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The characteristics of an entrepreneur are identified in high energy creative people, who are
self-confident, have high levels of self-esteem and are futuristic in their outlook as they seek
to incessantly solve problems, take risks and learn from failures (theirs and others). They
thrive on change and have a natural predisposition to showing initiative and willingly accept
personal responsibility for projects. They harness all available resources within their scope in
order to achieve success on their own terms.

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Successful entrepreneurs learn to control and discipline their gift and by combining this with
a business education (both formal and from the µá


 á) together with a
perseverance and an enjoyment of hard work driven by a righteous passion, they eventually
craft their success in spite of the many preceding disappointments and set backs.

Many people have tried unsuccessfully to categorise the entrepreneur, with the Webster's
dictionary describing them as 


 á
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áá á
á á
á
áá
 á  This is a typical researchers description, written without the
privileged insight into the mind and spirit of what makes an entrepreneur tick. As
entrepreneurs, educators and authors, we have made an attempt in this Knol to identify the A
to Z of what sets entrepreneurs apart from their other commercially engaged contemporaries.

Now the entrepreneurial skill-set would afford success in many fields of human endeavor,
however, the entrepreneur is drawn to the world of business and commerce. We believe that
this is because their great desire for independence, their love of a competitive environment,
the business world¶s reward for objectivity over subjectivity and the fact that excelling at this
core societal realm makes the greatest use of their talent.
Ambiguity is the ³ 

á



á 

 
 
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á

 . [1] Ambiguity usually
occurs at times of significant societal, environmental, economic, political, technological or
organisational change. Now, whilst periods of change are quite stressful for the vast majority
of people, it marks a time when entrepreneurs becomes quite invigorated. Entrepreneurs are
people that have a great tolerance for ambiguity [2]. This is because entrepreneurs know that
change always brings with it new opportunities and as 
 observed -


     á


Furthermore, the entrepreneur has no fear of change because they bring to every new period
of ambiguity, their past experience with its already highly developed coping strategies.
Entrepreneurs position themselves via alliance building, work activities, engaged learning
and market intelligence gathering, at the very epicentre of the change and look out through
the rolling mist for an emerging opportunity and need for which they are uniquely resourced
to bring a solution. Entrepreneurs do not work from the turbulent outside-in but rather from
the focused inside-out, seeking to find their own unique place in an evolving and changing
environment.

Entrepreneurs have both the conceptual skill to quickly sum up the changing big picture by
identifing relationships and patterns in complex situations, as well as the ability to identify,
take advantage of and action specific solutions to the emerging problem and need.
Entrepreneurs have a natural understanding and appreciation of Beachhead Strategies.
Beachhead strategies are the strategies that an entrepreneur uses to gain market penetration
and customer acceptance for their products. Like the war metaphor they mirror, beachhead
strategies aim to secure a foothold as a prerequisite to the main game. Entrepreneurs and
generals alike know that the main game is too heavily guarded and fortified for a full frontal
attack so they each secure a space in some easily acquired ground and then use that position
to eventually strike out for the intended target.

Entrepreneurs may launch with   products just to establish market acceptance and
then leverage their new found position to release the high-margin innovative upgrade or add-
on. They may partner with established networks, alliances and trusted brands to establish a
market acceptance before striking out on their own, they may gives lots away for free, just to
build momentium and demand for their product. They may spend time working in an industry
or firm to gain the necessary contacts and market intellegence before the launch of their own
venture.
Entrepreneurial endeavour will never happen without it. Commitment is the founding drive of
the entrepreneur. Not just the commitment to do - but the commitment to do and then see it
through - not just the commitment to see it through but to see it through with everything on-
the-line. It is a commitment to the long term, the commitment to never giving up on the
dream, the commitment to getting up and starting all over again if fate so decrees.

The commitment tap root for the entrepreneur is the deep desire to live a life of significance.
So, commitment for the entrepreneur stems from their belief that they are doing something
worthwhile, not just for themselves and their associates but for the 'greater good'. It is this
commitment that sees them continue in the face of disappointment and set backs, when others
declare it as 'all too hard'. According to ÷
  , author of the book ³The Student
Success Manifesto´ ± -

 
 


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The entrepreneurial spirit is interlocked with a sence of destiny. For the entrepreneur, life is
not just a process of accumulating physical assets nor just the indulgence of physical pleasure
nor even the cyclical life of comfort and leisure ± NO! It is making a difference, it is living a
life of significance, it is embarking on a never ending journey to be the best that they can be
and being the greatest influence for 'good' that they can.
They are driven to take control of their future, to craft their destiny and if needs be, to make
sacrifices in the short term for a greater long term gain. Many entrepreneurs hold to the same
view as was expressed by ð c   [4], the wartime Prime Minister of Great
Britain, who said X  á    

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á


áX It is not their business that makes
entrepreneurs a champion, they chose the champion¶s life from an early age and so developed
their character until it eventually becomes self evident.




 

Business schools and corporate enterprises the world over teach the process of managerial or
strategic decision making as the basis for all business development. This process starts with
clearly defined goals, that translate into specifically defined objectives that inform the
strategies and then determine the tactics.

