They dream, perhaps as we all do, but their visions are backed by the will to go make it happen, unlike the rest who sit back waiting for things to happen. What makes entrepreneurs go past the dream stage?

As people with the desire to effect change and growth, entrepreneurs believe in their idea, and more importantly, they have confidence in their ability to implement their ideas for betterment - whether by introducing a new product or service, or technology.

For instance, think Bill Gates, or closer home, Narayan Murthy. These gentlemen could never have been solely motivated by money. Sure - as a by-product of their successful activities, money was welcome as it fueled the further growth of the very essence of their efforts - their business venture.

Money - a means, not the end: Jayant Tewari, outsourced CFO for small and medium IT companies (http://outsourcedCFO.googlepages.com) words this as "the primary motivator for an entrepreneur is the drive to either do something different or to do it differently. All entrepreneurs want to change the world in some way or another - what changes is their definition of ‘the world' - it may be a microcosm of their individual sphere of influence or the macrocosm of the world at large. Basically, all entrepreneurs have an inherent desire to challenge the status quo, and that forms the root of their drive and desire to succeed. I personally think money for an entrepreneur is always the means to an end and never the objective."

Having said that, is the desire and ability to effect change an inborn trait, or a skill that may be acquired? Having researched the subject, Samiulla, director, Synte Solution & Technologies Pvt. Ltd. believes that all entrepreneurs are unique in their own way. In other words, there is no similarity among any of them - if one is passionately outgoing, another is an innovative person, whereas one has different business ideas, and one introvert has lots of money, the next is a very clever extrovert (who uses other peoples money), and so on.

Entrepreneurial personality: Nevertheless, there are various traits that are commonly associated with entrepreneurs, such as risk-takers, passionate, decision-makers, visionaries, ambitious, full of drive, determination, and a willingness to battle adversity. Entrepreneur and director of STEM & MINDS Dr K V Subramanian thinks his enthusiasm to explore, take risks, question everything, ability to relate to people, face the consequences, and willingness to tread the rough path are character traits that have stood him in good stead as an entrepreneur.

As go-getters, entrepreneurs are not willing to opt for even the best job offers, as this is akin to taking a back seat when it comes to driving growth and change. It is this very capacity, to rely on their decision-making capabilities and perseverance that keeps an entrepreneur ticking, even when the going gets tough. If they don't have the skills, entrepreneurs do what they have to, to acquire the skills they need to get to where they want to be - a successful position.

In his June 19, 2006 editorial titled Blessed Are the Hypomanic, Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard (www.richkarlgaard.com) made an interesting observation about the core characteristics of an entrepreneur. Karlgaard drew from assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins John D Gartner's book on the subject - The Hypomaniac Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness And (A Lot Of) Success In America - that describes American entrepreneurs as having a condition of "hypomania" that causes them to be "brimming with infectious energy, irrational confidence and really big ideas."

Driven by a desire to create: Gartner further listed these traits of an entrepreneur - "He is filled with energy; flooded with ideas; driven, restless and unable to keep still; channels his energy into the achievement of wildly grand ambitions; often works on little sleep; feels brilliant, special, chosen, perhaps even destined to change the world; can be euphoric; becomes easily irritated by minor obstacles; is a risk taker; overspends in both his business and personal life; acts out sexually; sometimes acts impulsively, with poor judgment, in ways that have painful consequences; is fast-talking; witty and gregarious; charismatic and persuasive; prone to making enemies and feels he is persecuted by those who do not accept his vision and mission."

I'd say that in many ways, all this adds up to boundless energy, which is what anyone who is in for a long haul needs. Well - if you think of it, isn't that what establishing and nurturing any business or creative endeavour is all about? Of course, infectious energy is also a quality seen in many super achievers, but as they say, there's a fine line between an over achiever and an entrepreneur - which is traced over the desire to create.

The creation [or discovery] of a technology and/or enterprise to disseminate its use is a painstaking attempt - definitely not a road for those who are afraid of failure, or who cannot sustain their inspiration. Gartner's aforementioned book dwells on the lives of no less than Christopher Columbus, Andrew Carnegie, human-genome entrepreneur Craig Venter, and Hollywood's Selznick and Mayer families. Another familiar name, Edison, apparently succeeded in creating a light bulb that burned for several seconds only after 10,000 attempts. If he'd felt fatigued earlier on, perhaps because of the lack of success, he'd surely have opted out. That he didn't, speaks shoals of his self-motivation, and embracement of an impossible challenge which is what set him apart from the rest.

