Is entrepreneurship right for me? Who is an entrepreneur? Are entrepreneurs born or made?

 There is no unequivocal answer to these questions and economists and scholars alike have very different opinions on the matter. Despite numerous attempts, it has not yet been possible to draw up an identikit of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs have very different psychological characteristics, come from different family backgrounds, have different working experiences and levels of education, so it is impossible to draw a detailed profile of the typical entrepreneur.

Nonetheless, various theories had been developed over time that sought to identify the common psychological traits of people who decide to set up their own business. These individuals distinguish themselves from the rest of the population above all in the following aspects:

 

• Need for independence

Entrepreneurs are often seen as people who have difficulty adapting to existing systems and who do not easily accept authority. They are people who wish to work according to their own rules and principles, which is why they decide to embark on the path of self-employment. This allows them to have total control over their life. The need for independence is considered by many scholars to be one of the strongest motives for becoming an entrepreneur. Individuals with a strong need for independence are usually also self-confident, arrogant, they are open to diversity, set their own rules and have an internal locus of control.

 

• Need for success

People who do not feel the need to succeed often take on extremely elementary tasks, where the chances of failure are very low, or extremely difficult tasks, where they can easily justify their possible failure. Those who have a strong need for success and self-fulfillment take on tasks of medium difficulty that represent a challenge for them, but at the same time, they fall within the scope of their abilities. Individuals with a strong need for success are constantly looking for new challenges and aspiring to independence. For them, the greatest satisfaction comes from the fact that society recognizes their successes. This need for self-fulfillment seems to be more pronounced among entrepreneurs than the rest of the population: they are in fact individuals with a strong desire to establish themselves and to receive recognition, which motivates them to start their own business. However, we must also remember that the need for self-fulfilment is a trait that unites all successful individuals: managers, sportsmen, politicians, artists and so on.

  

• Propensity to risk

In order to take advantage of business opportunities, entrepreneurs must take risks, financial, social and psychological. This is why among the key elements of every definition of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur we find risk appetite. Already in 1725, the Irish economist Richard Cantillon defined the entrepreneur as someone who takes risks. However, more recent studies have shown that entrepreneurs are actually willing to take risks, but only up to a certain point. In fact, before making a commercial decision, entrepreneurs analyse the various possible alternatives, thus lowering the level of risk they face. Entrepreneurs are therefore not intrinsically inclined to taking risks of uncontrollable nature, but often they push themselves into risky situations because of too much self-esteem and confidence in their own abilities.

  

• Internal locus of control

The locus of control is an important aspect of the personality of an individual. Some people are convinced that the results of their actions are the consequence of their own choices and capacities (internal locus of control), while others believe that results depend on luck and chance (external locus of control). Entrepreneurs are people with a strong need for success and with a strong desire to control their actions, so they are considered to have an internal locus of control. They are characterized by their desire to control their lives and believing that the result of their work depends only on themselves, and not on luck or chance.

  

• Self-efficacy of the entrepreneur

The latest research in the field of entrepreneurial psychology assign an important role to the perception of self-efficacy of the entrepreneur. This can be defined as the certainty of having the skills necessary to carry out the tasks in different fields, such as marketing, finance, management, etc. The perception of one's own effectiveness influences behaviour, the way of thinking and the levels of motivation. People who consider themselves to be self-sufficient are ambitious and take on difficult tasks.