The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes an entrepreneur as a: “person in effective control of commercial undertaking; one who undertakes a business or enterprise, with chance of profit or loss.” Encarta gives the definition as: “one who sets up and finances new commercial enterprises to make a profit.” Between the two, I’d say they pretty well cover what most people would consider to be their perception of an entrepreneur. Both refer to the commercial aspect of an entrepreneur who is developing a venture with the aim of making a profit. The Oxford Dictionary does add the cautionary: “with chance of profit or loss.”
An entrepreneur is someone who takes the initiative and sets out to make something happen. In my life as a musician I encountered entrepreneurs in the context of performance and theatre. They are the men and women who promote, organise and produce performances; they are the people who are prepared to put their money where their mouth is. The results of their success are enjoyed by many, many people who attend the concerts, shows and events that they promote. However much they love the work that they do and however much they enjoy the buzz of a successful performance they are not just doing it out of love but to earn a living too. Many of them do earn a very good living indeed, assuming of course that they are good at what they do. A bad entrepreneur doesn’t really exist!
In the world of internet marketing every single person who sets up a business is taking on the role of entrepreneur. As the Oxford Dictionary says, they are “in effective control of a commercial undertaking.” The majority of new online businesses are started by individuals in the capacity of sole traders; “one who sets up and finances new commercial enterprises.” (Encarta) One of the key issues with being an entrepreneur in an online business is that it is all down to you. As with any venture of any sort you need to get things right. As I said above, a bad entrepreneur doesn’t really exist. If you don’t learn the business thoroughly and follow the plan you are almost guaranteed to fail.
If we think of the theatrical entrepreneurs, (sometimes referred to as impresarios) they will usually have a real love for what they are doing. Although they may be richly rewarded for their successful projects, that is not necessarily their main motivation. I became a musician not because I wanted to make a lot of money, but because I wanted to make music. I wanted to share my musical skills with others and earn myself a living into the bargain. The chances of becoming rich as a performing ‘classical’ musician are pretty remote anyway.
It is a bad idea to become involved in internet marketing if your one obsession is money. If you don’t actually enjoy what you are doing, you are unlikely to succeed. Like any form of business it can be very stressful and demanding at times. If there is no sense of involvement beyond making money I don’t see how it is possible to keep going. The fact that you are very much in sole control of your life and business should give you a sense of achievement even in the early days when the work rate is high and the income is still low.
So, be an entrepreneur but enjoy what you are doing, not just seeing pound signs before your eyes. It is a fact of our human nature that if we are enjoying what we are doing, if we get satisfaction and a sense of achievement from it we will do it much better.