Entrepreneurship For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Introduction

Entrepreneurs like to do things that excite the world, bend the rules a bit, and make us look at something in an entirely new way. They are opportunistic, finding opportunities where others don’t see them.

Although stereotyped as risk takers, the truth is that most entrepreneurs take calculated risks — most are not the gamblers people make them out to be. In their businesses, they assess their options and choose their course based on a calculated probability of success. They’re not afraid to fail because they tend to measure their real success by how many times they learned from their mistakes and went on to try again. Entrepreneurship involves challenge, persistence, planning, and more persistence.

Entrepreneurship Has Changed

For the past two decades or longer, entrepreneurship has been viewed simply as a process for starting new businesses. Only recently have those of us who study this phenomenon concluded that entrepreneurship is more importantly about an opportunistic mindset and spirit. That’s a significant distinction, because it means that everyone has the potential to benefit from understanding how the mind of the entrepreneur works. Whether you work in a large corporation, own a small business, run a nonprofit organization, or are at home raising children, you can find opportunities to improve your situation by applying this way of thinking to your life and work.

My approach to entrepreneurship starts with a mindset and then guides you in discovering ...