Spirit of an Entrepreneur

There are all kinds of job profiles in the world. In today’s time, these job roles are valued a lot in society. If you are an IAS officer, the treatment you get would be pretty different than a normal citizen.

Some of these job profiles are desirous and celebrated. One such role that I got was the tag of ‘entrepreneur’. While everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, I always wondered what is an entrepreneur.

By definition, it may sound like a trivial question. But my doubt arose from the fact that there is no exam/degree one has to do to be called an entrepreneur. Besides, even if I fail in my entrepreneurial journey, I am still considered one. Also, what if I just took over a company from another CEO? Would I still be considered an entrepreneur? What if I just started a small grocery shop, am I still an entrepreneur?

It is a loose definition to begin with and some would say it is irrelevant to pursue such doubts in one’s mind. But curiosity is the fuel for writing and so I will have to continue until I satisfy my curiosity.

The technical definition(from dictionaries) of an entrepreneur is someone who starts a business and takes on financial risks in expectation of profit. The keywords are starting a business. This definition is insufficient in the sense that this would qualify a lot of people (including the grocery shop owner) that we discussed earlier. But not all of them get the respect and attention that we see for entrepreneurs in society.

It is a personal definition. Probably the reason we respect entrepreneurs is not due to “what they have” but “what they are”. Let me explain. An entrepreneur is respected because of the character traits he shows. Tolerance for extreme pressure, a clear vision about the world in the future which others cannot get, a sense of duty towards the larger society that a lot of them have, perseverance and exceptional leadership skills, and so on.

They are in the news due to the wealth they accumulate. But on a personal level, we attribute the above personality traits as the reasons why entrepreneurs accumulate this wealth.

Therefore, an entrepreneur can be identified from his spirit and character. Entrepreneurs have a strong spirit which is their guiding light. It doesn’t succumb to the physical realities of today and is courageous enough to look into future possibilities. But it is also practical along with being visionary.

Osho once told a story where two people are walking on a jungle trail and only one of them has a lamp. The other person is okay about that since he can also see the path due to that lamp though he has no lamp with him. As they go forward they encounter a crossroads and both need to travel separately now. At this point, the person who was missing his lamp and was dependent panicked. He realizes now that he was dependent till now and instead of learning how to create a lamp, he was in comfort since the other person was there.

A lot of times in our lives, we meet people who have that inner light present. They not only light up their life but also help others around. At that point, most of us are okay following the leader rather than learning how to see our inner light.

Only a few walk the uncertain path of finding their light. These are entrepreneurs and this is why they are respected.