What are you Enterpreneuring?

I meet folks on a daily basis who are very quick to introduce themselves as Entrepreneurs with a scent of braggadocio.

As a matter of fact, our society seems to have attached some idolization to the term “Entrepreneur”. Understandably, in a society such as ours where there are more unemployed people than the employments available, it is very okay to celebrate one or two people who have decided to bootstrap stuffs for themselves.

However, as with everything in this part of the word, I am of the opinion that the “I am an Entrepreneur” punchline is gradually becoming an excuse for well-packaged unemployed folks. Especially in the current “Startup craze” that is sweeping the Nigerian techspace. For crying out loud, you meet a young lad who is technically doing nothing, earning nothing and then he approaches you in his monkey-suit and tells you he is an entrepreneur or he is floating a Startup. How?

For crying out loud, the fact that you build one or two websites doesnt necessarily make you a startup or perhaps an Entrepreneur. I have built several websites myself since I started Web Development in 2008 but that doesnt qualify me to tag myself as an Entrepreneur.

Now lets break it down.

What does it mean to be an Entrepreneur?

I think it is noteworthy to trace the origin of the word Entrepreneur itself.

The word Enterpreneur took its roots from the French word Entreprendre which literarily means to UNDERTAKE SOMETHING. A such, an Entrepreneur is an UNDERTAKER. Thus the title of this post might as well be rephrased as “What are you UNDERTAKING?”

Now lets bring it back to the English realm, the Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines an Entrepreneur as a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money.

Did you mark all the words of that definition?

Now place YOU in the picture.

• Do you have a Business?
• Are you willing to UNDERTAKE Risks? and finally
• Are you MAKING MONEY or are there prospects of you MAKING MONEY from your business?

Until you answer a YES to all the questions in bullet, you have no business introducing yourself as an Enterpreneur.

You might as well be called a FREELANCER, or a PART TIME Contractor or any other sweet title you can coin for yourself.

 

I am outta here!

I am Seun Ogunmola.