So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?

Jon Gillespie-Brown

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So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?

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So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?

Jon Gillespie-Brown

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Copyright © 2008 by Jon Gillespie-BrownFirst published in 2008 by Capstone Publishing Ltd. (a Wiley Company) The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, PO19 8SQ, UK. www.wileyeurope.com

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CONTENTS

WHY YOU SHOULD BUY THIS BOOK ix

PREFACE xi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xv

DEDICATION xvii

SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR? xix

Introduction xixDreaming big dreams xxiYour passion – what are you willing to do for the rest of your life? xxvii

THE ENTREPRENEUR TEST – IS STARTING A BUSINESS RIGHT FOR YOU? xxix

Check your entrepreneurial quotient with our fun quiz xxix

MENTOR SESSION 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1

Introduction 2Top ten ways to answer the ultimate question – do I want to become an entrepreneur? 5What is an entrepreneur? 10Research into entrepreneurs 10The top ten traits of successful entrepreneurs 13Lessons 23

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MENTOR SESSION 2 – ENTREPRENEURS UNCOVERED 31

Top ten myths about entrepreneurs 32What makes people become an entrepreneur? 39Are you feeling like an entrepreneur yet? 41Lessons 43

MENTOR SESSION 3 – ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFESTYLE 47

What’s life like being an entrepreneur? 48Ten great things about being an entrepreneur 50The story of an entrepreneurial beginning 53Lessons 57

MENTOR SESSION 4 – DECONSTRUCTING YOU – PART 1 61

Taking a personal inventory and assessing your current resources 62Audit your business history and abilities 64Management skills evaluation 69Personality evaluation 75Accomplishments 80Your health position 84What interests you in l ife? 86What about your family and network? 90Have you considered the ideal lifestyle for you? 92

MENTOR SESSION 5 – DECONSTRUCTING YOU – PART 2 97

What’s your personal motivation? 99A story about fi nding your personal mission 101Vision, Purpose and personal mission statement 103Identifying personal criteria that will fi t your new business 109

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C O N T E N T S / vii

It’s not all about the ‘money’ or being a ‘millionaire’ 110Make an ‘ I want’ list 112

MENTOR SESSION 6 – IS IT REALLY FOR ME? 117

Getting over the fear of starting out 118Anyone can become an entrepreneur at any life stage 119The young or ‘student’ entrepreneur 119Making the transition from the corporate world 125You can be an ‘geriatrepreneur’ when you are over 55 too 129Top ten excuses for not becoming an entrepreneur 131Finding the courage to go for it 140Lessons 141Take the ‘rocking chair’ test before you give up on your dream 141

MENTOR SESSION 7 – MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR LOVED ONES WITH YOU 145

Achieving a li fe of balance 146Getting the balance right at home 147Your friends and family 149Your circle of i nfl uence 150

MENTOR SESSION 8 – ARE YOU READY TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR? 153

So what are your answers to t he ultimate question – do you want to be entrepreneur? 155Top ten ways to answer the ultimate question – do I want to become an entrepreneur? 156Next steps . . . 162

EPILOGUE 163

ANSWER KEY 165

INDEX 171

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WHY YOU SHOULD BUY THIS BOOK

‘We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fi bres connect us with our fellow-men, and along those fi bres, as sympathetic friends, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.’

Herman Melville

This book is written in an ‘easy to read’ style designed to help you decide if you want to become an entrepreneur, using you as a starting point. It’s based around a series of mentor sessions, guiding you through the realities of life as an entrepreneur together with an analysis of your life, goals and ambitions. It then helps you decide if this is the life for you.

Reading it and actively taking part in each of the exercises will provide you with the best chance of succeeding as an entrepreneur, if that’s the path you choose; or it will give you suffi cient clarity to decide what other career options are best suited to you.

Another great reason to buy this book is because all the profi ts go directly to helping other would-be entrepreneurs less fortunate than you. Imagine that, just by buying this book you will contribute towards launching someone else’s venture – so you will become an entrepreneur’s sponsor even if you don’t do it yourself.

