Writing a business plan and thinking about all aspects of your venture. It helps clarifying your idea, talking to investors, banks etc.

19. Learning through experience
Being able to draw on your previous experiences and learning from failures
Financial & Economic Literacy
Knowing how markets work and how individuals make choices to manage resources,
Ability to manage monetary resources effectively and develop projects in a sustainable way.

20. Summary
1) Many common myths exist around what an entrepreneur ‘looks like’.
2) After the initial frenzy of staring up your company you will become an owner-manager.
3) Not all owner-managers remain entrepreneurial but entrepreneurial owner-managers are always thinking about the next thing – how to grow the business, where to expand, new products/services, markets etc.
4) There are a number of skills, abilities and characteristics that are displayed by successful entrepreneurs. These can largely be worked on and actively developed.

21. Thank You !