I always tell my entrepreneurship students to think about the profits later. If you develop a sustainable solution to a real business problem, the clients and money will come.

Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the development of jobs and economic growth. However, there

has been a lot of discussion and debate on what motivates entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. How do you know if you or someone else is an entrepreneur? Deeply embedded in the practice of entrepreneurship is passion. Many start-up executives have noted that having passion is one of the key drivers for entrepreneurial success. Passion drives some entrepreneurs to assume high levels of risk taking that many may see as being unconventional and even crazy.

Entrepreneurs?problem or solution - traits such as extroversion

and a tendency for risk-taking spring to mind.

They see possibilities and opportunities when

everyone else sees a problem.

My mentor, Dr Gene Landrum, founder

of Chuck E. Cheese and best-selling author,

believes that entrepreneurs tend to be radicals

on a mission to sate a deep-seated passion;

an obsessive Promethean (intuitive-thinker)

willing to sacrifice all for the redemption of a

dream. He goes on to say that entrepreneurs

tend to leap before they look. That is scary for

security-driven traditionalists who tend to see

the entrepreneur as some kind of sociopath lost

on a misguided venture.

My good friend Arel Moodie, Co-Founder

of the Empact Summit and award winning

entrepreneur (Black Enterprise Magazine),

shared five crucial characteristics of what he

believes makes entrepreneurs successful in

leading thriving enterprises:

First, let us discuss what entrepreneurship

is. Entrepreneurs are people that create

small businesses and start-up companies.

Entrepreneurs tend to be characterized as

being risk-takers, innovative thinkers, creative

personalities and opportunistic. Successful

entrepreneurs discover new solutions to

problems, innovate on current products, take

advantage of opportunities in the market

and know how to sell their vision to investors

and customers while also influencing their

decisions – getting their buy-in and support.

The entrepreneur’s ability to innovate comes

from thinking creatively about a business

What Inspires and Motivates

Emad Rahim

CEO MAGAZINE22

ENTREPRENEURIAL MOTIVATION

` In-depth understanding: Entrepreneurs are

curious beings. They want to know how it

works, how it is created, what is causing the

problem, what the solution is, how will it

make money, who the experts are, how many

lives it will change and how they can turn

this into a business? They want to be able

to have a full understanding of what makes

things tick.

` In-depth problem-solving: Entrepreneurs

are opportunistic. They see opportunity and

take advantage of it right away. They believe

in the idea that every problem has a solution.

I always tell my entrepreneurship students to

think about the profits later. If you develop

a sustainable solution to a real business

problem, the clients and money will come.

` In-depth decision-making: Entrepreneurs

want to make or influence the decision.

If you spent a significant amount of time

trying to understand how something works

(in-depth understanding) and researching

the cause of the problem and creating a

solution (in-depth problem-solving), then

you definitely want to be a part of the

decision-making process.

Biography

Ø Emad Rahim, D.M., PMP, University Dean of Business and Management is a PMI Certified Project Management Professional®. Dr Rahim has more than 10 years experience in business development, nonprofit administration, management consulting and project management. Connect with him on Twitter @DrEmadRahim.

` Humility, or ability to accept a helping hand;

` Honesty, or ability to admit failure and grow

from there;

` Decisiveness, or ability to make choices even if

though they may involve some risk;

` Empathy, or ability to understand other

perspectives; and

` Willingness, or knowing you’ll never be 100

per cent ready, but you’re willing to take the

next step anyway.

After teaching entrepreneurship and

mentoring business owners and student start-up

teams for the past six years, I have found that

they are essentially motivated by many of the

same things. The need to deliver innovation

and creativity is always a motivating factor in

an entrepreneurial venture. While new start-up

founders and business owners are motivated by

revenue and investments, social entrepreneurs

are more focused on solving environmental and

social problems. But, I believe all entrepreneurs

are drawn towards an in-depth understanding of

problem-solving and decision-making activities

that embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. Are

you scratching your head right now wondering

what the heck I am talking about? Well then let

me break it down for you with clear examples.

Entrepreneurs?While one or two of these bullets

might describe a lot of people, I believe

the entrepreneur resembles all three of the

above. The entrepreneurial spirit has always

been characterized by innovation, risk-

taking, creativity and adaptability, enabling

entrepreneurs to succeed in an ever-changing

and increasingly competitive marketplace.

When an entrepreneur wants to grow an idea

or an established small business into a large

venture, it will be their passion, motivation and

determination for all three of these driving

forces that will push them forward.

ENTREPRENEURIAL MOTIVATION

23CEO MAGAZINE

ENTREPRENEURIAL MOTIVATION