Personally, I believe in ‘giving back’ and making a contribution as the universal power behind everyone’s success. This could be the fi rst lesson you learn from this book.

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Start your entrepreneurial journey by giving and you will be more successful that you can imagine!

Who will you be supporting by buying this book?

The Grameen Foundation‘I plan to donate the proceeds from the sale of this book to an organization that I feel is making a meaningful difference, the Grameen Foundation. Grameen Foundation is a US-based nonprofi t that seeks to empower the world’s poorest people to lift themselves out of poverty with dignity through access to fi nancial services and to information.

Learn more at www.grameenfoundation.org’

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PREFACE

‘There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfi l his mission – a mission for which he is uniquely qualifi ed. In that moment, he fi nds greatness. It is his fi nest hour.’

Winston Churchill

Dear Reader,

Welcome to a book that is all about you!

Unlike many other great books in this fi eld, this book is specifi cally designed to guide you through a comprehensive, personal thought process, allowing you to come to a decision about whether or not you really want to become an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur is like nothing else. It is incredibly taxing yet rewarding, stressful and energizing, risky but exciting, and we are going to fi nd out if that’s the life for you.

When I got my fi rst really serious business going at eighteen, I needed some start-up funds. With my mother’s encouragement I wrote to all my wealthier relatives (the few!) trying to drum up some support. I included one of my favourite people in the world, a close family friend who owned a successfull hat factory. He wrote me a long and eloquent argument as to why not to start in my business and to do something else!

I was stunned, quite upset and fi nally indignant. I couldn’t believe this successful businessman who was always cheerful and happy, the most upbeat person I have ever met, would

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try to crush my dreams. In hindsight I know he was just looking out for me. Despite his cheery disposition, this man had endured a long and rocky road to build his now mighty business. He wanted to save me from that . . . as it happens I wasn’t to be deterred from my ambition.

While of course I want you to understand what you would be getting yourself into, I don’t want to deter you from your ambition either. Whether you are 16 or 66, people will tell you that you can’t or shouldn’t become an entrepreneur (and for good reason, as most people fail) but don’t be put off by anecdote. Use this book to really test the viability of any decision.

‘The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We’re born with that quality and it defi nes our lives as we respond to what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured, and given space to fl ourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air or stimulation, and dies.’

Michael Gerber

Can a book really make a difference?

Don’t underestimate how important something as simple as a book can be to shaping the path you will eventually take in life. Like so many other successful entrepreneurs, my own defi ning moment can be traced back to a book that became the impetus for me starting my fi rst business. The book was ‘How to Win Friends and Infl uence People’, a business motivational and personal development staple nowadays, but back then I had never even heard of it or its author. I didn’t even know any entrepreneurs or people that ran their own businesses.

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The concept of entrepreneurship was entirely foreign to me as a career choice. My father had only ever worked for two companies in his whole life, and the expectation was that I would pursue a future in the sciences or something equally ‘credible’. I certainly wasn’t expected to waste my ‘brains’ in a business start-up. Nevertheless, this book had a profound effect on me; not only did it give me a huge amount of confi dence, it also sowed the seed of a burning entrepreneurial ambition. It changed my outlook on life completely and made me realize I could do anything I put my mind to. With the help of this book, my new found confi dence grew steadily until I started my fi rst venture at the age of eighteen years. So you never know where a book is going to take you.

I have designed this book as a series of mentoring sessions, carefully thought out to make you think about, consider and plan your life based on your passions, ambitions, life phase, resources and ultimate visions – even if you don’t become an entrepreneur, your life will be more focused and directed towards happiness and success after having read just the fi rst few chapters!

Take a risk and make a life that is your ‘own’ without the permission of others – just like I did over twenty years ago . . .

Enjoy the book and I wish you all success in your new life.

