Is entrepreneurship a form of self-employment? In this debate on the “Café con Talento” channel, together with Ana Hernández Serena, (Founding Partner of AV Asesores) and Alberto Alcocer Rodríguez, (CEO of Societic Business Online), we reflect on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs, and whether it is an appropriate form of self-employment.
I would like to reflect on some of the ideas that arose in this debate that Juan and I shared with Ana and Alberto, I hope you enjoy them and find them inspiring.
Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and self-employment
What is entrepreneurship?
Ana defined entrepreneurship as the ability to find solutions and opportunities, out of necessity or to see the opportunity, for her it is a way of life.
For Alberto, entrepreneurship is wanting to take a risk, to be convinced of an idea, to be an expert in it. To be an entrepreneur you need a business model, experience, contacts, so as not to be a “pirate’s nest” and not destroy the market.
There are no good projects, but good entrepreneurs, Ana Hérnandez Serena
Ana commented that in the future we are going to find that the most common thing will be to have several periods in our “professional life”, in some we are perhaps going to work for a company, in others on our own, or for projects, and that is where the “entrepreneurial character” will become increasingly necessary. Working will no longer be used so much to “be placed in a company”, but we will develop skills to work on projects, more temporarily and with different companies, partners, collaborators or clients.
What phases must be taken into account to start a business?
Ana points out the importance of reflection before action, (I recommend her Cotton Notebook and her APP). Sometimes she comes across cases of people who want to become entrepreneurs, but do not want to spend time in the analysis and reflection phase. For her, it is necessary to think about questions such as the following before starting a project:
• Is it what I want?
• Do I have the skills to do it?
• Is there a market for this idea?
• Is it a viable project?
• What is Plan B? What will I do if this doesn’t work?
The entrepreneur is made, not born, you need previous experience and to have fallen a few times, it is better that you have also done it in a safer environment, Alberto Alcocer
What are the competencies that an entrepreneur must have?
Ana points out some of the skills for entrepreneurs that they use in the Youth Business Spain program, according to the model of David Mcllelan, (Harvard University) and they are the search for opportunities, (also related to planning and setting objectives), quality, persistence, risk tolerance, self-confidence and the ability to create a network of relationships.
Alberto also adds the global vision, the ability to design strategies and analyze the market and understand customers. You need to understand what’s going on and set your goal in relation to it.
Entrepreneurs have to be great trend hunters. The entrepreneurial DNA naturally demands to be alert, Ana Hernández Serena
According to Ana, you have to have a strategy to go out and sell by showing your values. We have to take a short step, with a long view, that is, act in the short term but look at the long term.
Alberto commented that it is essential to learn from mistakes, if possible minimize the impact of failures and always get back up and move forward.
Ana highlighted the idea that you have to have a plan, even if sometimes it is not fulfilled, but it is necessary to know when and how much you are wrong, and see if you have to change your strategy.
Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. We have to reflect and decide on the strategy and then take action, Ana Hernández Serena
Conclusion entrepreneurship and self-employment
I love the ideas that have come up in this debate about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. Personally, I like to consider entrepreneurship as a quality of the spirit, I think it is a set of skills that combine a lot of initiative, non-conformity and also a lot of planning and resilience. And, as they are skills, I also believe that they can be developed, although there are people who have it to a greater extent “as standard”.
Entrepreneurship is fantastic, without risk there is no emotion, you have to be prepared for uncertainty and feel passion for what you do, Alberto Alcocer.
And for you, what does it mean to be an entrepreneur? What is entrepreneurship?
I’d be happy for you to share your comments with me.
Remember that sharing our ideas and opinions makes us open up to new perspectives and develop our talent.