An entrepreneurs "I can" mindset: Yet another example of perseverance, albeit of entrepreneurship of another kind relates to the establishment of the first outlet of McDonalds in Russia. Apparently, it took George Cohon, senior chairman of McDonalds Canada & McDonalds Russia 14 long years of negotiation with Soviet bureaucrats and his board to open the foremost outlet. When it finally happened, the opening was a grand affair that saw over 30,000 customers being served on the first day itself. When he started out, Cohon naturally had no idea it would take so long but he knew he could do it. It is this "I can" belief is the defining image of an entrepreneur.

Eventually though, on a more practical level, this "I can" mindset must translate into real profits, for as profit sustains any entrepreneurial venture, it is the final measure of an entrepreneur's success.

Perhaps this is why Tewari opines, "I take objection to the adjective ‘good' - I think there's no such thing as a good entrepreneur - there are only successful or unsuccessful entrepreneurs."

Profit keeps an enterprise ticking: By this rationale entrepreneurs tick as long as they succeed at what they're doing, which is steering a profit-making venture. To continue to quote Tewari, "My own definition of a successful entrepreneur is one who has either been able to raise funds and then manage to build a business to become self-sustaining within the funds raised or facilitate a subsequent fund-raising and continue the cycle without going bankrupt. An unsuccessful entrepreneur is one who has been unable to keep the cycle going and has been forced to either go for a slump sale with marginal value accretion to him or has gone bankrupt. The person may be a tremendous bundle of sterling qualities, but he is a failure as an entrepreneur if he or his business is unable to stand this test of success."

This brings up another interesting perspective of the perseverance associated with entrepreneurs. Typically, they persist - but only as long as essential to get their baby, so to speak, out of the incubator. Once the fledgling enterprise stands on its own feet, they set their sights elsewhere. Karlgaard described this as entrepreneurs "seeing opportunities the rest of us overlook. They are driven by a breathless energy to assemble resources in pursuit of those opportunities. Then, soon after their baby is toddling, they get bored."

But if this gift of starting up things does not carry through to managing and administering an enterprise, how would it ever make the profits it needs to continue to run in perpetuity? Is the entrepreneurial gift solely related to starting?

What keeps an entrepreneur ticking?

This answer is at best - situational. While entrepreneurship per se does relate to the ability to kick-start a venture, an entrepreneur's skills would be of no consequence if a series of new enterprises were non-starters or failed soon after being incubated. Sustenance is thus first linked with the quality of and resources allocated to an idea, then with the ability to steer a venture forward, even if not with the task of daily supervision.

Given this rationale, what does it take an entrepreneur to keep going? Describing his entrepreneurial venture as an attempt to build a practice around what he personally enjoyed doing, Tewari believes that "unless you enjoy the activity it is impossible to excel, and unless you excel it is impossible to succeed."

Dr Subramanian opines that the joy of discovery, facing a challenge and coming out winner or better informed, more confident and competent, is what continues to motivate him. While Samiulla traces his motivation to the new technology and products, his software company comes up with, he believes the very strong network he has built up has lent him immense support in running his business.

Fact is - to a certain extent, motivational factors depend on the class of business an entrepreneur in involved with. Entrepreneurs rendering a service may seek to serve a wider clientele, more efficiently, and in newer ways. Entrepreneurs delivering products may strive to devise better versions to suit the needs of many.

It is also safe to surmise that entrepreneurs are sufficiently thick-skinned to negative comments dished out, especially until they have proven themselves. They take comments like - "You can't make a living working for yourself" or "No one can make any money that way" - in their stride not only because they're confident of their calculated risk, but also because they aren't afraid of failure. At the end of the day, society owes a lot to its entrepreneurs - the wealth they generate improves life for everyone. So the next time you encounter one, think before you speak. They need, and deserve all the support they can get. n

Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and author of two books. She also writes funding grants and software for a charity working in the health sector

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