By: Fatema Fatakdawala
Are you like me in wondering whether you should try out entrepreneurship?
Almost everyone I know has wanted to start a business at least once in their lifetimes. About a third of those people have attempted to start their own business. Then there are those fortunate few that are actually successful with their startups. For all you technology entrepreneurs who have an idea and want to commercialize it, the Altitude Accelerator is here to help.
It’s not hard to see that some entrepreneurs are better than others at running a company. I think this is dictated by two things: personality and experience. While you’re born with the former, you can easily take steps to acquire the latter.
Personality
Mashable.com posted an article in September on the 7 Reasons Entrepreneurs Don’t Meet Their Potential. They discuss how certain types of personality traits could become a weakness for entrepreneurs. For example, fear of failure and a need to follow the rules. Other traits such as kindness need to be kept in moderation; the so-called ‘need to please’ is important when it comes to customer satisfaction, however, too much of pleasing others causes you to lose focus of your own goals. Click here to check it out.
Experience
A famous person once said: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Experience is crucial when it comes to being successful. This is why you need to submit a resume full of your experience when you apply for a job. This is why CEOs of companies usually have gray hair. I would say that experience is even more important for entrepreneurs compared to the rest of us. Without experience (where experience includes working/interacting close/closely to/with an existing successful entrepreneur), it is easy to lose heart and not be able to keep up with or filter through; what is relevant. Read more.
Fatema joins the RIC team as the Communications Officer responsible for marketing, social media, event and web management. She is a graduate student pursuing her final year in the Master of Biotechnology program at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
The RIC blog is designed as a showcase for entrepreneurs and innovation. Our guest bloggers provide a wealth of information based on their personal & professional experiences. Visit Altitude Accelerator for more information on how RIC can accelerate your ideas to market.
