People may think that a small business owner is considered as an entrepreneur. However, in my opinion, an entrepreneur thinks beyond the tiny box of the small business owner, in other words,entrepreneur think outside of the box.
Entrepreneurs not only have great idea, they think big as they not just want to open a small business, but they are willing to take risk to expand their business in order to become the leader in the industry in the future. It is true that the reason that both entrepreneur and small business owner open a business is because they have a great idea. However, entrepreneur would not be satisfied of what they have. Instead, they keep looking forward and working towards their big goals. That makes them different from others and also drives them to success.
In starting a company, I will be willing to share control with others if that will help the company grow. I believe that sharing control not only can help the company’s financial growth, but also provide more positive advice to the company growth since different people may see different improvement that can be done. However, one thing I would like to have in my business is that even though I will be sharing control with others, I am still on top of the organization and have the authority to make the final decision. It is because if there is no leader in the firm, the numerous opinions from different leaders will just damage the company since it will be hard to reach compromise.
One of the biggest issues that entrepreneurial companies face is risk. It is a well-known theory that the higher the potential return is, the risker this project/decision is. In entrepreneurial businesses, since they see growing the business as their main goal, there are a lot of times they have to take risk when expand the businesses. As a result, in order to grow the business and be competitive in the industry, entrepreneur must learn how to manage the risk of the operation; otherwise, the risk may be high enough to destroy the whole firm.
You make a good point when discussing the differences between small business owners and entrepreneurs. Do you think it would be a challenge for you to fully be in charge of the company if you would delegate some of your authority to lower level management? Wouldn’t you still be running the show if you could override their decisions?
I agree with Daniel that you have a good discussion on the difference between small business owners and entrepreneurs. I think you focus on the scaling up characteristic of entrepreneurs. If that is your standard, will you call the “serial entrepreneurs” and “lifestyle entrepreneurs” mentioned in Chapter 1 entrepreneurs?
I think both Daniel and you realized the pros and cons of sharing control with others. Balancing between having the decision making authority and gaining more opinions and resources is not easy. Did you find any good ways?
For the growth issue part, I think you point out a very important one: The uncertainties entrepreneurs face bring them both opportunities and threats. Can you illustrate a little more about what do you mean by “risk of the operation”?
Thanks!
Great post!
You pointed out that being an entrepreneur is about thinking out of the box and I totally agree with you, and it is not only thinking out of the box but also inspire more people think out the box together with you.
It is a great choice to share control of the company with other people instead of being a dictator. A leader is much more better than a dictator.
I love your argument about the differences between an entrepreneur and a small business. Thinking outside the box will help a company grow weather you succeed or fail in the attempt of trying something new.
Your ideas are great and well spoken.