What is an entrepreneur and why are they so important to all of us?

I spoke with a client yesterday and they asked me what my opinion on the current landscape is with regards to business ownership, business owners and Entrepreneurs. I thought I’d share my answer on here as he proclaimed it to be a mic drop moment – his words not mine!

Cutting to the chase, I have a strong opinion that now more than ever business owners and ‘entrepreneurs’ are going to be extremely important to all of us moving forward. We need to pay attention and focus efforts on how to support them properly and champion them appropriately. Here is why.

First and most importantly let me define what I personally mean by an ‘entrepreneur’. This is not a job title or self-proclaimed title. I’m using the term as an efficient way to describe a person that has particular behavioural preferences and capabilities.

Everyone has behavioural preferences – yes even you! These preferences can be categorised and labelled as Meta-Programmes. Most Entrepreneurs are blessed with a strategy to spot opportunity due to their ‘Change Pattern’ Meta-Programme. They have a preference towards being what is called ‘Difference’. They look at a situation and see how things could be done different – and better from their perspective. It cannot really be turned off so I’m sure you know someone that always has an idea for change, whether sat in a restaurant and how the food is served or looking at a way a business works and how things can be improved.

Only about 25% of people have this preference so when you then combine and distil this further with the other 8 key Meta-Programmes; Primary Interest, Information, Evaluation, Decision, Motivation, Motive, Activity and Organisation, you can begin to understand that natural entrepreneurs are few and far between! When the right preferences are lined up you have an entrepreneur. You will see a person that has identified a superior opportunity, is motivated to take action and is a charismatic leader of people.

The good news is with psychology and modelling technologies these preferences can be taught much like any other capability and can show up as traits… that is for another post… (or contact me if interested!)

OK, so, back to the original point… Why are entrepreneurs so important?

It has to do what's is called ‘High Growth Start-ups’. These are businesses that start and then continue to grow, they then in-turn hire more and more people, and add more and more money to the economy.

There is a direct correlation between GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the number of High-Growth Start-ups in a country. This is why you will see grants and departments in banks aimed at this particular sector of businesses as the Government want to see money flowing into the country – not out!

Every community and every country want High Growth Start-ups but still today there is no sure-fire way to know how to effectively identify, cultivate or teach people to create theses superior opportunities. For the ones that do spot the opportunities, there is complexity on how to support them timely and appropriately if they do not know how to create a High Growth Start-up with that opportunity – whether that be with funding or operations.

We have the technology that can allow us to begin to do all those things and yet the current system is fragmented and not working efficiently. We are not educating people with the right way of critical thinking, we are not passing on knowledge in a way that can be efficiently put into practice and in an uncertain, volatile, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times the evolution of our leadership skills is not being adjusted accordingly (i.e. away from how we lead during the industrial revolution).

If we can move the dial and improve just this, we will begin to see a difference in the lives of community and in the lives of people that are employed in it. It is a case of getting the pieces of the puzzle and fitting them together.

So… Why entrepreneurs are important? Because,

• They are the future of the economy.
• They are the people that can create high growth start-ups
• They are the people that can be innovative
• They are the people that can move things forward.
• They are the people that can make the difference that makes the difference!

With my very own preference for ‘Difference’ and personal experiences, this specific group of people is under served. It is hard to truly find a place to go where you feel it can make the difference that makes the difference to you personally. A place that will focus on and allow you to operate at your very best.

It’s not about getting help or being weak it is about getting an entrepreneur firing at peak performance so that they can do what they do best and get this world moving again in the right direction!