Entrepreneurship 101
Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? If you slapped your forehead and moaned “Well, duh,” at that question, it might be time for you to change your frame of mind. In your own thinking, you may not see yourself as a true, dyed-in-the-wool, bona fide entrepreneur. If that’s so, then back up a moment and take a closer look.
What is an Entrepreneur?
The reason you don’t think of yourself as an entrepreneur may be because you have a misconstrued idea of that an entrepreneur really is. The most common description that comes to mind is a person who is willing to step out on a limb and take risks; one who exudes confidence; one who is full of courage and high-level energy; one who is tenacious; and one who has an eye for the big picture and is extremely visionary. (Just to name a few commonly thought-of qualities.) And of course, that description is true.
That does paint a good picture of an entrepreneur. Or at least, what we used to think of an entrepreneur. But wait a minute. Something has happened to change all of that. That something just happens to be the Internet – the World Wide Web.
A New Breed
The Internet and all that it has to offer, has birthed an entirely new breed of “online entrepreneurs.” And very few of them possess all of the qualities listed above. In fact, some of them are just the opposite. Doing business on the Internet has allowed all of the “average Joes” (and Janes) from any location on the globe, to step onto a fairly level playing field and get into the game of running their own business. And they are able to do it without all the stuff like courage, risk-taking, and being visionary. Of course those attributes can help and they are very beneficial.
But are they the basic criteria for undertaking an online business opportunity? They are not!
Simple Turn-Key System
There is an endless array of online business opportunities to be found, and many of them are created as a “turn-key” business. All of the hard work has been done. The newbie can step in and work the business and earn while learning. Oftentimes, these turn-key businesses offer a tried and true system which is fairly simple to learn, and fairly simple to operate. So what about all those lofty qualities that we used to think were imperative to become an entrepreneur? Do they fall by the wayside?
Actually no they don’t. What often happens in these situations, is once the newbie begins to get the feel of being at the helm of a business that is actually earning a fair income, his/her confidence begins to grow. Surprisingly, some of the qualities that we think of as necessary for being an entrepreneur begin to surface. Voila! They were there all along, but suppressed or stifled. After all, they are muscles that have fallen into disuse. And now they are being used.
Keep an Open Mind
If you keep an open mind, and stand ready to change, grow and adapt, you might be surprised at how strong and tenacious you will become. Will operating an online business suddenly transform you from a mild-mannered Clark-Kent type into a high-flying entrepreneur Superman? Probably not. But it’s safe to say that the more you learn about online marketing and operating an online business, the more of an entrepreneur-type you will become.
And that’s a guarantee!
Sheri Hess is one of those who left Corporate America because she was fed up with making others wealthy. She was looking for a life where she had more control and more flexibility. After growing a small local business into a multi million-dollar company in the health care industry, she left her post as Vice President to grab onto an Online Business Opportunity – one that has a simple-to-learn system! And now she can help others. Sheri says: “Whether or not you see yourself as an entrepreneur, I can help you build a successful business online. Join my team and let me teach you the skills you need to make a great income.” http://www.sherihess.com/?=ezine
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Entrepreneurship Courses
Many people dream of opening their own business and establishing themselves through that business. Probably the most popular aspect of starting your own business is the fact that doing so means being your own boss. Thanks to today’s technology gaining an education in entrepreneurship is easy, convenient and just a mouse click away.
Entrepreneurship education online is distinctive and its focus on realization of opportunity can turn a great idea into a successful business. Students are taught to use their passions to earn a profit. Learning to start a small business correctly through education can jump start a healthy, long, and successful business.
There are many sites on the internet that provide free entrepreneurship tutorials and training. Check entrepreneurtraining.com, training-classes.com, and educationcenteronline.org for home study courses and teleseminars for its distance learning entrepreneurship students. These sites offer comprehensive entrepreneurship courses which are geared towards equipping people with the skills and competencies of a successful entrepreneur.
Does this mean we will see a drastic increase in the number of start-ups? No, the studies show this is not the case. Since the 1970′s the number of start-ups has fluctuated very little. This fact brings up many important questions (are entrepreneurs born or made? etc.) that we will not get into here. However, there are many positives to taking courses in entrepreneurship. The Harvard Graduate School of Education found that students who have taken a 50+ hour course in entrepreneurship are more interested in furthering education and career aspirations, feel more control over their lives, and display an increase in leadership behavior.
If you already have a business, you can also study basic entrepreneurship to help you operate your business venture in an efficient and profitable manner. After a basic course in entrepreneurship, you may opt to touch up on entrepreneurial marketing courses. Marketing and advertising are two significant aspects that would enable your business to run smoothly. Marketing courses such as that offered by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) presents an overview of the most pressing marketing challenges that entrepreneurs face today. Throughout the course, you learn how to solve these problems by acquainting yourself with the important elements that make up effective marketing plans.
In an interview in trainingzone.co.uk, education author George Siemens highlights that even before the term “Web 2.0″ (meaning web tools such as social networking sites and blogs etc) there was already a ‘changing relationship between our faculty members and the learners…we found that once the students had access to resources online the framework we (the teachers) had created for them to learn in was less critical.’ It seems that growing incorporation of Web 2.0 technology is seeing a power shift between lecturer and student, where the student now has more governance over their own education – a benefit that has been fully realized by the increasing numbers of learners studying online when and where they want to.
Read about study aborad, and also read about entrepreneurship courses and public administration courses.