DEVELOPING YOUR ENTREPRENEURSHIP POTENTIALS - OGUNTOLA ADELOWO

Entrepreneurs are individuals who are continually looking for opportunities to start or grow their own business. These are the kind of people who prefer to be part of those that determines the economic forces of the country wherein they reside.
Individuals are attracted to entrepreneurship by a number of powerful incentives such as profit, independence and a satisfying way of life. In general, there are four (4) ways to becoming an entrepreneur and these are:
Entering a family business
Opening a franchised business
Buying an existing business/Investing in various existing businesses
Starting a new business
THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILL
We will begin to ask the question (i) what skills do I need as an entrepreneur? (ii) What makes someone a successful entrepreneur?
It certainly helps to have strong technology skills or expertise in a key area but these are not defining characteristics of entrepreneurship. Instead, the key qualities are traits such as; creativity, the ability to keep going in the face of hardship and the social skills needed to build great teams.
DEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Some experts have tried to define entrepreneurs as people who are willing to take risks that other people are not ready to take. Some others defined entrepreneurs as people who want to start and build successful businesses. Thinking about the first definition, being an entrepreneur does not necessarily involve starting your own business as many people who do not work for themselves are recognized as entrepreneurs within their organizations. Regardless of the two definitions, one thing is certain; becoming a successful entrepreneur is not easy.
So we ask, how does one person successfully take advantage of an opportunity while another equally knowledgeable person does not? Though, many studies have gone over this subject there is an affirmative answer. It is evident that successful entrepreneurs seem to have certain traits in common. In this paper, four traits will be considered as follows:
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
To be an entrepreneur, we need to ask examine our personal characteristics, values and beliefs. The biggest question here is, do I have the mindset that is typical of successful entrepreneurs? This is more a question of behavioural pattern and innate values that define the personality of a human.
The mindset typical of successful entrepreneurs entails OPTIMISM, VISION, INITIATIVE, DESIRE FOR CONTROL, DRIVE AND PERSISTENCE, RISK TOLERANCE and RESILIENCE.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
As a successful entrepreneur, you will have to work closely with people. This is where it is critical to be able to build great relationships with your team, customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors and more.
The skills needed here will include LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, GOOD LISTENING ABILITIES, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PERSONAL RELATIONS, NEGOTIATION and ETHICS.
CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS
As a good entrepreneur, you will need to always come up with fresh ideas and make good decisions about opportunities and potential projects. Most people are not born creative but creativity is a skill that can be developed if there is persistent investment of time and skills. A good entrepreneur will be able to THINK CREATIVELY, SOLVE PROBLEMS and RECOGNIZE OPPORTUNITIES.

PRACTICAL SKILLS
Practical skills and knowledge are also needed to produce goods or services effectively and run a business. These skills include GOAL SETTING, PLANNING AND ORGANIZING and DECISION MAKING.
Now that we have identified all the skills required to be a successful entrepreneur, the question becomes, how do we fuse them all together into a successful entrepreneurship move? The following points will answer this question.
START A SMALL BUSINESS: Entrepreneurship cannot be fully learnt within the confines of a school; rather, it is better learnt on the job because the lessons therein are practical lessons. To develop these skills quickly, you need to start a small business and learn on the job.
READ BUSINESS, INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL MAGAZINES
READ BOOKS ON BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ATTEND SEMINARS
READ AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND BIOGRAPHIES OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS
JOIN ORGANIZATIONS
NETWORK WITH OTHER ENTREPRENEURS
FIND A MENTOR

In conclusion, I will always advise entrepreneurs to use every opportunity they have to learn something new and improve their skills.

OGUNTOLA ADELOWO A.
+2348106006057
oguntolaadelowo@gmail.com