My Wife says successful Entrepreneurs are 'born' I say that is Bullsh*t

Can't those people with different backgrounds been born with entrepreneus skills but never discovered it before?

I started working for myself when I was 25, before that I felt no need for it.

Sometimes people just have to run into something before their "skills" reveal it self.

Not that I have any very specific skills but somehow I do seem to be born for success (with falling and standing up in between but that's only natural when trying new things I guess)

Every example you have used backs up your wife's argument.

The people who are successful are those with an 'inborn' desire to work and succeed.

If you look at every successful entrepreneur the key to their success came from within themselves.

Some say "I was not born for this, I am naturally shy", or "I was not meant to be an entrepreneur, I was born with a disability", "or I don't have a natural instinct for selling".

What successful entrepreneurs have is an inner ability to overcome obstacles, whether that is a personal disability, high barriers to a market or uncooperative mentors. This cannot be taught.

You can teach "how to" overcome obstacles, but you cannot teach the tenacity required to overcome obstacles.

It is in born.

Take a successful entrepreneur. Take away his learning and his mentor. Could he still "make it"?

99% will say "Yes" because it is in their nature.

It's a hard question to answer. I think some people are born with more drive than others, whereas some people are completely content doing the 9-5 grind and have no aspirations for anything more their entire lives.

Then again, some people aren't born with a entrepreneurial spirit but they gain a drive and passion later in life to build and create. I worked many horrible jobs over the years and then started my own business about 7 years ago. I would say, for me, the drive came later when I wanted more out of life.

I think it vastly varies based on the individual tbh.

I see what you're saying, but I think its like anything: some people can paint a work of art, others can figure out new theories in quantum mechanics, and others still can operate as an entrepreneur. Take me, for instance. Sure, you could give me a thousand lessons in art, but I'd never be that great. I have my abilities; and I'm actually okay at art but no Van Gogh, never will be. I'm wired the way I am.

Tom

sorry will have to agree with your wife. you are born with it. it jsut takes time for it to come out. that type of drive is not learned is coming from genetics. and some of use just dont use it that is all

Tell you're wife she's full of it

Humans can be trained. They adapt to situations. In life they evolve due to their circumstances.

I'm sure many entrepreneurs have been baptised in the fire of necessity. Job loss or a sudden inheritance of a business asset being examples.

Everyone can get better at what they do. If they want it bad enough, they'll get it done, no matter what the goal.

+1 For Your Wife....

Not everyone can run a business ....
You Either have that Entrepreneurial drive/skill or you don't....


Same could be said for ....

Of course humans can be trained (so can dogs,parrots,chimps etc by the way)
And we as a species are able to adapt very well
That still does not guarantee that every person on this planet can run a business successfully..

Straight out of the IM'ers bible of BS and self assurance...

First, you need to watch your language when you talk to your wife.

Secondly, you have lot to learn if you think that you can win an
argument with your wife.

Thirdly, your wife is right. You're born with the gift.

Now you need to go and apologize to your wife.

-Ray Edwards

I think this all depends on how you define "entreprenuer". Much has been written about this topic by many great economists, psychologists and sociologists. If you buy into the paradigm of entrepreneurship suggested by Joseph Schumpeter then your wife is correct in that it requires a very specific set of skills (Liam Neeson?) to become an entrepreneur as you will have to come up with an idea and innovate it through a process all the way to market. That process has a lot of prerequisite skills which will come easier to some people than others, therefore have been "born" as an entrepreneur.

On the flipside if you see entrepreneurship through the same view as Israel Kirzner then you are correct as in this paradigm the entrepreneur doesn't need to create anything new but instead noticed opportunity and leverages that opportunity in their favour. In that case you cannot be "born" as an entrepreneur as some people will be given opportunity while others won't. The actual innovation is done by someone else and the entrepreneur takes it to market.

I personally believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur but I also believe that some people have more entrepreneurial skills than others, just like some have better musical abilities and such. But just because it comes easier to some doesn't mean you are "born" as an entrepreneur. Anyone can do it, just with the right guidance.

