Want to Be an Entrepreneur? Go for Variety and Diversity - Article
What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Characteristics common to most successful entrepreneurs include vision, passion, sense of purpose, focus, drive, self-confidence, decisiveness, and resilience. In addition, entrepreneurs typically exhibit a tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, a high degree of flexibility, a willingness to learn from their mistakes and failures, and a healthy appetite for risk.
Beyond these well-documented attributes, new research has provided evidence for the “jack of all trades” theory, which posits that successful entrepreneurs benefit from being generalists rather than specialists.
Triumph of generalists
Economist Edward P. Lazear studied Stanford MBAs and determined that students who took a broad range of classes and had a wide range of jobs and activities were more likely to become entrepreneurs. A follow-up study conducted in Germany replicated Lazear’s results, and Uschi Backes-Gellner of the University of Zurich and Petra Moog of the University of Siegen in Germany expanded on these findings by including social networks.
Connections
Their research suggests that people with broader backgrounds; more varied skills, interests and experiences; and a diverse social network are more likely to have what Backes-Gellner and Moog call a “disposition toward entrepreneurship,” and are “well versed in a whole set of entrepreneurial skills.”
Social network research also indicates that relationships are beneficial in a variety ways. First, friends, parents, and relatives serve as a source of support when someone is launching and financing a business.
Additionally, broad and varied social networks provide a range of perspectives that enable a person to capture new insights and refine his or her ideas. That moment of serendipity or that random thought that triggers the next big idea or great invention can come from virtually anyone, anytime, anywhere.
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