Burning Questions: Broke Entrepreneur Q&A, #2

I'm back with another Q&A, this time from Claire, who asks:

"What is an Entrepreneur, is it just somebody out to make lots of money? Or is it a more creative thing? How would you define it?"

There are many ways to define an entrepreneur. Certainly, the financial exploits are a large part, if not always the number one desired goal of any entrepreneurial pursuit. But I tend to think that entrepreneurism conveys a much deeper meaning than just profit, because for most people it fulfills a deeper need to be in control, to be in charge of their own destiny, and/or create a change or impact the world in some manner.

Entrepreneurs share a lot of the common characteristics of trailblazers, inventors, and philanthropists, and are most often a bit of each wrapped into one. While the ultimate goal is of course financial success, the lack thereof doesn't stop the pursuit, because a person who is committed to entrepreneurism will just move on to another challenge, undaunted by any previous failures, stopping just a moment to brush off his or her shoulders and then set pen to paper to begin again.

And this is all just my take on it, I'm sure others may see it differently, and that's the whole point - I think you have the ability to define yourself as an entrepreneur if you feel so moved, and no one can legitimately dispute that because no one can argue what your plans are or what your dreams are, regardless of what you may be doing today. Personally, I'm forever off on a chase, feverishly writing down plans, drawing layouts and charts for the way things SHOULD work if I just do A, B, or C. In my mind, I'm an entrepreneur, albeit, a broke entrepreneur, but to others that have no idea what I have planned, if I was to state that I consider myself an entrepreneur, they would immediately wonder, where is the money? Where is the business and the success? Because that's what it comes down to for everybody looking in - only results speak to them. But for the entrepreneur, real results may be years away - and its the constant pursuit of those results that define the entrepreneur.

Wikipedia has a great entry on the word Entrepreneur, which lists personality characteristics as written in 1986 by John G. Burch in Business Horizons. I won't quote them all here, I encourage you to follow the link and read the list in its entirety, but the ones that most spoke to me were:

Nurturing quality: Willing to take charge of, and watch over a venture until it can stand alone.

Reward orientation: Desire to achieve, work hard, and take responsibility, but also with a commensurate desire to be rewarded handsomely for their efforts; rewards can be in forms other than money, such as recognition and respect.

Optimism: Live by the philosophy that this is the best of times, and that anything is possible.

I can identify with each of these. I'm often approached by family and friends with a business idea, and while they may only have developed the shell of the plan, I will take it and run with it, and by the time we speak again I've designed their logo, threw up a starter website, researched the market and even drafted a business plan! And I have no financial interest in their project whatsoever, I just want it to work for them, and I may be a bit of a control freak too, lol. So I hand it all over, expecting them to be as excited for themselves as I am already for them, but they've already either discarded the idea or put it on the back burner. At any rate, I've extended myself as much as I could and I'm still only a phone call away. I do it because its fun, it excites me, and I've planted the seeds they brought me - whether or not they water them, that's up to them at that point, but I've enjoyed myself being a part of it!

That's also why I do this blog. It's certainly not for profit - but I won't turn my nose up at it either! I'm no fool! But I do it because I love the whole process and I want to stretch the possibilities, even if I'm not the one in the driver's seat. If I can deliver information to you that can help you get over a hurdle and move your plans forward, then it is all worth every minute I spend on this.

Readers, what do you think defines an entrepreneur? I'd love to hear your interpretations.

Thanks so much for your question, Claire! I hope my answer was at least somewhere close to what you had in mind!

Please visit Claire's blog, A Little Piece of Me, and check out her gorgeous photography and random thoughts.

If you have any questions for me, please send them to denise@brokeentrepreneurs.com and I'll include them in a future Q&A!