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Entrepreneur Resources

Entrepreneur is such a sexy word isn’t it, well, it’s French for a start, but just the mere mention of it fills your head with thoughts of success, wealth and power, someone who knows where they want to be and will do all that it takes to get there. Come to think of it, I don’t remember “entrepreneur” being offered in our careers options at school, they certainly didn’t have any entrepreneur resources like they did if you wanted to be a teacher, nurse or a policeman, but then again, that was a long time ago, maybe they’ve had a re-think.

Entrepreneur Resources

So who can be an entrepreneur, what qualifications do you need and what resources can help you out? Well, in answer to the first question, anyone can be an entrepreneur, as long as they “organize a business venture and are prepared to assume the risk for it”. You see, that’s where lots of people fall at the first hurdle, so to speak. Risk! If it all goes pear-shaped, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself, it’s a risky business being an entrepreneur and many people prefer the reliability of a pay check at the end of each month or week. Entrepreneurs need to be resourceful, strong and not afraid of failure. Ah, there we go again, “failure”, not a very nice word that is it? They do reckon that fear of failure is what stops many people from becoming entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs just see failure as a sign that they haven’t quite got the recipe right yet. It’s all in the mind set.

Who Wants To Be An Entrepreneur – I do

So what’s stopping you? It’s a bit like the song about millionaires isn’t it, and the really good entrepreneurs end up as millionaires too, an added bonus. There’s obviously a fine line between entrepreneur and eccentric, after all, some people spend their entire lives developing new ideas which are never destined to be successful, and they’re called eccentrics, but then, if they suddenly hit onto a brilliant idea – eureka, they’re suddenly morphed into entrepreneurs – fickle bunch aren’t we!

Resources for Entrepreneurs

So what resources do entrepreneurs need to get started?

• Confidence in their own abilities and ideas
• A helpful bank manager – every business venture needs start up capital, and having an understanding bank manager is a great help, but you’ll have to do your homework first, it’s no good waltzing in with a good idea and a head full of dreams, you’ll need a business plan, he’ll want to know how you’re going to make money, where you’ll buy your materials, all about your advertising plan etc etc etc
• A mentor – ah, that’s a good idea, a mentor could help you to hone your ideas and get your business plan up to scratch
• A business organization – there’s nothing like mixing with like-minded people to help to get your ideas to fruition. You can bounce off each other, learn from each other and help each other to succeed. Many of them will have been there, done that and bought the t-shirt – hmm, your new best friends.

Some entrepreneurs are simply born that way but it is possible to learn the skills to become an entrepreneur, you just need to have the right resources in place, the right idea and the guts to go for it.

Doesn’t sound so exciting now does it? Surely there’s a way to have your cake and eat it . . .