Advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship

¶ … Entrepreneur

The role of an entrepreneur is to create new businesses that deliver consistently high levels of value over the life of the products, processes and organization. As the processes involved in creating a new company are complex and varied in the skills they require, entrepreneurs must be adept at managing a multitude of tasks and process simultaneously. There is a common perception of those who create new businesses have a correspondingly high level of freedom and strong sense of optimism (Olsztynski, 18). Traits that lead to success in entrepreneurship however include pragmatism, critical thinking, and a strong focus on results and strategies (Burmeister, Schade, 340). There is a common misconception that entrepreneurs gain exceptional levels of personal freedom from the risks they take, yet in fact they are often more in demand than any other employee as they are the pivot points of their companies. This paper presents the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur.

Pros of being an Entrepreneur

The prevailing perception of individuals who start companies is that they have the opportunity to be their own boss and also define their own working conditions and hours. This is in fact the case, yet there is the implicit requirement of being highly efficient in getting many often conflicting priorities completed quickly (Trevelyan, 19). Implicit in this fact is the need for entrepreneurs to have a high level of expertise in their chosen areas, and one of the reasons many start their own companies is to fully use their innate strengths and abilities (Olsztynski, 18). When all these factors are taken into account and a company is founded, often the entrepreneur works to create an environment they can get a sense of accomplishment and achievement in, along with like-minded professionals. This is one of the most satisfying motivational factors for entrepreneurs in that they have a chance to fulfill their own vision of a given product or service area. Examples of this include Bill Gates founding Microsoft to build personal computer operating systems, capitalizing on his innate interest in software. There are many more examples of these types of companies being founded, yet the core reason for this is the entrepreneurs' desire to have a greater degree of autonomy to fulfill their own vision of a given product, service or business idea. The dilemma for any entrepreneur and founder of a successful company is when to either seek a buyer for it or relinquish control and hire a professional manager or CEO to run it as an ongoing business (Wasserman, 115). The founder's dilemma is one that emanates from entrepreneurs' realization that despite their companies being the essence of their passion for a given area that eventually it must be turned over to professional managers. Through exceptional focus, entrepreneurs are able to transform concepts into companies, yet it takes effort on their part to relinquish control to professional managements.

Cons of being an Entrepreneur

The greatest draw-back of being an entrepreneur are the personal and professional risks to financial stability and reputation if the new venture does not succeed, and the lost time invested in the venture if it fails. These are all lost opportunity costs that an entrepreneur could have invested in other, potentially more profitable and successful ventures. Even successful entrepreneurs struggle with staying focused despite the intense pressure to succeed and long hours needed to get a business into a financially viable condition to run smoothly. There are more sacrifices required of entrepreneurs today than ever before as globalization is forcing many of them to travel across multiple continents every given month to get their companies up and running. These trips include supplier qualification visits to verify that a key supplier can provide the necessary raw materials and components necessary to grow the business. There are also customer visits that must be done in person in the early days of any new business so that trust is established and maintained. Underlying all these factors is the role of the entrepreneur being the most responsible member of any management team when it comes to the success or failure of any new venture. The personal costs are quite high as a result of these many demands, and the level of cooperation and support an entrepreneur gets from his family and management team is also critical. When a new venture begins to falter however there are also an exponential set of demands on entrepreneurs to liner up emergency financing and investment capital to pay expenses, including payroll. With so many demand son entrepreneurs, only those that are the most focused and passionate about their potential business ideas succeed and can overcome the many obstacles and challenges every company faces on its pathway to growth. Above all else, entrepreneurs must also stay unbiased in their assessment of growth, staying focused (Burmeister, Schade, 340) on market opportunities and market conditions to ensure their companies continually grow over time.