Jon Gillespie-Brown, www.tobeanentrepreneur.com

P R EFAC E / xiii

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.’

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Unfortunately thanking everyone that has shaped my life to this point and helped me, knowingly or not, is an impossible task. However, I will try to ensure I capture those that have helped me with this act of contribution; this book that I have produced as my ultimate thanks to those that have blessed me with their love and help over the years.

Of course, the top of my list of thanks goes to my family, especially Maria, my wife who helped with editing and working with our chosen charity.

The London Business School

To my many friends and colleagues at LBS, but especially Anne Miller, Adam Burdess, Patxi Avila-Kildal, Fredrik Samanta and John Mullins.

My many friends, entrepreneurs and mentees

Just a few that contributed directly here but I would like to thank them all in spirit.

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Richard Parkes-Cordock, Adam Miller, Les Ashton, Shirin Kiral, Mark Reohorn, Greg Wood, Philip Clayden, Chantelle Ludski, Allen Barrell, Julian Costley, Dr Jan Hruska, Peter Ward, Rachel Elnaugh, Doug Richard, Richard Farleigh, Stuart Collingwood, Helen Baker, Paul Gardner and many more.

Publishers

Thanks to John Moseley for sponsoring my ideas and Jenny Ng for so ably assisting the execution of them.

Special thanks

This goes to Michael Soth who co-authored the quiz section and Nuala Mullen, my editor who transformed my ideas and words into a compelling and fl owing story.

Contributors

Many others also contributed their ideas and content for the book are also thanked warmly.

So much help and work from others has gone into this charitable effort that it’s hard to claim it as my own. However, I am grateful that so many are willing to help others through their own contribution.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my family.

My entrepreneurial passion started at a very young age and I have to thank my parents for not quashing my ambitions before they got going. I am sure they thought I was crazy on more than one occasion but they always inspired, helped, funded or encouraged me.

I got my curiosity and inventiveness from my father, who I remember as always tinkering with things. Indeed, he came up with quite a few of his own ideas, such as a special insurance package for householders to record their belongings, and a portable saddle back for pushbikes. These never got past the ‘prototype’ stage, unfortunately.

From my mother (and grandmother) I got the energy, passion and determination to succeed.

I am not sure to whom should go the credit for my stubbornness, persistence and will to win, nor my need for ‘fair play’, compassion or justice. But they have helped a great deal in my entrepreneurial journey to date.

For my wife and boys; they are my shining light – my beacon when I am ‘lost at sea’; my solid ground when I feel cast adrift . . . they are my inspiration.

Finally, for all those that have the courage to join me in the life of an entrepreneur, this book is dedicated to you.

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SO YOU WANT TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Introduction

You’ve probably picked up, or been given this book, because you have an interest in becoming an entrepreneur, or maybe you just want to know more about these seemingly elusive individuals. Maybe someone has commented that you should be working for yourself or that you’re the ‘ideas man’ or woman. Whatever your reason, you’re in good company. Nowadays entrepreneurship is the new ‘rock and roll’; everywhere you look there’s a T V show or new book about it. Anyone would think it’s a new idea or career, but in truth it’s among the oldest. It’s just going through a massive reinvention and now is a very good time to take a closer look.

For you and I, it’s great news that this ‘profession’ is fi nally getting the break it deserves. We a re now much more likely to get our ideas and plans heard, but in reality everyone benefi ts from a society that’s rich in entrepreneurs. In my opinion, scarcely anything does as much for the progression of our society than entrepreneurship. Think about it; entrepreneurs are at the root of all of today’s amazing technologies, economies and advances – r ight back as far as the invention of the wheel. Someone had to have the foresight to develop the idea to its practical application.

Whatever the reason for the ‘new dawn’ the profession is enjoying right now, it wasn’t always this way. Not so long ago, people viewed entrepreneurs as slippery individuals who play fast and loose with other people’s money. They were viewed with mistrust at best and certainly wouldn’t have

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