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
.
