Assessing Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

Do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

Two noted educators and authors offer a profile for today's entrepreneur. Rita Gunther McGrath is associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Ian MacMillan is the Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and director of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center at the Wharton School of Business. The two are coauthors of The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty. Using the term "habitual entrepreneur," they suggest that true entrepreneurs do the following:

• Passionately seek out new opportunities
• Pursue opportunities with enormous discipline
• Pursue only the very best opportunities and avoid chasing after every option
• Focus on execution, specifically, adaptive execution
• Engage the energies of everyone in their domain

Do you see a bit of yourself in these five characteristics? If so, you may be well-qualified to become an entrepreneur. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you a self-starter?
• Are you a leader?
• Do you take responsibility for your own actions?
• Are you organized?
• Are you a decision maker?
• Are you determined?
• Are you financially responsible?
• Do you have management skills?
• Does your family support your decision?
• Are you trustworthy?
• Are you open to opportunity?
• Are you willing to learn?
• Are you able to move outside your comfort zone?
• Do you work well with other people?

Many of the entrepreneurs who have become household names possess these qualities. Reading about these entrepreneurs is another good way to assess your own entrepreneurial spirit. Read everything you can about famous entrepreneurs such as Sam Walton, Howard Schultz, Richard Branson, and more. As you read their stories and discover how they deal with challenges and setbacks, you’ll be able to tell if you have the same entrepreneurial spirit that makes these individuals successful.