No prescribed age to be an entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship, much like professional dancing is often a passionate affair between a man and his creation.  And, just as in dancing, entrepreneurship takes creativity, perseverance, agility, discipline, and teamwork to succeed. 

Many believe that entrepreneurship is for the younger generation, perhaps the millennials or the Gen-Y, but statistics show that a great many entrepreneurs had 9-5 jobs and worked for someone before the ‘bug’ bit them (think Ray Kroc – McDonald’s,  Amancio Ortega – Zara, Jack Ma - Alibaba).

Talent and opportunities do not have an age, and given the right environment, one can get equipped to become a good entrepreneur.

Subject expertise

To become a successful entrepreneur, one must have subject knowledge combined with passion. One must make quick decisions, have a curious mindset, challenge age-old norms, and come across as convincing at the same time.

Networking is key

To constantly learn, grow and adapt, one needs to stay connected to people from diverse backgrounds. Networks are built so that people get a sense of coexisting and co-operating, co-creating, and developing an attitude of giving and empowering.

Collaborate and compete

Entrepreneurship is about team work and collaborative learning. Most entrepreneurs in their initial years learn that they are not expected to know everything, nor are they expected to do everything. They are expected to inspire people to want to collaborate rather than compete. Taking part in team activities, projects, assignments right from school onwards can help one to enhance this skill set.

Be a global biz leader

To be a global business leader and an entrepreneur with international ambition, one should be culturally flexible, comfortable in handling ambiguity/uncertainty and managing people across national boundaries.  

Continuous learning

An entrepreneur must always be eager to learn, unlearn and reinvent himself and his set-up. The learning could be of any nature that creates an internal environment for growth and diversity. For example, learning a new language, taking an accounting class, etc.

Ditch the comfort zone   Identify and move out of your comfort zone. The very fact that one decides to become an entrepreneur means that they are willing to explore different avenues and take calculated risks.

The three Cs

Courage, clarity and calmness. To build a reality out of a dream, internal courage and conviction is essential. Clarity in thoughts and therefore in actions is another pre-requisite. Starting one’s own venture is a daunting task and it comes with its share of obstacles and opinions of the public at large.

Persevere and persist

It is well-known that most start-ups shut down even before they can break even. This is where perseverance and persistence pays off. If one gives up at the smallest hurdle or setback, it will never be possible to realise the dream of becoming an entrepreneur. With persistence and perseverance, every challenge can be transformed into an opportunity to learn, grow, or realign. One should remain fluid and agile enough to explore other avenues, channels of moving things ahead and accomplishing the goal.

Out of the box thinking

Creative thinking is crucial for an entrepreneur. It’s important to constantly reinvent and this means having the ability to think freely. Every enterpreneur should create an environment for himself which can be instrumental in allowing him/her to curate, create and innovate.

People management  

He/she should also work on developing people management skills; understanding that people are not resources, but rather human counterparts, and giving them their due when deserved. Ability to put others before oneself, giving constructive feedback when required, being able to accept when one errs, and, above all being a mentor and a good sounding board are all attributes of a good leader. 

— The writer is Assistant Dean and head of Mumbai Campus - EMBA & BBA, S P Jain School of Global Management and Amrita Singh ‘Development Trainer & Coach’ S P Jain School of Global Management