Developing & Branding Your Personal Competitive Advantage

A misunderstood minority

There is a special place in my heart for the entrepreneur.  You might call me the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur.  Working with the founding visionary is a different experience than the leader of someone else’s company.  There is a heavy dose of enthusiasm, passion and fear.  These feelings multiply for the entrepreneur when they have a vision that is going to make a significant impact and change the world.  Hearing otherwise from critics is unacceptable.  The visionary might even have choice words for the critics all around a theme of how “they don’t get it”.  When the entrepreneur truly believes they are on to something and stick to their guns, we all ultimately benefit from the pain they endure. Take Bill Gates, dropping out of school to start a company that is going to put a computer in every home.  He knew that someone needed to create software to make that happen…That is a vision!  But many, as the story is told, felt he was making a mistake dropping out of school and skepticism about the lofty vision.  If he listened and did not challenge the critics, he might have just been a great engineer at IBM.  

Here is a recent story many know about, Google.   In their 20’s and in school, Sergey Grin and Larry Page had an idea to change the world.  They knew that they could improve the way we search for information on the internet.  They want to organize the world’s information.  Many think these guys are an overnight success, but the truth is they struggled and many critics entered their world from professors to would be buyers of the technology and so on. 

These are pretty well known examples of success and even pretty well know stories of how they got to where they are.  Obviously there are many more including up and coming examples for future biographies.  Many communities are breeding grounds for the entrepreneurial spirit.  In Denver/Boulder, The Davinci Institute is a great place to see teary eyed inventors work towards their goals.  I hope they all make it! 

A Yahoo poll found that most Americans dream of starting a business.  Not a surprise, it is sexy, you get to make your own hours…NO NO NO, it is not sexy, and you must work hard and fail along the way to success.  You are not just creating something pretty – all the business functions must come to play like accounting, marketing, sales, customer service.  You have to invest real money and time realizing it may fail.  You may have to get others involved; now you are managing people and expectations.  Most people wonder why you don’t just get a job when they see that you are not making money this month.  Not as fun anymore.  When enthusiasm, passion and a healthy dose of fear exist, the risk becomes more fun.  Without passion, none of this is worth it.  If the passion is a new idea, the dream may be lived alone for a while.       

What is an entrepreneur?  Entrepreneur vs. business owner and employee’s entrepreneurial spirit?  Many refer to independent practitioners, sole proprietors and consultants as entrepreneurs.  Some sales people like the title as well - the compensation structure may have something to do with it.  Here is an example: Founders of multi-level-marketing (MLM) are great entrepreneurs who know how to inspire others.  Those who are part of the process love to pitch they are building a business and are entrepreneurs – and so can you!  That inspires people who like the products to focus on an effective sales process selling the founders idea or products. Many in this category refer to themselves as an entrepreneur. Many of these people are successful working for themselves and deserve credit for wearing many hats well.  People in this category, however, are not entrepreneurs.  They are working in their or someone else’s business to replace compensation they might be getting in a normal “job”.  In many cases, they are looking for a job.  How many “consultants” do you know that are an expert in something they offer, but after talking, you learn they are looking for a job?  Consulting is a great way to get into a targeted company on a trail bases with the goal of landing a permanent role.

So what is an entrepreneur anyway?  In my experience, it is the person who lays it all on the line for a purpose.  I am talking about more than risk because risk is associated with many things.  This is a person who tells you about their passion and purpose with emotion…a tear in their eye.  Often the mission is misunderstood by many.  It takes a long time, if it ever happens, for those close to the entrepreneur to realize they are "working" - this is their job.  They are unemployable.  These brave souls tend to be visionaries – really out there some times.  They seek out to offer something different. They are working on their business and probably thinking about the next business idea before finishing current projects.  Folks who start many ventures with failures and successes are called serial entrepreneurs.  You meet restaurateurs and social entrepreneurs. They are creating opportunities and jobs.  Begs the question, what is a solopreneur?

One of the most common and probably largest problems a typical entrepreneur faces is what is their role in the company?  Who do you hire to run the operation while you focus on the vision?  This means giving up some control and your “baby” to someone incompetent.  (Many entrepreneurs think everybody is incompetent or does not get it).  In my experience, the best thing an entrepreneur can do is surround him or herself with people that can help you not be too close to yourself…help you communicate your vision to inspire – so you are not so misunderstood.