ENTREPRENEURS: ARE THEY BORN OR MADE? NATURE VS NURTURE
By Janice Newman
An entrepreneur is the “person” that wakes up one day and decides that they want to start a new business or purchase a franchise and they are willing to put in the time, effort, sweat, and money to make that business come to fruition. Entrepreneurs are special individuals although being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. They are the responsible party for the business creation, execution, and development, and take ALL OF THE RISK. Entrepreneurs take a little thought, concept, or brief idea the size of a mustard seed and turn it into a great big powerful tree for all to see, experience, and purchase. Entrepreneurs tend to, feed and nurture their vision to manifest the business they set their goals to have.
Where does the entrepreneurial spirit come from? Does everyone have it in them to be an entrepreneur? The argument of nature versus nurture is present in the workplace and entrepreneurship. Becoming an entrepreneur appears to be easy for some individuals which would indicate nature, they conceive a great idea for a product or business that they want to develop. They have the personality with the ambition to not stop until they achieve their goals. Some people are suited for entrepreneurship because of their natural DNA gene makeup for personality, character traits, physical abilities, and embedded natural behavior or demeanor. Other entrepreneurs start their businesses because they are tired of working for someone else or the benefits of the flexibility of being their own boss are the absolute answer to being a stay-at-home parent. Anyone can be an entrepreneur if they desire. Their business drive can be developed through a nurturing environment to start and operate a new or existing business, based on life’s necessity, or company downsizing.
The question is “are successful entrepreneurs born naturally or nurtured by their environment”? Entrepreneurs are the best of both worlds in one!
ENTREPRENEURS: BORN THAT WAY
Some entrepreneurs seem to be born to create a new business, invent an innovative item, design an online website, or be the next Hollywood star. If you can remember from childhood the classmate that had their lemonade stand, babysitting business, or mowed grass after school for extra cash. Those classmates always excelled in being the risk takers with projects in school or weren’t afraid to try something new. They sold the most in fundraising or had the flair that attracted others to them. I started several businesses in elementary school under 12 years old. I offered my classmates tutoring services, created a newsletter with crossword and word search puzzles, sold candy bars and chips, and started a flyer delivery service for local businesses to supplement my newspaper delivery route. Starting a business seemed natural for me as a young child as I always had ideas and the drive to create new businesses. It was also nurtured by my environment as my mom was supportive in all my young business endeavors as I did need transportation and startup seed money.
Naturally, our DNA (genes) can influence our personality, character traits, abilities, and behavior, just the same as DNA affect our physical attributes such as height, energy level, susceptibility to diseases, etc. DNA influences entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs typically have characteristics of being risk takers, independent, inventive, daring, confident, and resilient. DNA affects a person’s temperament and emotional response in the workplace. An entrepreneur must have patience with employees and customers while being able to adapt to different personalities and behaviors to stay calm and level-headed during business situations.
Reflect on your prior situations in the workplace or home, were you the “calm, cool, collected” or the “running around like a headless chicken” person? You can see in your personal life, how your personality and character traits can help start a business. Your ability to handle situations influences being an entrepreneur. Do you have the demeanor to be in charge and want to take control, or do you prefer to be in the background and follow orders? Do you like being bold and daring or safe and secure?
Your DNA (particularly personality traits) can influence your energy level, being outgoing, bold, independent, and even having high optimism. It takes a lot of energy and boldness to be an entrepreneur. You’re responsible for making business connections and being an independent self-starter. You can’t be lackadaisical and expect your business to manifest. Entrepreneurs are great leaders. They excel at taking charge, are logical when seeking counsel, are a good judge of staff, dependable, and honest. The personalities and behavior traits noted are embedded in your DNA; however, they can be learned skills, character traits, and behaviors.
ENTREPRENEURS: NURTURED BY THE ENVIRONMENT
Entrepreneurial personality, character traits, and abilities can be taught and developed by your environment. Personality traits and behaviors needed by entrepreneurs can be learned and mastered. You can be taught to be patient, honest, dependable, responsible, independent, optimistic, and hardworking. As a child, we’re taught to wait our turn, be responsible for our schoolwork, work independently, etc. I struggled with patience the most as an entrepreneur. I want to see my businesses and projects take off immediately, but sometimes the timing is not right, or it takes a while to build a large company following and reputation. Everyone wants their first video to go viral, their first song to be a hit on the Billboard Charts, or a product to be in great demand that is out of stock. Entrepreneurs know those are the exceptions and not the norm, so patience and hard work are needed.
Personality/character traits, behaviors, and skills can develop in the workplace and entrepreneurship. Incorporating specific habits can reinforce and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs must be self-starters and disciplined to carry out various tasks and stay focused on the vision of the business. Creating simple habits can nurture the inspiring entrepreneur such as setting a specific daily time to start work and sticking to it no matter what. Make a habit, which can develop from a goal, to engage at least three business contacts via calls or emails per day or week to generate new business. I make a habit of contacting at least three stations a week to market my community public access television show Y? Why Not! for airtime. This habit teaches me discipline, independence, optimism, and hard work while reinforcing being a self-starter and proactive. My business will not grow if I don’t plant and nurture its growth.
Other ways to nurture an entrepreneurial spirit are utilizing a life/business coach, taking business or development classes, and business or social networking that can assist in building the necessary skills to run a sustainable business. I suggest finding a mentor or model for the business you want to create. An established mentor can nurture and influence your business ideas and spirit. A mentor or business coach will provide mental support, build direction, supply examples, and give the needed feedback to help flourish the entrepreneur in you. You can develop a plan to nurture your entrepreneurial spirit. I utilize a business planner I created specifically to improve my business from tips from mentors and workshops. My planner includes sections for things to do list, a financial tracker for expenditures, a brainstorming idea section, along with goal setting for daily, weekly, quarterly, short, and long term. Your personalized planner can reflect your needs for your business.
Congratulations on being or becoming an entrepreneur. Take time to determine and develop your natural entrepreneurial spirit by taking a personality test that will give you general information on your personality traits. Connect with a mentor and a business networking group to develop the necessary skills for your business to strive. Develop habits that will help you be consistent with growing your business. Create and utilize a business/personal planner to nurture your company and you. Being an entrepreneur is in you and nurtured by you.


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