Entrepreneurship

= Overview (Entrepreneurship) =

(introduction)

This category will look at different aspects of entrepreneurship and favours on hands-on aspects. That means giving history and theory a respectful place in the category. Some entrepreneurs (possibly) feel that reputation and legend are part of the making of their success. With that in mind, it is a good idea to put some effort into separating 'fact' from 'fiction'.

Entrepreneur
The dictionary link describes an entrepreneur as "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk" (dictionary.com, 2007)

Modern times being what they are, an entrepreneur is someone(s) who do something different. The word comes from the French, "to undertake". This seems to apply more today with openSource progjects and not-for-profits coming into being along with mere businesses. Australian's have an excellent expression for this, "having a go" -- Showing initiative in an area of enterprise, social engineering, business, technology, etc.

The element of risk is not mandatory. All new ventures will embody risk of learning how to make what you want to happen happen.

(discussion)
= Getting Started =

Discussion can be easier with a simple model to compare you enterprise against. This section walks you through the simple basics first. Then there is an example business that can be used to explain points throughout the wiki.

Your First Million
It is simple math to gather a million dollars. Buy an item for $1.00 and sell it for $1.10. Each sale gives you a 10-cent return.

When you have managed to keep the individual 10-cent returns for ...


 * 10,000,000 x things, at 10-cent increments

You will have amassed $1,000,000.

You can't control what you don't measure.

It isn't necessary to count money to be an entrepreneur. It is strongly advised nonetheless. The Accounting wiki discusses ways to keep track of what's happening.

When you have a not-for-profit enterprise, it is still a great idea to establish metrics, set objectives and track your objectives.

Quite a few of the 10-cent returns will be needed for essentials like rent, wages, telephone, electricity, etc. Generally you need to sell more than the mere 10,000,000 x things mentioned above to get to *keep* that first million.

Those are the details of what is a basic, very simple and very common daily activity.


 * Buy $1.00, and
 * Sell for $1.10.
 * 10-cent return per item.

Entrepreneurship is often about your brilliant idea for something new to sell, selling in a new way, or both.

Sample Enterprise
One of the best ways to discuss entrepreneurship is to have a sample enterprise in common to talk about. The sample needs to be more realistic than buy for a dollar and sell for a dollar ten.

Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door. ~ Mark Twain

The sample business constructs and sells mouse traps to wholesalers. These are basic mouse traps without bothering to specify how they are constructed. (After all, this is firm's "intellectual property" (| IP) or "trade secret". On this point -- Many entrepreneurs have the idea of listing on the stock exchange.  Sometimes called | Initial Public Offer (| IPO).

When an | IPO is your aim, you need to consider what can sell in the public offering. For a new enterprise, this most often:


 * The enterprise's intellectual property.

It may not be an entrepreneurial venture on the face of it. On the other hand most 'new' businesses are going to be entrepreneurial. In following Mr Twain's advice -- This is a better mouse trap.

You are an entrepreneur -- You see an opportunity. Go for it!

The business is described in the AhhCatchYou page in this wiki.

= External Links =

Angelsoft- Tools For Startups  Entrepreneur and Psychology Blog  NLP and Entrepreneurship

Magazine for Entrepreneurs

(tbd)