My heart sinks whenever a budding contestant on the X factor or such like seems motivated purely by the desire to become famous. ‘Famous for what?’ is not a relevant question for them – being famous per se is all that counts, not for providing any particular service to humanity!
I also feel some disquiet when someone says they want to be an entrepreneur but demonstrates little passion for any serious idea, and even less idea of the skills and qualities needed. To be fair, how easy is it to acquire such knowledge and skills? Few budding entrepreneurs have the opportunity or inclination to enrol in a training programme, besides which few of us know what we don’t know!
The successful entrepreneur is likely to have such qualities as:
- having fire in their belly
- seeing opportunities not just the negatives
- being innovative
- having good self awareness
- being a team player
- appointing great people who are then trusted to deliver
- being able to delegate
- not micro managing
- not being a control freak
- giving praise generously where it is due
- taking responsibility
- carrying the can
- making tough decisions
- being reliable
- offering progressive and dynamic leadership and
- having integrity in their DNA.
If this isn’t a tall order – goodness knows what is! The big companies have training programmes to develop staff to reach their potential and thrive in a corporate environment but what about those whose dream is to be an entrepreneur? The good news is that the skills they need can be taught and the experience of the successes and mistakes of other entrepreneurs can be shared. At SME Strategies we are committed to working with entrepreneurs who have that fire in their belly and the right attitude.
Our commitment comes not just because we love our work but because the SME economy is huge employing 60% of the private sector and accounting for 47% of private sector turnover*, and we believe that world class support should not be limited to the big companies but given to those who run SMEs. They are often, or could be, the lifeblood of our economy and post the Brexit vote they will be even more important.
Our new Prime Minister spoke about people going as far as their talents would take them. We put in practice that sentiment for budding entrepreneurs and for those who have started that journey but got stuck somewhere along the way. We deliver our support through WealthBeing. If you have that fire and attitude, contact us and we will give you an hour of our time to see if we might help you on that journey to make your entrepreneurial dream a reality.
David
*Business Population Estimates 2016 – Dept of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Released 13 October 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/559219/bpe_2016_statistical_release.pdf