THE AUDACITY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By Nnaemeka Nweje

i) Audacity; The willingness to take bold risks.

ii) Entrepreneurship; The capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risk in order to make a profit.

iii) Entrepreneur; A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

The one constant theme across the above definitions is RISK. Taking risks which is audacity is at the core of entrepreneurship as without it, one cannot be described as an entrepreneur. To take bold risks in the pursuit of a dream is the process of entrepreneurial development.

I recently read a story in an article tagged 'Service; the gateway drug for Social Entrepreneurship'. It was about a bright young mind who traded in his $80,000 a year job to do service in Haiti. Very inspiring indeed. But what really got my attention in this article was how this young man used his experience in Haiti as an opportunity to think about a social venture concept. He actually put himself into a situation where he could get a firsthand look at the problem, and went on to innovate from there. Innovation can come from the most unexpected place and doing service in an area of interest is a great place to start. That said, innovation, which is the crux of entrepreneurship, can only be triggered when one is willing to step off the edge (majorly on gut feelings only) risking a lot in the process. As Reid Hoffman (Executive Chairman Of LinkedIn) deftly put it; 'An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on his way down'.

The secret ingredient to uncommon success is distilled down to a single word is audacity. It connotes a positive attitude towards overcoming obstacles and is the key factor that determines whether an entrepreneur will be successful or not.

The Audacity of an Entrepreneur thus can be attributed to that innate desire to go against what is considered the norm on the wings of an idea in a bid to discover new, exciting, efficient and effective solutions towards issues as it affects humans across countries and borders. The stories of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and their likes are excellent pointers.

However, audacity and entrepreneurship are simply self-defeating without resilience. Therefore

in conclusion, one cannot survive as an entrepreneur without resilience, because you are going to fail at least once; maybe multiple times. That's the nature of trying something that's never been done before. Resilience means not giving up, and being energized by what you have learned. As Thomas Edison said, 'I have not failed, I have just found a thousand ways that won’t work'. In summary, the Audacity of an Entrepreneur could be summed in the following five outlines;

1) Maintain Active Optimism; This is the mindset to expect the best outcome from all situations.

2) Have Courage To Take Decisions; Any decision is usually better than no decision.

3) Let A Good Moral Compass Guide You; We all need a guiding light for when adversity strikes.

4) Show Relentless Tenacity And Determination; Decide that giving up is simply not an option.

5) Gain Strength From The Support Of Others; Avoid toxic people like a plaque. Practice active listening and show appreciation.

Practice these outlines and one is well on his/her path to success and maybe greatness even.