Are you an entrepreneur? Check these crucial attributes and see if you really measure up. (You probably don’t.)

Author’s program note. This is an article about bold, visionary, business risk- takers called “entrepreneurs”. Such people, by their intelligence, diligence, and shear bravado, overawe movie and sports stars in public awareness and regard and dwarf any renown which may come with mere public office, even the most high.
Entrepreneurs are the heroes of our age; never have they been more discussed, emulated, venerated and even worshipped as they are right now. On campuses around the nation and the world, the giants of entrepreneurial fame draw standing room only crowds while mere authors, statesmen, and musicians take second place, or worse.
Oh, yes, these are the heady days for entrepreneurs. It is no wonder you wish to enroll yourself amongst their ranks. But are you really cut out to be an entrepreneur? This article will make that clear, one way or the other.
To put you in the right frame of mind, I’ve selected the theme music for the hit television series “Star Trek”, which celebrates those who boldly go where no man has gone before. This music was composed by Alexander Courage for the series which debued in 1966. It is highly suitable for those who don’t merely move into the future… they create it. You can easily find it in any search engine. Get it now… turn up the volume… and closely follow the points in this article which will make it clear whether you will captain your own Starship Enterprise, or not…
What is an entrepreneur? Let’s start with the definition.
Entrepreneur was originally a French word taken over lock, stock and barrel by the English speaking world, much to the dismay of the Academie Francaise, official guardian of the French language. Its definition is “One who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise or business, assuming full control and risk.” Now let’s see if you are this person.
1) Entrepreneurs see the world not just as it is… but as it should be. From this fundamental fact about entrepreneurs all other facts derive.
Scratch an entrepreneur and you’ll find a person who is not just tinkering with human reality today… but has been tinkering with it right from the get-go, even from the cradle. They never see just what is… in their mind’s eye they see each and every situation as it can be… must be; they have only to do their bit.
2) Entrepreneurs say with Harry S. Truman, who proved as president of these United States to have the soul and inclinations of an entrepreneur, that “You can’t have anything worth while without difficulties”. And, “Mistakes would be made. No one who accomplished things could expect to avoid mistakes. Only those who did nothing made no mistakes.”
Those without the blood and fiber of an entrepreneur live their lives in chagrined remembrance for all the mistakes, errors, miscalculations and bonehead decisions they have already made… and are sure, given the chance, they will make again. This paralyzes them… for they are sure that when they decide, that decision will be wrong. On this destructive basis no progress is ever possible.
Entrepreneurs are very different.
Each and every decision made opens the possibility for error. This is the real world in which entrepreneurs live and flourish… accepting whatever transpires as yet another valuable learning step, as they walk the road to improving the human condition.
3) Entrepreneurs are “people-people”. They understand their work, all their work, is for people, unlike those without the entrepreneurial wherewithal who, in this withering phrase, “love humanity but hate people.”
An entrepreneur looks at a given situation and sees people unable to fulfill their God- given potential because of a condition, an obstacle which can, given the idea, the desire, the resources, and their own time and energy, be changed, improved, or even eradicated, sent to the scrap heap of invidious, enfeebling circumstances that the collectivity of entrepreneurs and their active, can-do ways have removed as obstacles to the perfectibility of mankind.
In short, while others immerse themselves in fallibilities and dismay, the entrepreneur activates Teddy Roosevelt’s celebrated recommendation to “do the best you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”
They know to the depths of their being that there is nothing so wrong that cannot be righted by the sum and substance of their parts, their humanity, their problem-solving capabilities… and that je ne sais quoi that distinguishes them from the run of mankind which sees obstacles as finalities… not challenges which they can meet… with grace, joy, and gratitude that they had the chance to serve.
4) Entrepreneurs crash, burn, hurt… and get up to try it all over again.
In the international best-seller “Zorba the Greek” (published 1964), author Mikis Theodarakis writes of a young English entrepreneur who gets entangled with and wiped out by the bad advice and worse assistance of Zorba, who is at best a con man. He follows Zorba’s catastrophic advice… and in a memorable scene watches as the Rube Goldberg machine Zorba has created collapses, costing the entrepreneur every cent he has… and more. For an instant, stunned by the implosion of all his prospects, every dream and expectation, he is stupified, angry, lost. Then he shows the true grit of even the grieving entrepreneur, “Teach me to dance,” he asks Zorba, not at all the line we expected… but should have. It is what a real entrepreneur would say… and dance the sirtaki.
This is how entrepreneurs face catastrophe… for as Thomas Alva Edison, revered of American entrepreneurs, said, â??I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t workâ?, commenting on what he learned from the exasperation of years of “failure.” Sublime.
5) Entrepreneurs uplift, never cast down.
No one knows better than an entrepreneur how difficult the improvement of the human condition can be; certainly those without the entrepreneurial disposition and experience cannot.
Thus, on any opportunity, wherever they happen to be, entrepreneurs lift up, encourage, and ease the way. Thus they administer in friendship and human solidarity essential truths and elements which have benefited them and from which hopeful others may benefit, too.
Entrepreneurs carry with them at all times, truths and insights derived from their unique vantage points, practical advice and admonitions, steady advice, always utilitarian, on what to do… and what not to. They never think, as those without entrepreneurial proclivities do, that to give to others is to diminish yourself. Their point of view is radically different — and always helpful.
And one more thing…
Entrepreneurs, however much they have managed to achieve alone, know that their success is always predicated upon the dedicated assistance and endeavors of the crucial people who constitute their team. It is their honor, their pride and responsibility to recognize and thank these sinews of their success, and they are glad to do so.
When was the last time you did as much for the good people who have helped you? Isn’t it time you did, you who aspire to be an entrepreneur?

