The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits

THE MYTH OF THE “ENTREPRENEURIAL TYPE”

Many business books are written by academics who back up their theories with researched data, not life experience. These include prestigious titles published by Harvard Business Press, Stanford University Press, and Wharton School Publishing.

Still others are written by journalists who interview or study entrepreneurs. Seth Godin, author of If You’re Clueless About Starting Your Own Business, is an example. Robert Kiyosaki, author of the hugely popular Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is another example. And I would add Tim Ferriss, the author of The Four Hour Work Week, to the list.

These authors have had modest success as businesspeople. But apart from their publishing empires, they’ve had little or no success in developing multimillion-dollar enterprises.

Writing about something they haven’t done does not mean that their observations are invalid. But as a reader of these books, you have to wonder if their recommendations are trustworthy.

The question here is about risk: How risk-tolerant do you have to be to succeed as an entrepreneur?

And my answer is not very. For every entrepreneur who succeeds through boldness, I believe there are a dozen who achieve success by taking small, timid steps and learning as they go.

That’s not the conclusion Seth Godin came to. In If You’re Clueless About Starting Your Own Business, he tells us that these are the traits you must have if you want to be a success:

• A positive, committed attitude so you can stick with it ...