Are entrepreneurs born or made?

It is a commonly held view that entrepreneurs are born, not made that what leads someone to become a
successful entrepreneur has more to do with their personality and innate qualities than anything learned
through formal education.
The biographies of entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and Theo Paphitis, all of whom left
school at 16 to make their own way in the world of business, add to the impression that entrepreneurs are born
not made. The idea that certain entrepreneurial traits such as being able to spot opportunities, think
differently and take risks may be inherent has even led to a whole new area of genetic research.
So, is it really that simple? Do entrepreneurs pursue their path because of a genetic predisposition to do so?
I am not convinced. Having met many successful entrepreneurs in the course of my work, I can safely say that
they have included an enormous diversity of individuals and personality types a mix of introverts and
extroverts, natural risk-takers and those with a more cautious outlook, each exhibiting their own particular
strengths in their entrepreneurial endeavours.
There isnt one single type of entrepreneur, just as there isnt one single type of business opportunity. The
talent of many entrepreneurs lies in their ability to align their skills and their passion with potential opportunities
and, as the next stage on, to develop the skills and attributes they need to maximise those opportunities.
A survey last year by Ernst & Young of 685 entrepreneurial leaders found that experience is key to people
becoming entrepreneurs. Fifty eight per cent of the respondents were transitioned entrepreneurs who had
previously been employees. Many cited their experience in a corporate environment as an important training
ground for their subsequent entrepreneurial career.
As well as experiences gained through work, another type of experience relevant to entrepreneurial success is
the wider set of life skills which span both our personal and professional lives. A recent blog by Nischala
Murthy Kaushik highlighted the 33 Life Lessons No School Really Taught Me, touching on skills such as; how
to deal with change, handling failure, learning when and how to say no, how to ask for help, and mastering the
art of prioritisation. All valuable lessons for any entrepreneur.
In short, entrepreneurial skills and attributes can be taught and are something that I believe should be part of
the educational experience of all young people.
That is why City College Norwich is at the forefront of the Gazelle group, which is bringing together like-minded
entrepreneurs and college leaders nationally to create a new generation of entrepreneurial colleges. Using the

inspirational environment of The StartUp Lounge, we are giving students opportunities to experience what it is
like to be part of a business start-up and to develop the skills of an entrepreneur as a core part of their
education.
So, entrepreneurs can be made as well as born and we can all play our part in helping to make the next
generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
0

Entrepreneurs are Born or Made ? Analysis &

Opinions.
BY ABDALLAH ALAILI JANUARY 12, 2014
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Entrepreneurs are Born or Made ? This question have been debated since the word
entrepreneur have been invented, but in recent years, and with the spread of the internet &
the rise of the start-ups, the number of people that take the plunge and become entrepreneurs
is increasing greatly, and as a result the question is raised again and again with no definitive
answer just opinions.
In the following Article, we will try to answer this question, and we will keep this post open
for updates and opinions of professionals and experts in this domain (this post will be
continuously updated).
Becoming an entrepreneur have never been easier, college dropouts are able these days to
start companies in their garages, and sell these companies for millions of dollars few years
later. While in the past, becoming an entrepreneur often needed capital, which required the
entrepreneurs to work for a certain period of time to save the capital needed (and some would
eventually give up), or take loans which increased the risks (and some low risk taking
entrepreneur would give up as-well).
Unlike in the past, when only a small fraction of potential entrepreneurs became real
businessmen, these days most potential entrepreneurs are taking the plunge at one time or
another in their life. This will help us with our analysis.

This Question have been examined a lot before, but if we take in consideration the tech startups, we can, i think, have a good analysis of this old-age question.
Do entrepreneurs have special genes or character, that drive them to succeed while most
people lack these characteristics, or did they become entrepreneur through education,
experience and mentor-ship?

Lets first enumerate the characteristics needed to become an entrepreneur:

1- Should be a risk taker (even if its not a big risk), to actually launch the business.
2- Should be a bit stubborn, to ignore all the warnings (and dont do it advices) from friends
and family.
3- Should have self confidence, if you cant believe you can succeed, you wont even try.
4- Should be independent, and have an independent spirit of deciding for oneself ones
future.
5- Should be able to take the initiative, nothing happens without a decision.
6- Should be ambitious, If you dont want to succeed why then take risks?
The above characteristics wont guarantee youll be a successful businessman, being
successful is a more complicated question.
Then, we should differentiate between real entrepreneurs and accidental entrepreneurs
(below):
1- When a company asks candidates to open a firm, to hire them as contractors instead of
employees.
2- When the field of study or expertise, somehow demands to open a business to exercise it,
like hairdressers, designers, mechanic, etc.
3- When a person with capital, sees the potential of your service or products, and offers you
to go solo instead of being employed.
4- People that inherit companies from their fathers or families.

5- Employees that learn the trade secret, then decide to compete with employer (often after
being fired).

Another factor we should take in consideration, is the family or friends entrepreneurs

influence:
Most entrepreneurs, have a close family member or friend who is self-employed or is
running his/her own company. Starting a company without any exposure to someone selfemployed is less common. The system is hard to understand unless you have an example or
a role model navigating it successfully.
Entrepreneurship in the internet Age:
Even-though starting a website is not like starting a physical business, many internet sites,
offering services or products are actually a business, furthermore, with the revenues
generated by online ads, the blogs and discussion forums can even be considered a business.
Many Blogs have eventually turned into a multimillion dollar business.
What we can notice is that people starting a niche blog are much less than what you would
expect, and that most people are internet consumers rather than producers, which is in
accordance with entrepreneurs percentage of societies.
To answer the question: Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made, you should understand one last
point:

Most people have the dream of starting a business whether it is full-time or part-time. The
reason that stops them from doing it, is fear! Fear from the unknown, and in many cases
financial troubles. An entrepreneur, is the person able to overcome the fear and try to realize
the dream.
A person with the characteristics enumerated in 1st section, and exposed to an entrepreneur
as explained in section 3, would have a higher chance of becoming a businessman than a
person without the enumerated characteristics, thus we can say:
Entrepreneurs are Born and Made, but the Born part have a higher influence than the made
part.
Becoming an Entrepreneur is also possible without having the characteristics needed, but
youll probably have to face your fears.