The Entrepreneur :: small business self employed

In the United States, approximately one in eight adults are self-employed. In their minds exists a one common dream. This is the entrepreneurial dream of self-employment. It is the freedom to start, grow, and cash in a new business. Most of the extravagant millionaires of today build up their wealth in this way. An entrepreneur is someone who has the ability to build and develop his own business. In today's fast paced world of business, many people chose to work for themselves. A career as an entrepreneur is a risky, yet personally rewarding endeavor. Entrepreneurs start from ground zero with probably only a dollar in their pocket. "Entrepreneurship is the ability to create and build something from practically nothing" (Timmons 1). Entrepreneurs should be admired more than anything for their hard work and determination. "It is initiating, doing, achieving, and building an enterprise or organization, rather than just watching, analyzing or describing one. It is the knack for sensing an opportunity where others see chaos, contradiction and confusion. It is the ability to build a "founding team" to complement your own skills and talents. It is the know-how to find, marshal and control resources (often owned by others) and to make sure you don't run out of money when you need it most. " (Timmons 1). To be an entrepreneur, it takes the willingness to prosper with calculated risks; both personal and financial-and then do everything possible to get the odds in your favor. Driven by an intense commitment and determined perseverance, entrepreneurs work very hard at what they do. They excel and want to win. Entrepreneurs are amazing people with a high respect of character. They use their mistakes as something to learn from rather than a failure. No matter the outcome, they believe in themselves and have an extreme confidence not only in themselves, but also in what they do. "Entrepreneurs who start and build new businesses are more celebrated than studied. They embody, in the popular imagination and in the eyes of some scholars, the virtues of "boldness, ingenuity, leadership, persistence and determination." Policymakers see them as a crucial source of employment and productivity growth. Yet our systematic knowledge of how entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses is limited. The activity does not occupy a prominent place in the study of business and economics.