The idea of running your own business may seem lucrative for many. In recent times, there has been a surge of people who want to move away from the traditional 9 to 5 jobs to become their own boss. This is a welcoming idea that helps to drive personal as well as economic development. However, to become your own boss means to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to have a market-disrupting idea that will change how business is done. The paradigm shift is what will drive your entrepreneurial venture. However, some people think they have that idea but in reality, they’re simply following a proven and established business model, people known as wantrepreneurs.
Are You an Entrepreneur or Wantrepreneur?
Let's know the key differences between an entrepreneur and a wantrepreneur.
Business-centric Vs Self Centric
To an entrepreneur, the business is of the highest priority. An entrepreneur understands that the success of a business isn’t about themselves, rather it is the combined effort of the employees and other stakeholders. In short, an entrepreneur doesn’t make the business about themselves rather works in correlation with others.
This is where a wantrepreneur is different. They make everything about themselves and think that the entire business prospect revolves around them, not to mention the micromanaging tendencies which not only disrupt the business process but also disrupts the free working condition of the employees.
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Working Vs Whining
There are doers and there are whiners. And wantrepreneurs tend to fall into the whiners' list. An entrepreneur is a person that drives change. They strive to make things better no matter what the obstacles. Rather than pondering over constraints, an entrepreneur will find ways to move past them and work for growth.
But the same isn’t true for wantrepreneurs, they tend to complain about micro issues and blames everything on others. This hampers the overall growth mentality of the organization and dries down performance.
Motivated Vs Demotivated
It's nothing new that an entrepreneurial venture comes with its own set of risks. There is no easy way to climb the ladder of entrepreneurship and truth be told, there will be a lot of setbacks. But these setbacks work as a motivation for the entrepreneurs to do better and find solutions to the setbacks.
But a wantrepreneur tends to get discouraged easily. The lack of self-conviction makes them fearful of their action and minor setback discourages them from taking any risks.
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Being Best Vs Being Rich
An entrepreneur isn’t focused on personal development alone, rather to them the growth of the company, as well as the employees, matters the most. A successful entrepreneur leads by example which becomes ideal for the employees. A motivated leader in turn helps to motivate the subordinates to make sure they are performing at their level best. Profit doesn’t act as a central margin and this is what distinguishes a successful entrepreneur.
However, for a wantrepreneur, it's all about money. All they care about is how to make more money regardless of the means. This strains the employee-employer relationship and the overall development of the company takes a back seat. Needless to say, there are no future growth opportunities for such a mindset.
Business Growth Vs Image Growth
Business growth is the central focus point for any entrepreneur. For an entrepreneur, the journey is of constant self-development as well as business development. The primary focus should always be on the overall growth of the company. But for a wantrepreneur, things are different. To them, personal branding and image take the front seat. They fail to understand that there is no such thing as overnight success.
Whereas an entrepreneur would stay true to their conviction regardless of what people are saying, a wantrepreneur would rather be conscious about what people are saying and put those before the growth of the business.
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Striving Vs Waiting
The basic idea behind entrepreneurship is self-dependence. Here you are working with an idea to realize your vision. Sure enough, it won't be a cakewalk and you will face a lot of troubles and struggles. The idea here is to persevere and strive to get what you don’t have today. That is how you lead by example and initiate a growth mentality in your subordinates.
However, a wantrepreneur would rather just wait for the issue to resolve on its own, or wait for someone to step up and solve it for them. Needless to say, this is just an example of organizational bad practice and something that will affect the business in the long run.
Adapting Vs Staying Adamant
The scope of business and business prospects are ever dynamic. There are always some factors that might force the business to take a new direction. Popular ride-sharing app of Bangladesh, Pathao as a startup had to remodel their business strategy five times before they stumbled onto something that works. As an entrepreneur, you need to have that mentality to adapt yourself to the changing environment. This will not only help you to better manage your business but ensure that you bring the best out of your idea. A wantrepreneur however would stay stuck on the idea of whether it works or not.
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Innovation Vs Procrastination
This is tailing onto the previous point that we mentioned. Whereas as an entrepreneur you have to prepare yourself for an ever-changing business landscape, a wantrepreneur doesn’t do that. The driving factor behind any change in a company is its innovation. You as an entrepreneur have to come up with ideas that will assist the growth of your business.
A wantrepreneur would rather stick to an established business model regardless of whether it works out or not. We don’t need to tell what the consequence of procrastination is in entrepreneurship. You can pretty much guess where the business is heading.
Bottom Line
As the idea of entrepreneurship becomes more and more popular, everyone can claim to be one nowadays. However, the process of entrepreneurship is much more intricate and effort-consuming than simply using the tag of it. Some people would just call themselves an entrepreneur without putting in the actual work that goes behind being one. So are you an entrepreneur or a wantrepreneur? Hope this article gives a clear idea about which is what.