Are You Ready to Be an Entrepreneur?
– Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu, 3.9.2019
In my other blog, “Blog 34: Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” I discussed the importance of scanning broadly, connecting widely, and committing deeply in order to become a successful entrepreneur. There are many good books, training programs, and coaching materials to help aspiring entrepreneurs march down this career path.
However, I have found that some youths are getting into this journey without soul searching first to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. They get overtaken by the herd mentality and jump into a career path that is not necessarily suitable for them. This can cause uncomfortable conflict and internal struggle down the road.
The 10 introspective questions in the accompanying chart can help an aspiring entrepreneur better prepare for this challenging and rewarding path of entrepreneurship.
Having the right personality type, risk tolerance, and mental and physical toughness are essential for an entrepreneur to overcome the numerous failures, rejections, and uncertainties that are common in start-up ventures.
Strong passion and the desire to serve will drive someone to keep moving forward. The special products and services created to meet special needs are the ultimate rewards. For many successful entrepreneurs, the fortunes generated along the way are almost just incidental by-products of their passion and unique service.
Of course, the most essential ingredient for any successful entrepreneur is a unique and patentable idea. To come up with such new and innovative ideas, the entrepreneur must have a keen observation of people’s problems and needs. The entrepreneur also needs to have broad-based, multi-disciplined knowledge in order to create innovative solutions.
And lastly, even though entrepreneurs tend to work alone or in small groups, they need strong support from a wide spectrum of people to eventually create a sustainable business.
Please take the time to reflect and soul search, and ask yourself if you have the key characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. Best of luck.
你，準備成為創業家嗎？
-作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
在我的“Blog 34 創新与創業“，有提到要成為一個成功的創業家，需要具備” 博學多聞、廣泛連接、深刻投入” 這些特質的重要性。市面上有許多好書、培訓專案、教學材料，可以幫助有抱負的創業家走上這條路。
但我發現有些年輕人，在還沒有深入了解自己的情況下，就一腳踏進了這個領域。這些年輕人順著熱潮，一窩蜂地闖進不見得適合自己的職涯道路；這可能會造成令人不安的衝突及內心的挣扎。
也許可以透過附圖中10項問題先自我省思，來幫助有抱負的創業家能更好地為這條具有挑戰性、有報酬的創業道路去做好準備。
擁有正確的人格特質、承擔風險的能力、强韧的精神及體力，對於企業家克服在創業初期所常遇到的諸多失敗等不確定性因素，顯得至關重要。
強烈的激情與對服務的渴望，將會是推動他們繼續向前的動力；而為了滿足顧客特殊需求而獨創的產品或服務，則會是最終回報給他們的果實。对很多成功的創業者来说，财富並不是他们最重要的追求，而是成功的產品和服務所带来的结果。
當然，可以取得專利且獨有的要素，對任何成功的企業家來說都是最重要的一環。為了提出這些創新的想法，創業家必須敏銳地觀察人們的問題與需求；更需要擁有廣泛、多元的知識，以創造新的解決方法。
最後，不論創業家傾向自主工作、或團隊工作，他們都需要來自親朋好友和廣大群眾強有力的支持，才能創造可永續發展的事業。
請各位好好地先自我檢視，問問自己是否有這些關鍵的特質去成為一個成功的創業家。祝大家顺利成功！
