I must admit to have perhaps been guilty of it myself, but that’s just one of the many reasons why I can proudly and with conviction proclaim to be the successful business coach I am today – I’ve learned the ropes through first-hand experience. Of course what I’m talking about here is what it really means to be an entrepreneur and what I along with many others have been guilty of in the past is confusing what it means to be an entrepreneur with all manner of other things, including being self-employed.

Heck, I’ll even go as far as stating what I now know to be the fact that being a businessperson and an entrepreneur are two different things. Well sometimes they’re not completely mutually exclusive, but there is indeed a clear distinction between a businessperson and an entrepreneur. I mean sure, sometimes an entrepreneur may assume the typical duties of a businessperson and in fact the duties of every type of economically active individual in general, but it’s always with a bigger picture in mind. That bigger picture is looking at operations as a whole unit and working towards having that unit turning a profit while making a difference in the lives of all involved, including the employees forming part of the hustle, but especially the customer.

So to sum it up with a practical example, if I may, what it really means to be an entrepreneur is constantly honing your ability to spot opportunities and take advantage of them as somewhat of a second nature. These can be opportunities to save money, make money, make more money or solve a problem and as you know it is at the confluence of solving problems and making money where true entrepreneurship lives.

I’ll use the example of perhaps finding yourself in a little bit of a bind with regards to the cash flow available to service all your overheads, in which you might have to find some ways through which to cut down on unnecessary spending. If there are no obvious areas in which you’re seemingly spending unnecessarily, then your entrepreneurial mind has to kick in and you have to creatively carve out some ways.

For example, there’s no doubt about the fact that you need adequate legal representation to make sure your operations stay on the right side of the law, but paying full-time legal staff a retainer fee may present you with a conundrum because on the one hand you definitely need that legal counsel, but on the other hand this approach could be costing you way too much. Consequently, the entrepreneurial mind very swiftly comes up with solutions such as enlisting the services of a law firm like the Alliance Law Group, which offers their expertise on a contingency basis. Following the free initial consultation, only then would you be levied with service fees accordingly.

This transparent approach to soliciting services on demand pretty much epitomises the forward-looking thought process of a typical entrepreneur. It is this ability to simply make things happen that marks a true entrepreneur.