Who is the Entrepreneur ?

An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking and assumes a risk for the sake of profit. Operating a business takes certain skills. Few people have all the skills needed to run a business, but they can compensate for their weaknesses by hiring staff or consultants and by becoming more knowledgeable through education or training.

How can I decide if I have the needed business skills?

You can assess your business skills by evaluating past jobs, volunteer work, positions in organizations, and personal traits. Consider your experiences and qualifications under each of the following headings.

1. Organization and planning: setting and attaining goals, managing time commitments, and keeping work schedules.

2. Handling money: determining budgets, securing loans, raising funds, keeping financial records, and completing income tax forms.

3. Selling ideas and products: determining sales quotas and projections; presenting projects for committees, organizations and/or administrative groups; direct selling to customers or clientele; handling criticism and rejection.

4. Management: experience in managing all or part of a small business or an agency; serving as director or major officer of an organization.

5. Working with people: mediating or arbitrating between people with opposing views when the situation requires; organizing and planning large public events; assuming officer or executive secretary positions in an organization, and/or handling complaints for an organization or company; getting along well with most people.

6. Ability to take risks: taking moderate, calculated risks in varied situations (situations where the chance of winning was not so small as to be a "gamble" or so large as to be a "sure thing" — situations where there was a reasonable and challenging chance of success).

7. Willingness to lead and to work alone: being self-disciplined; handling situations which were ambiguous and full of uncertainty as to the job requirements; working calmly and efficiently in the midst of an emergency or crisis.

8. Personality traits: taking the initiative in situations requiring it; accepting and accomplishing more than your share of the work; willingness to work hard even if the financial rewards are slow in coming; establishing high standards of performance and raising them once they are met.

9. Knowledge of products and/or skills in the service offered by your business or in producing your product: willingness to do self-study, research, and planning to improve business operations.

Do I need all these skills?

Not all of these experiences are necessary for every business. Few, if any, persons who start a business are experts at everything. You must be able to assess your strengths and weaknesses before deciding whether you can take time to learn what you need to know, or can afford to hire staff or consultants. Expertise is more important in some businesses than in others. Only you can assess whether you have the right expertise to succeed.

Source : http://www.zeromillion.com