DO you reckon you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur?

There are two schools of thought about what makes an entrepreneur. The first is that anyone can do it if they really want to, provided they put in the effort. The second — and this is the view of psychologist Adrian Atkinson — is that you have to be a certain type of person and, if you are not that type, you are wasting your time.

Atkinson, who is chief executive of Human Factors International, a business-psychol-ogy consultancy, is so convinced that entrepreneurs are born and not made that he has set up a research project in conjunction with the Prince’s Trust to identify which of the young people aged 14 to 18 advised by the trust should be encouraged — and which should not.

He said: “This theory that anyone can become an entrepreneur is absolute nonsense. And what is terrible about that message is that it is making people risk their money and is therefore creating larger debts. It is just awful. I often have people saying they are going to sell everything and become an entrepreneur, and I say for goodness sake don’t do it. Very few people are wealth creators and it is really important that people realise where their strength lies.”

Atkinson’s theory is that people can be divided into two groups — those who are wealth creators and those who are not. The group of wealth creators can then be divided into four different types — experts, corporate-wealth creators, enterprisers and true entrepreneurs.

As part of his research with the Prince’s Trust, which begins next month, Atkinson has devised a questionnaire to help identify the various types of business people. He has also created a shorter version (below) for Sunday Times readers to try.

For each group of four statements, choose the one that best describes the way you would go about starting a business of your own. Then add up your scores from the five groups to give a total. This will tell you if you have it in you to become a successful entrepreneur.

To find out if Atkinson’s theory has any merit, we tried the test on two successful entrepreneurs: Will King, who set up King of Shaves, a business that sells shaving oil and razors and has sales of £15m; and Lara Morgan, who founded Pacific Direct, which provides toiletries to hotels and has sales of £18m.

King got a very high score of 19 out of a possible 20, showing he is highly entrepreneurial. He said: “I became an entrepreneur for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and, second, I wanted to work with like-minded people.

“I always saw financial wealth as a byproduct and not the end result.

“Many things trigger people to become entrepreneurs, but if you are not prepared to sweat and sacrifice to get the boulder out of the little hollow and rolling, you’re unlikely to succeed.”

Morgan also scored 19 out of 20. She said: “Being an entrepreneur is very hard work and the rough days can be horrid and lonely.

“But irrespective of all the challenges, it is a continual learning process and I would not change the bad days for all the freedom I have or the pleasure of working with some exceptional people.”

When it was my turn to take the test, however, I scored nine, defining me as an expert, or someone “not so attracted by personal risk or by commercial challenge” — in other words a million miles away from being an entrepreneur.

The test certainly seemed to work for the three of us. But what do you think? Are entrepreneurs born or made? Is starting up a business a path open to all — or is it something only those with the right personality should attempt?

We would love to hear your views. Use the form below to post your thoughts.

How to see if you have what it takes

FOR each of the following five groups of statements choose the one that best describes what would be most important to you when starting your business.

Group 1 A Working with other like-minded individuals B Making a big effort to get the company structure right C Willing to work seven days a week D Realising that technical excellence is the key to success

Group 2 E Getting some qualifications before starting your business F Only starting the business with all the finance in place G Keeping your existing job until your business is established H Seeing work as relaxation

Group 3 I Making sure you have a social life as well J Be willing to sell your house and car to start your business K Taking your time to make all the important decisions L Plan your exit strategy from the beginning

Group 4 M Not selling more than the company can deliver N Making sure the product is perfect before getting sales O Be willing to fire people who perform badly P Developing business plans to make strategic decisions

Group 5 Q Always involving colleagues in decisions R Only aiming for the highest quality SBe willing to sacrifice family life to build the business T Realising that all that matters in business is making money

What it says about you

SCORING
Score 4 points each if you chose C, H, J, O, S Score 3 points each if you chose A, E, L, P, T Score 2 points each if you chose B, F, K, M, Q Score 1 point each if you chose D, G, I, N, R

Depending on the statements you selected, if you have the appropriate personality, intellectual ability and values, then you are likely to be an Expert, Corporate, Enterpriser or Strongly Entrepreneurial wealth creator.

Score of 5 to 9: EXPERT Not so attracted by personal risk or by commercial challenge. Sees value in getting processes right and focuses on achieving high-quality work. Prefers functional role using technical knowledge and expertise.

Score of 10 to 14: CORPORATE Interested in developing a business within a structured context. Achieves this by energising groups in organisations. Willing to take business risks rather than personal risks. Looks for challenges in medium to large organisations.

Score of 15 to 18: ENTERPRISER Seeks excitement from making things happen. Finds personal risk-taking exciting but prefers to share risks and rewards with others. Focuses energy on achieving goals but maintains reasonable work/leisure balance. Dislikes routine and constantly seeks challenges.

Score of 19 to 20: STRONGLY ENTREPRENEURIAL Enjoys starting own businesses and devotes all energy and time to make things happen, often at the expense of family, possessions and reputation. Restless and often dissatisfied with what is achieved but very resilient and able to pick up and start again. Sees work as relaxation.

Human Factors is offering Sunday Times readers the chance to take the full test and receive a report for a specially reduced fee of £10, provided they do so in the next five days. For further details go to www.humanfactors.co.uk/pep .

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