You SAY you’re in business, but that proposition is dubious, as this article reveals in shocking detail.

Author’s program note. One of Broadway’s happiest and most enduring musicals is “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.” Written by Frank Loesser; it was released in October, 1961 to immediate acclaim — and a Pulitzer Prize to boot. Most recently it was revived with Daniel Ratcliffe — famous for his eponymous role in the Harry Potter films — starring in the lead role originally done to mischievous perfection by Robert Morse, simultaneously menace and mastermind.
I have selected one of the lesser tunes from the production for the occasional music to this article. It’s called simply “Coffee Break”, and you should go to any search engine now to listen to it. It’s about how the absence of coffee — and therefore the coffee break — raises more anxiety and lamentation than a plague of locusts and completely stops the whole company, convinced that the end of the world as they know it is at hand. Oh, my! So much grief for one missed cuppa. However, the real shock is not that the coffee was late for the company coffee break, no indeed; the real shock is that more time, trouble, energy, irritation, and anger was expended on this event than on anything else that entire day… including the company’s business they were hired to transact…until the outrage about the coffee break was surpassed by certain stale items on the lunch menu… thereby diverting everyone’s outspoken attention to this even greater snafu.
The sad part is that this kind of ludicrous “crisis” and massive waste of time does not occur solely or exclusively on Madison Avenue or in Broadway shows… it is most likely the way you are running your “business” and why it doesn’t prosper.
That’s why today, I am going to put you and your “business” under the most minute scrutiny, the better to help you understand that your business, as you currently organize and run it — cannot make the desirable profits of your imagination… until such time as you rethink everything — absolutely everything — so that the focus of your energy and action every day is NOT the coffee break… but actually doing BUSINESS. And as this analysis develops right before your very eyes, you are most likely to be chagrined, embarrassed, and horrified – and that’s just for openers.
On the acute need to perceive what you are really doing every single day.
You say you are in business, correct? You say you want substantial, increasing profits, correct? You say you are a hard worker; indeed that the sun never sets on all the work you do, the tasks done, the challenges confronted, correct?
In short you are about as swift, intelligent, able and valuable a business person as business has ever seen and that your DNA should be donated to the nation so that generations yet to come may have the benefit of you and your unmatched business expertise and execution.
You, of course, are even now nodding your head in sage agreement with this flawless description of you and your business acumen. Modest though you are, you cannot but admit that you are the very paragon and model sketched above… just like Kansas City, you’ve gone about as far as you can go.
It is this proposition swallowed hook, line and sinker by the overwhelming majority of business owners of every kind that keeps you trapped in a business that doesn’t grow, expand, prosper and that does not make and will never make the profits you consistently and repeatedly say are the reason you are in business to get and enjoy.
YOU and your business under our microscope.
Now, it’s time to knuckle down to the important, sure-to-be-shocking analysis of what you do during your “business hours”… for you cannot improve your business until you know precisely what you do and precisely when you do it.
Business is about two things and two things only…
Quick! Can you guess what they are? The correct answer is 1) the generation of qualified prospects and 2) contacting these prospects, making them the most lavish, persuasive offer ever, then closing the deal forthwith. This is the two- step dance that keeps you in business, expands your business, and leads to money, money, money… yours, all yours.
Now let’s see just what percentage of your average day focuses on these two key points… and what percentage of your business day goes to anything but these two essential tasks.
You’ll need a pad, a watch, and total honesty.
To make this crucial scrutiny work, you will need to be clear about what you do, when you do it, and how long it takes to do it. In other words, you must start by creating a detailed picture of your average business day… and why it either works to produce the prospect leads and orders you need… or why it doesn’t. Give this essential project which can launch the most profitable epoch for your business your fullest attention. Nothing will come of this project unless you are careful, thorough, and complete.
Your first task is to list all the things you do during your average business day. These will include but will certainly not be limited to
* all breaks, kind and duration;
* non-business related telephone and other communications;
* time spent “surfing” the Web, especially at sites unsuitable for visits during business hours;
* gossip with friends and co-workers;
* writing ad copy;
* creating offers that make sales;
* time on the telephone etc where you connect with prospects, and either upgrade them to be qualified prospects, or close them by making sales.
Get the picture? What you’re trying to do is this: show yourself in unanswerable detail what you do on the average day that has absolutely nothing to do with the identification and closing of prospects… and how much time and effort you expend generating prospects and closing them.
Reforms must follow identification of what you are doing wrong, over and over again.
Chances are, you will be shocked and abashed by what you discover, for instance now seeing that you spend far more time surfing the Web and gossiping on the phone than you do on that same phone contacting prospects and closing deals. Such pernicious reality must be dealt with at once, for it is costing you money every single day.
Start today.
Do you care whether your business succeeds or fails? Do you care whether you make more money than less? Do you care whether the limited time you have on this planet is transformed into the maximum amount of coin of the realm, and so serenity, security, satisfaction?
That is why you must do this necessary exercise, and do it today. For you see, succeeding in business without really trying makes a dandy theme for a witty musical… but can in no way be regarded as a truth to build your ever more prosperous business by. That truth will be vividly apparent to you as you implement the recommendations of this important article.
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