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The Ultimate Entrepreneur Essay example

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The Ultimate Entrepreneur

In 2002 it was reported that George W. Bush told the then prime minister Tony Blair that "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur". Putting it kindly, this was a mistake. Translated from French, an entrepreneur is "someone who undertakes" something. Of course it carries a much wider meaning than that in the modern English definition. An entrepreneur is someone who takes an idea and builds it into something great and successful. Someone with vision, drive and creativity, and the will to make it happen, often against difficult odds. Or certainly that's the general perception. Does this person have to be a genius? Above average intelligence? What defines an entrepreneur really? …show more content…

As an entrepreneur you're in the uncertainty business, so you need a high tolerance for risk. You need to be willing to fail several times if necessary in order to get it right in the end, and you need to be flexible in your thinking. Your idea may need to change as your journey unfolds, and you need to be open enough to accept and work with that change. Uncertainty is a scary place, so you will need to deal with the fear associated with that. Fear of not knowing where next month's pay cheque is coming from, fear of failure. You must become accustomed to insecurity as a life choice. And you'll need the ability to think creatively so you can change perspective to solve all those inevitable problems that come up.

So far then we have vision, passion, persistence, high risk tolerance, flexible and creative thinking. Throw in resilience for good measure. Not many people have these qualities up front, or maybe more importantly, are willing to adopt them. It is argued that our education system does nothing to promote entrepreneurship either. With its emphasis on conformity and "thinking inside the box", it arguably stifles creativity. It is interesting to note that people like Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and Steve Jobs didn't finish higher education, and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. I'm not saying

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