You Are an Entrepreneur

Self-made man.

Человек, самостоятельно выбившийся в люди.

An entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages his own business for profit.

Entrepreneurs often develop ideas from their prior work experiences. Most have some kind of self-employment as a teenager. They usually are high achievers and perfectionists, they are also risk-takers. Entrepreneurs learn from their prior experiences. Yet they continue to be innovative in their ventures. They also use failure as a point of pride. They will try, and then try again, until they succeed. They expect more out of their life than just a good salary and a steady job.

Without a doubt not everyone is suited to be an entrepreneur or to be self-employed. Why do some people break the routine of their life while others only dream of it?

The greatest determinant of the success of your business is you, your character and skills. The type of person who blames external factors for failure and believes that his own decisions have little impact on the course of future events is not suited to building a business.

The conventional image of an entrepreneur is that of a strong-minded, positive risk-taker with a sense of destiny, seizing the ever-present opportunities.

Why do people become entrepreneurs? They sometimes try to seize control of their own life by creating their own job as a result of a shock. More common example of shocking circumstances today are: being sacked, being made redundant, not achieving the expected promotion, being transferred to a different job or location, reaching a particular age and feeling no sense of achievements.

Obviously, this shock theory does not explain everyone’s decision. There are those for whom starting on their own business is a positive, not a negative move.

What do people hope to achieve by starting a business? Motives may range from achieving monetary gain to enhancing status to establish a comfortable working environment. The objectives may be the following: money, a certain type of work, experience, excitement, independence, satisfaction, power, and personal relations.

To succeed in your business you need:

• idea (product or service);

• goal (your company’s objective);

• market (potential customers);

• competitive spirit (Can you compete with rival business?);

• strategy (advertising, promotion, sales, etc.);

• cost and price (how much to charge);

• quota (sales to make a profit);

• plan of operation (location, materials, supplies, distribution, etc.) ;

• employees and partners;

• time schedules;

• financing (where will set-up money, backing money, loans, investments come from);

• financial plan (budget, start-up costs, outlay, profit, expectations, anticipated expenses and outcome, and “rainy day” money).

Running your own business doesn’t mean that you have to be an expert at everything, but you have to appreciate the importance of training or advice from others in those areas in which you are weak. You may find special literature, training courses, advice agencies.

Do you know these words?

entrepreneur	предприниматель
high-achiever	человек, достигающий многого в жизни
perfectionist	взыскательный, добивающийся во всём совершенства человек, перфекционист
risk-taker	человек, который сознательно рискует
innovative	способный к нововведениям, вводящий новое
venture	рискованное предприятие
steady	стабильный, надёжный
determinant	определяющий фактор
to blame	обвинять
impact	воздействие
conventional	традиционный
strong-minded	умный, энергичный, решительный
to seize	ухватиться, воспользоваться
to sack	увольнять
redundant	сокращённый, потерявший работу
move	поступок
to enhance	увеличивать
rival	конкурирующий
set-up money	денежное обеспечение
outlay	капиталовложения
to anticipate	ожидать
outcome	результат, последствие