Being an entrepreneur
Imagine, having a dream or waking up to the eureka moment that reveals the best idea since sliced bread. Isn’t that what an entrepreneur is? Not exactly. Although becoming an entrepreneur does occupy many people’s dreams, being an entrepreneur (or intrapreneur) is much more than a big idea. When it comes time to present your idea for venture capital or a bank loan, there needs to be solid reasoning to something that has never been tried before.
The current economic environment
The pressure to be innovative and entrepreneurial within a corporation has increased in the current economic environment. These skills include aspects that are not necessarily something you are born with as well as aspects that may not necessarily be something you can quickly learn.
You’ll need to develop an appreciation for what can add value to the company, and gain the knowledge if you can’t develop the skill.
Your abilities to balance something unique with logical and grounded research becomes key. Explaining your analysis of the market significantly impacts your connections to those who are looking to take the risk to invest in your idea. But don’t let that force you into an idea that is not unique. There still needs to be a differentiation point to argue that the idea is viable and worth risking.
Questions to ask yourself
Some of the main questions to ask yourself are: Is your idea something that has never been done before or different that what already exists? Did you do an in depth market feasibility study that can explain and provide solid evidence and trends that the demand carries? And most importantly, be honest with yourself concerning the passion involved with your idea. What is it inside yourself that makes you so sure this is an idea that works?
Debra Pearl has over 25 years of a strong balance of scholar / practitioner experience. With a doctorate in Organizational Development and Change, she publishes and presents all over the world and serves as a reviewer and editor for several peer-review, specifically with a focus toward strategic futuring within entrepreneurs. She’s served as a Director of many graduate and undergraduate programs, advocating entrepreneurship. On the practitioner side, she’s started and sold several small businesses since high school, acting as an entrepreneurial mentor for the last 25 years. She has a reputation of jumping in, getting things done, creating new ventures, provoking thought, teaching with relevancy and pulling out the potential in others by helping them turn their goals into reality.
