Becoming an entrepreneur is nothing more than changing the way you see the world. As an entrepreneur you are always looking for and taking advantage of new angles and opportunities.
Knowing the true definition of entrepreneur provides a start to becoming the entrepreneur inside. The single biggest thing you can do to become an entrepreneur is to act. One of the biggest hurdles on the road to being an entrepreneur is not taking action.
Not taking action
As an example, I was visiting Nashville, TN, and while I was there I decided to shop for some shorts. I came to a discount store that carried boxes upon boxes of name-brand shorts, which I knew to be valued between $50 and $60 a pair. Their price…$4 to $7 each. Wow, what a deal!
It was winter, so I could see how the discount store justified selling the shorts at such a price to keep the inventory moving. I snagged six pairs for less than the price I was ready to pay for one. This was a great deal, but I did not exercise the entrepreneurial muscle that I know now I should have.
As I was walking out of the store I thought to myself, “If I buy $400 worth of these shorts and hold onto them until summer, I bet I could easily double or triple my money.” I chewed on it for a second then left. I didn’t take action.
Well, summer came and I enjoyed my shorts, but I didn’t enjoy the fact that I left hundreds of dollars on the table. Had I taken the time and put in the little bit of effort required to buy the shorts and ship them home, I would have been able to cover the cost of my entire trip down there.
Taking action
I can’t share the bad without discussing the good, so here is an example of what can happen when you do take action.
I was solicited by my sister to help clean out an office building that was left vacant by a high-tech company that left town. It was a professional environment, and apparently they didn’t care about leaving a few items behind.
I began gathering everything together and running it down to the dumpster. When I got my first load to the parking lot, it occurred to me that these toner cartridges and office supplies must have some value. With this thought I picked through my load and put the items I thought may be worth something into the back of my truck.
I finished cleaning out office space and went home to list my finds on eBay. Over the course of the next few weeks, I sold all sorts of clerical and office supplies that were once destined for the garbage. When everything was said and done my total earnings on the “garbage” was $1600.
Can you see the difference between these two examples? When I took the time to execute my idea, I was able to bring home a good deal of change. When I failed to execute I was left wondering what if.
Chance are those great ideas you have bouncing around your head have been thought of before, but the question is, are you willing to take the chance and make something happen?
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