Have you heard the expression, “He’s a Wantrepreneur?” It’s likely that you have because there are a lot of them running around. A wantrepreneur is, well, someone who wants to be an entrepreneur and claims to be an entrepreneur. But there is something missing. They don’t have the entrepreneurial spirit, that special thing needed to strive for world change.
Here’s the question I ask myself all the time, “how do I know whether I’m a wantrepreneur or an entrepreneur?” So, what is the difference between the two? There are several differences, but here are three fundamental ones:
Some Wantrepreneurs Talk Too Much
You know the guy. He’s got this “great idea” for an app, website, business, or product, and he tells you all about it. The problem is you can tell he’s never going to build it. This guy loves ‘playing business’, but people who love talking about business aren’t necessarily business doers.
Now I want to clarify something. I’ve been this guy. I’ve talked a big game with friends and family about the businesses I want to start, but then never followed through. What I’ve learned is that I had some things to learn and still do. First, I had to overcome self-doubt. Second, I had to find the right thing for me. Too often, I dreamt of building someone else’s business, which is why I never started. Fear and a bad fit stopped me. That’s probably a good thing.
So, the lesson is, find your business, overcome your fear, and Instead of talking…
do.
Some Wantrepreneurs Don’t’ Talk Enough
You don’t know this guy for obvious reasons. They don’t talk about their ideas. They have a great idea and they think is the best thing ever. So, what do they do? They clam up. They get protective over it. They refuse to tell anyone what they’re doing because they are afraid someone will steal their idea.
There it is again…fear. The result of the fear is an isolated idea that can never grow because the Wantrepreneur can’t get anyone to back them or show an interest in their product or business. How could they, they’ve never heard of it.
I’m sure you can see the problem. If you can’t get backers, then, unless you are independently wealthy, you can launch the product. If you can’t get anyone interested, then you can’t sell the product.
Here’s the truth. Our ideas are not that unique, and we can’t build a business worth building on our own. We need all the help you can get!
Some Wantrepreneurs are Perfectionists
Guess what, fear is a factor here too. Taking a big idea, investing yourself and your resources into in, and turning it into a reality is a big risk. The fear of failure most often keeps a person from crossing the threshold from Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur. And the only way to overcome that fear is to move.
You have to step out make it happen. You’ll be tempted to delay launch until everything is perfect, but perfection never comes. You can’t afford to spend years perfecting your product and making sure every detail is smoothed out completely. You will never move if that is your criteria for launching the business. You’ll waste tons of time and money. And you’ll end up disappointed and defeated.
My recommendation and what I’m doing at this very moment is this: release an MVP – a Minimal Viable Product – quickly. This is a rough version of your product that you can test with early adopters. If people buy it, then you can invest more into developing it. If the don’t, then you can move on to the next project. Alternatively, they may help you make it perfect by giving you feedback and incentive to invest more. The principle I’m advocating is called ‘fail fast’ in business!
So, if you want to be an entrepreneur, learn to take action, get help, and fail fast.
