Wednesday, December 19, 2007

let's start with basics

the word 'entrepreneur' has a french origin and means 'go between'. in the early days, ie 16th century, the entrepreneur was seen as someone who would mediate between an inventor or ideator on the one hand and putting all the resources together on the other to commercialise a product.

since marco polo's time, the abilty to take risks has always been an integral part of entrepreneurship. many of us do not become entrepreneurs because we are risk-averse and seek compromise in our comfort zones.

it is not just the economic aspect of risk that is daunting; not just that there may be no pay check regularly at the end of the month as it happens when you are an employee. it is also the psychological aspect. even if you are a management trainee in a large MNC, you hand out your visiting card very proudly because the brand equity of the MNC is extended to you as well. when you become an entrepreneur, your new organization has no such brand equity and somehow that makes you feel less of a person.

one may overcome the fear of no pay check but very few are able to overcome the loss of brand equity. it calls for a lot of commitment and faith to be able to deal with this.

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