Defining entrepreneurship

Here’s one thing I’ve learned: it’s hard to define an entrepreneur objectively and meaningfully.

Want to be 100% objective?  Use the dictionary and give the words no further thought.  “A person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” Wow, that was useful.

Want to be 100% meaningful?  Usually that means talking to an expert in entrepreneurship, who usually has something to sell you to help you on your way.  Not that I’m being cynical.  In fact, I took great pains to avoid putting “help” in quotation marks there – there’s value in training from experts if you choose to find it, and so one.

If you ask enough people who’ve both studied the concept and spent time in the trenches, you’ll probably find some commonalities in their answers.  But until you’ve spent your own time in those trenches, the information won’t pack the same punch.

(Case in point: I read one of Michael Gerber’s E-Myth books a few years ago when I was steadily employed.  I think I boiled it down at the time to “make an org chart for your business even if your name goes in every box.”  This week I listened to a Gerber interview where he didn’t define entrepreneur exactly, but he did define most people who think they’re entrepreneurs: most in this category are in fact technicians on an adventure.  They’re really good at one thing, but it ain’t building a business. And yes, it’s time to re-read that book with fresh eyes.

So I don’t look for definitions anymore.  I find it’s a low-level validation strategy instead of a transformational education plan.  Definitions vary with every person based on their current focus.

What I’m looking for now are defining moments.  What was the moment that flipped someone’s switch from, say, struggling technician to full-on business builder?  What event, thought, insight, or crisis catalyzed that?  Those are the stories that drive me right now.

Photo by greeblie