‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’

 Co-founder of Walt Disney Productions

 

These words motivate a person to pursue their dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Now, you might be wondering what the word entrepreneur means. Well, the word ‘entrepreneur’ is a French word which means undertaking a new venture. Economic philosopher Jean-Baptiste coined this word.

Who is an entrepreneur?

As the word suggests, someone who takes a new risk of setting up his own business in life to gain profit is known as an entrepreneur. In simple words, a businessman. Entrepreneurship is basically the activity of setting up a business, taking risks and earning profits. The idea is to start a business and apply yourself completely in order to achieve something good out of it. In Steve Jobs’ opinion, entrepreneurship is all about doing really crazy things in order to accomplish amazing things. It is like putting a dent in the universe.

What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur should be hardworking, long hours of working and short holidays are ideally for many entrepreneurs to make their business successful. Being innovative and creative to put your dreams into action, implement ingenious and intellectual ideas and grind yourself on working upon the idea. An entrepreneur should have the ability to take a risk and decide what to produce for consumers as setting up an own business is potentially very risky! Being self-confident is the key to success, every entrepreneur should have the capability to convince customers to buy his or her product and convince banks to finance him or her and provide loans. A business entrepreneur needs to have a visionery. A clear vision for the success of a business is undoubtedly vital. Lastly, a successful business person should acquire leadership qualities, someone who will take responsibility for the business, its workers, and their successes and failures. Never lead his or her team to failure and be there with them. Only a true leader will be able to reach for a triumph.

These characteristics will determine how well a person can manage his or her venture and turn out to be a successful entrepreneur.

 

List of some successful entrepreneurs around the world

 

OPRAH GAIL WINFREY

Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American philanthropist, host, actress, producer and author. She is one of the most influential women around the world, she is best known for her TV show ‘OPRAH WINFREY SHOW’  the show is widely known. She was the richest African American of the 20th century, North American’s first black multi billionaire, and has been ranked as the greatest blac philanthropist in American history.

 

J.K. ROWLING

J.K.Rowling is a British writer and philanthropist, she is infamous for writing ‘HARRY POTTER’  which is of course everyone’s favourite! ‘HARRY POTTER’  has won multiple awards and has sold more than 500 million copies becoming the best selling books of the history. Rowling’s books are a basis of a popular film series and she herself has produced it.

 

STEVE PAUL JOBS

1955-2011

Co-Founder of ‘APPLE’  Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur, his company became the biggest name in the technology world, producing the best quality gadgets. He was clear about what he wanted to achieve and stayed focused throughout his journey. The secret to his success what he said was, FOCUS AND SIMPLICITY.

 

What it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

Passion, willingness, strong determination, focus and resilience leads to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Becoming successful in this field is not an inborn quality, in fact it is the hard work and passion which drives people to achieve their dreams. It is a slow and gradual process, people often have to face a lot of hindrances and criticism on their way. None of the entrepreneurs mentioned above had a smooth journey but it was their dreams, passion, dedication and hard work that gained them the respect and the name that they achieved and so rightly deserved.

 

‘IF YOU DON’T BUILD YOUR OWN DREAMS SOMEONE ELSE WILL HIRE YOU TO HELP BUILD OTHERS’.’

TONY GASKINS

 

By: Arisha Ansari – Year 10