I think anyone can learn the skill. Though saying all that I'm what one would consider to be a "born" one. Started first business as a child. Etc.

I would say that if you grow up in an entrepreneurial household it might feel more natural to strike out on your own than if you were raised by career types but the itch can hit anyone.

How can successful entrepreneurs be born without any help or self development. They still need action and smart mind to be successful. And how these action and smart mind develop is from the moment they born, how they are taught by the surrounding people.

What affect their thinking is the people around them that make them to be different kind of person.

Just my thinking.

I think your wife is right: Entrepreneurs are born not trained. You have to LIKE taking a risk; you have to like making decisions and living by them, right or wrong.

Running your own business and living by your wits is something entrepreneurs thrive on, but would keep non-entreprenurs awake at night. You can't be trained to enjoy that sort of tension - any more than you can learn to like Marmite if you hate it.

No one specialist born, only situations and experience make them specialist and success depends on the luck their might be more skilled and education people who are working under an un-skilled business owner.

Having the desire to do hard work is genetic, being an entrepreneur is not. There are a lot of "examples" you can follow to succeed, you don't have to reinvent the wheel...

This quote illustrates what i'm trying to say: "Being an entrepreneur is living a couple of years of your life like no one else wants, to live the rest of your life like no one else can..."

Same goes for sports people, many talented one's with seemingly natural born talent fail, just because they didn't have the drive to live like one.

Your wife is wrong imo.

Both you and your wife are correct.

Some success stories are the result of pure luck. It's just simple statistics that if you have a diverse group of people starting businesses, some of the meat heads are going to accidentally choose the right business and be at the right place at the right time and succeed. In those cases the only question is if they can rebuild what business trends destroy over time. Can they accentially catch lightning in a bottle twice? Probably not.

But forget about those cases of luck and give this a listen about where the truly successful come from.....

I tend to side with your wife, although you are also correct on some points. The main reason I think innate qualities are more of a determinant of entrepreneurial success is because of the supreme importance of personality traits.

It's not intelligence although there must be some threshold that more or less enables or allows success to happen. Related to intelligence is the ability to learn the necessary skills for business. Just about anyone can learn the skills; the kind necessary for doing business online, for example.

But it's the collective personality traits that either propel a person to succeed or, in most cases, result in either not trying or quitting before success happens. And this is true or applies to just about all other areas of endeavor; succeeding in the arts, writing on a higher level, sports at a higher level, politics, rising in the corporate management ranks and so on.

I'm the poster boy (hombre?) for the person lacking in critical personality traits for entrepreneurial success even though I've had numerous instances of the beginnings of that type of success. I could write a book about it.

The one thing I'm most proud of and can legitimately point my finger toward and smile is my tenacity. I'm not done, yet. I'm currently positioning myself to start an online business. I certainly have the knowledge and skills, and certain personality traits have blossomed. It's just that getting them nurtured so they can bloom required me to go through absolute hell. But I'm on the other side of hell and things are cool now.

Ken

I would just say "yeah, & I'm 1 of them"

Successful entrepreneurs are results of talents which developed with good habits from zero in many years.

So you CAN TOO!

Internet marketing is in the DNA

If your wife was right then 90% of entrepreneurs in the world would never be entrepreneurs.

don't you just nod and say yes dear

even without half a thought your idea about seizing opportunity and working toward achieving your goals makes more sense than ''oh, they must be born that way...''

No one is born to be a entrepreneur , you have to work hard and know what you want in life.

so to extend the argument, one might be able to say that a newborn baby could be a better business owner than a full grown adult if the baby was ''born with it'' and the adult was not.

it just doesn't work

business owners aren't even necessarily smart or intelligent. theres no threshold, everyone has skills at a different level and it takes work to grow those. some people are fortunate in time and place, some people leverage connections, some people hustle from the bottom up, etc.

each success story is different, but its not because they are born to be business owners, that's silly.

People are learners by nature, and adapt to the environment they're in.

