What type of entrepreneur are you?

June 3 2013

The stereotypical entrepreneur is a risk taker, an overachiever and a formidable success. However, we’re not all superstars. As the importance of entrepreneurship increases the wide variety of forms it can take  becomes evident. You can even be a part-time entrepreneur finding your own balance. So who is the entrepreneur? The innovator who has the drive to found a company or the salesman that saves it through his determination to grow revenue? The answer- both with different strengths and different priorities. Not all of us are the total package.

The most fundamental difference in your form of entrepreneurship may well determine the path and nature of your success. Are you a generalist or a specialist? The former thrives on control making him or her a poor delegator who often settles for a weaker team. The generalist thrives on problem solving in a frenetic revolving door culture as staff parade through the office with every issue. Generalists are the masters of the lean start-up. While they welcome growth they are more likely to stay in the small business category. Not the superstars but job creators and stable part of the economy.

The specialist needs help early. They may be innovators but they need others to solve their business problems. Successful specialists are team builders who quickly learn to complement their strengths with those of others. Early days are a struggle but their companies often go further because they have to develop depth in their talent. A larger management group demands growth to support it. If the specialist can survive the higher cost start-up period his instincts and interest are likely to produce a larger company since it is founded on a culture of growth.

So which one are you?

Fred Dawkins