More often than not ‘entrepreneur’ is used to describe both a passing phase of ‘start up’ and a lasting role of ‘business management and development’. \u00a0 \u00a0The two roles overlap to some degree but demand different dispositions and skills.<\/p>\n
In the start up phase the entrepreneur is\u00a0frequently\u00a0working alone developing a personal vision and finding ways to make it work, in theory. \u00a0They are finding investors and developing plans. \u00a0They are researching and shaping their still very malleable ideas until finally they have something on paper that ‘works’. \u00a0They talk with advisers and potential customers. \u00a0But the business is just an idea. \u00a0It is not yet a demanding child; a long term commitment.<\/p>\n
Sooner rather than later the infant business develops different needs; sales, management (especially\u00a0financial management) and systems. \u00a0The emphasis shifts from the energy and drive of start up to a different\u00a0vibe of business development. \u00a0Energy and drive are still required but so too is\u00a0discipline\u00a0and routine. \u00a0The business is no longer on paper where numbers can be changed at the stroke of a key. \u00a0It is now a real thing where to ‘change a number’ takes real work and often hard cash. \u00a0And the business is there, demanding, all day and every day.<\/p>\n
Instead of a single person driving a personal vision it now may require teamwork and people management. \u00a0The\u00a0entrepreneur\u00a0has to morph into a cocktail that includes some or all of; sales, management, bookkeeper, product\/service development, operations management and leadership. \u00a0A very few make this transition with relish. But for most it proves difficult.<\/p>\n
Many entrepreneurs learn to move on with grace. \u00a0The passion, skills and energy that help them bring the businesses into life are not well suited to the more methodical and disciplined demands of business development. \u00a0Having been\u00a0responsible\u00a0for\u00a0conception\u00a0they leave the\u00a0parenting\u00a0to others. \u00a0They bring in professional ‘management’ \u00a0while they move on. \u00a0This IS the entrepreneur.<\/p>\n
But for the majority, who are venturing into entrepreneurship for the first time, this\u00a0early\u00a0exit to business ownership is not seriously considered. \u00a0The business is set up from the start as a vehicle in which the ‘entrepreneur’ can pursue their trade (social media guru, web designer, window cleaner, whatever). \u00a0There is no exit. \u00a0They have had what Gerber calls the ‘entrepreneurial seizure’.<\/p>\n
Gerber recognised that\u00a0most people who choose to start a business aren’t really ‘entrepreneurs’ as described above. Instead, they are technicians, craftsmen or artisans who have had what he called “an entrepreneurial seizure<\/a>“. They have become fed-up with their boss, disillusioned by their employer, made\u00a0redundant, or increasingly have never been employed and decide to start out on their own ‘Enterprise\u00a0Fairytale’.<\/p>\n This is the entrepreneurial seizure, and critical decisions must now be taken. \u00a0Get them right and the\u00a0transition\u00a0to ‘entrepreneur’, and ‘business owner’ may be made. \u00a0Get them wrong and the entrepreneurial seizure may be prolonged, expensive and painful. \u00a0Society may still label you ‘an entrepreneur’ but you will be both boss and labourer, technician, craftsman or artisan. \u00a0What once\u00a0felt\u00a0like tremendous progress may soon turn into a trap.<\/p>\n If you learn your entrepreneurial skills at one of the worlds leading business schools you will be taught the skills of starting and owning a business. \u00a0You will be taught to avoid the\u00a0entrepreneurial\u00a0seizure. \u00a0If you learn your entrepreneurial skills in more\u00a0prosaic\u00a0settings this\u00a0lesson\u00a0may not be taught. \u00a0Indeed the working assumption may be that helping you into an\u00a0entrepreneurial\u00a0seizure \u00a0could be as good as it gets.<\/p>\n It might be perfect for you – but it is not\u00a0really entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n And when the policy makers lament our ability in the UK to start businesses that consistently achieve\u00a0global\u00a0scale, I\u00a0believe\u00a0it is\u00a0because\u00a0we trap so many of our ‘could be’\u00a0entrepreneurs\u00a0in their own entrepreneurial seizures.<\/p>\n