I had the opportunity to visit my Alma Mater this week to give a presentation on entrepreneurship to this year’s senior class. The invite came in light of today’s challenging job market and the idea that graduates need to be more entrepreneurial in their efforts.
I’ll be the first to support entrepreneurship as viable avenue to job creation, self-fulfillment and prosperity. When opportunities fail to present themselves (as is the case for most college graduates), it makes perfect sense to create your own opportunities… or as I say, “make your own luck.”
But here’s the catch… it’s not for everyone. While I believe everyone has some entrepreneur in
them, not everyone is wired to pursue entrepreneurship as a way of life. Entrepreneurship is a big commitment, so I did my best to boil it down for the senior class into a few basic principles.
First, you must have a passion for your cause, because without it, you have nothing. Why? True entrepreneurial spirit involves doing what hasn’t been done before, overcoming new challenges as they present themselves.
Without passion, it’s nearly impossible to come out of any challenge stronger than before you started. With passion, nothing can slow you down because the greatest challenges motivates the entrepreneur to work harder and smarter than ever before.
Second, you must not only have a tolerance for risk, but also thrive on it. This means operating outside of your comfort zone on a daily basis. As human beings, most of us are naturally wired to resist change and feel more comfortable working in the same status quo we have for years.
In order to maximize your success as an entrepreneur, one must embrace change and take risks you aren’t always comfortable taking. Entrepreneurs embrace change because the status quo is not good enough. When all is said and done, those same entrepreneurs redefine the status quo.
Last but not least, you must make a commitment to yourself never to give up. Even when you have passion for your cause and a tolerance for risk, it doesn’t come easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it. If everyone were doing it, there wouldn’t be as many advantages or rewards for you on the other side. You must have the will to never give up. Like anything that is worth having, the many advantages of being an entrepreneur don’t come without blood, sweat and tears.
So whether you are a real estate professional, a software developer or a restaurant owner, it all starts with who you want to be and what you want to accomplish. If your dreams and aspirations involve being a leader in your industry and setting yourself apart from the crowd, know that that this journey will require going back to the basics of entrepreneurship.
Here’s to innovation and prosperity for all of my fellow entrepreneurs!
Submitted by: Austin Allison, DotLoop CEO
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