This basis for decision making is actually at the antithesis of the entrepreneurial one, that
takes stock of the strategic resources, capabilities and unfair advantage within the
entrepreneur's control and then selects an emerging opportunities that these capabilities make
them uniquely placed to exploit. This peculiarly µeffectual¶ entrepreneurial thinking has been
researched by 




 an associate professor of the University of Virginia and is
explained in her article ð

  

 
Entrepreneurs know better than most, the power generated by focus. They define the mantra
for their venture and in spite of the many morphs, changes and set-backs they manage to keep
everyone focused on the main game. They know how to focus their own lives as well as the
lives of others onto the targeted outcome and so penetrate barriers by the concentrated attack
on a single point. Their concentration at times can boarder on obsession as they stick with
their passion, in spite of the many distractions, and get the job done. They narrow their living
to a few core commitments protecting those at all costs but forgo the fringe and peripheral
engagements that can clutter the lives of those less focused and obsessed. These successful
entrepreneurs are single minded with a eye-constantly-on-the-prize. They are not easily
distracted, they rarely quit and with blinkers on they stay focused on the task at hand until it
is done.



True entrepreneurs today are identified by their global vision. Sure, they primarily offer
solutions for their immediate surrounding market but they have an eye for how that could
translate into the global sphere. They recognize the power of the internet to deliver a global
outcome for their enterprise and so shape their model to include it in their thinking and µblue
sky¶ possibilities. No longer happy to be tagged the SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) these
start ups are better tagged GOS (Global Opportunity Startup). Yes, they start small but their
ambition is to change the world ± literally. Kevin Hall talks about this further in his
knol ð  


   


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UInnovation sets the entrepreneur apart from all of their other commercially engaged
contemporaries. Entrepreneurs know how to add value by making a product better and getting
a target market to demonstrate their appreciation of it by parting with their money. The
management theoretician › in his book "Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Practice and Principles" u





    
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An entrepreneur¶s core competency is to find new ways to solve problems and to come up
with clever, workable solutions. They are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly
flexible in their thinking. They constantly scan their environment for new trends and are keen
to spot a potential new venture opportunity. A very interesting aspect of the entrepreneurial
mind-set is that having no money is not perceived by them as a barrier to 'making it happen'.
They possess an almost naïve belief that funds are the resources that naturally follow an
opportunity whose time has come and where a balanced and experienced team has been
gathered to exploit it. A surprising fact for many, but that¶s how it works.
Entrepreneurs are separated from creative dreamers on this point. Entrepreneurs know how
to µmake it real¶. Whilst possessing the perceptive vision that can foresee future societal
paradigm shifts they can equally explain the µwhat comes next¶ in making it so. Whilst this is
not always part of the µidealist¶ gift of entrepreneurship, the¶ keeping it real¶ soon becomes a
cornerstone skill of successful entrepreneurial engagements.

Entrepreneurs have an objective approach which while empathising with people¶s needs are
more concerned with the performance and accomplishment. Entrepreneurs are obsessed with
the µtruth¶. The what¶s real. They are honest and straightforward in their dealings and expect
others to do likewise. This is often an area that they lose out to other commercially engaged
players whose truth is subjectively determined by the greatest personal monetary gain. Still,
entrepreneurs learn the best aspects of business acumen from their commercial counterparts
but apply it to their ventures without the need to sell their soul to the µmoney over all¶ mantra.
Get-rich-quick is not in the entrepreneur¶s vocabulary.

‘
  , the entrepreneur who started Southwest Airlines, identifies this keep it real
approach in entrepreneurs with what he calls [7] - á
á
á á  á This mind
set can challenge on points of reality without turning negative or destroying motivation. He
says that he plays the passionate advocate who applies -á
 
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ULEADERSHIP We think it is truer to say that entrepreneurs do not chose to be leaders but
that leadership chooses them. They lead because they are prepared to take responsibility in an
effort to get the job done. They lead because, from their objective standpoint, they don¶t trust
another¶s decisions too heavily skewed by political or subjective bias. They lead because
others follow, and other follow because they see their own needs being fulfilled in the
entrepreneurial direction and outcomes. They lead because in times of great change they are
the ones still moving forward, still possessing the energy to work tirelessly to solve the
confronting problems. They live in a future that others wish to be guided to.

Leadership for the entrepreneur is not about status but about function. Imbibing a healthy self
esteem, they have little need for status. They are not motivated by external acknowledgement
but by achieving their own internal measures of success and achievement. Armed with a
generalist approach, futuristic mindset, excellent people skills, a penchant for action over
words and operating often in high variance industries, the entrepreneur makes for a natural-
born leader [8] .

At the very core of entrepreneurial leadership is problem solving and decision making. If
there is a problem ± they solve it. If there is a decision to be made ± they make it.


 , founder of the global retail chain The Body Shop, says [9] X 
 

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Entrepreneurs are opportunistic. In fact the synonym for the word ´opportunist´ [11] is
actually entrepreneur. But an important fact to make clear is that they are not opportunistic
about any or every opportunity ± just theirs. Sure, their natural comprehensive awareness
affords them a view of the total situation and the possibilities wrapped up in every option but
it does not mean they action every opportunity they see. In fact, entrepreneurs say no to
hundreds of great opportunities because they only have eyes for theirs.

As  c
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