I grew up in a home that stressed scholastic and that continued into my 20's as I pursued a degree in mechanical engineering. I was all set to begin my last year of education and head into a cushy job, punching the time clock each day. However, I decided that I didn't want to be a lemming so I broke free and discontinued my studies to pursue an entrepreneurial career in the health/nutrition industry and have been growing my business for sometime now.

My entrepreneurial success was not inherited nor was I born with it. No, through life experience I learned along the way.

Some people are 'naturally' born with business and people skills yes!

And some are naturally born leaders, yes!

And some are great with self discipline (more than the majority) yes!

But does this really mean that successful people are all born that way?

No that would be Bullshit with a capital B.

Why?

We as human beings are geared to 'stay away' or 'avoid' pain.

Those who succeed would have faced more pain if they decided to Quit pursuing their dreams.

Others who quit make the decision to do so because the pain of the 'learning curve' was greater than just 'settling' for their current circumstances and lifestyle.

Conclusion: Some of the most successful people in IM (and in generally speaking), have NOT been 'Born Entrepreneurs"!

Ummm you proved your wife's point. If you started young and always had an inclination for it...then you were born like that.

It's nature and nurture. But the short answer is that successful entrepreneurs are the result of virtuous circumstances and natural "talent".

Most people who are dirt poor...stay poor. Thems the breaks. Meritocracy and autocracy.

I don't think it is as cut and drued as that. Every single member of my family is self employed (father before he died, sister, brother, uncles) and of course me since 2002.

Success is subjective, but I guess it is some kind of drive we all share. But we all learned as we went along. Don't think it was anything we were born to.

What would qualify someone as a successful entrepreneur.

I dont agree! it all depends if you have that entrepreneurial drive and skill. So many successful entrepreneurs i know are rags to riches,kind of stories.

I think like this one:

I don't think anyone is pre-destined for stardom or failure.

Although I do believe our belief systems which are developed within our surroundings can have an impact, but still...

I think anything don't know can be learned and anything you've been taught can be unlearned.

It's just a matter of want and desire.

In the grand scheme of things, LIFE is about learning and unlearning.

Cheers!
-Pedro Lopes

I agree with the last post. A lot of perseverance has to happen before success is achieved particularly online. Some don't believe in luck but if you constantly try and try and try repeatedly, you definitely give yourself a greater chance of seeing some "luck" . But its not something a person is born to do.

From my experience, entrepreneurship is not for everybody.

I think entrepreneurs are just born with the ability to think out of the box, desire to better themselves all the time and overcome every obstacle along the way. But of course, everything can be learned if you want it bad enough.

Discrat should be given credit for being really brave considering the wife's opinion lol... A true hero if the discussion meant being on the sofa for a couple of days - to prove a valid point LMAO...

Saying that he's right......... I say that as every human being has the innate instinct for survival... I've been to countries where I've seen street kids speak multiple languages and really well considering the total lack of formal schooling only to make a buck... poor people buying and selling stuff and making deals on the streets etc in order to live another day... Deep down when push comes to shove most people have it... The instinct on how to survive... Imagine if there was no environmental situation to cause that then I am sure no action would be taken for most folks... So environmental factors are in my opinion are dominant.... it doesn't matter if you know a little about technology, IM or how to sell apples....

We as humans would never have evolved and adapted otherwise....

That said complacency is something else when you look at some folks... But that is because their are generally not in the s*** and are happy with what they got or just don't care.... Move them down the "maslow hierarchy of needs" to the poverty line or below and I guarantee you'll see something else... entrepreneurs coming out of the wood works... In fact in times of economic depression is when you see the best of new entrepreneurs leading the charge...

The entrepreneurial spirit to advance, improve one's lives is with of out a doubt is with most humans when push to comes to shove... as mentioned it relates to complacency to accept or fight to improve one's situation.... and tolerance levels...................

Suffice to say that's my opinion.... We can all be who we want to be.... and shouldn't that be the right thing we tell our kids??? Teach them motivation, aspirations and so forth and encourage them and you'll see ;-)

In the second sentence you are proving your wife is right or maybe you wanted to give a little background about yourself.

I think people are born with certain talents and some just decide to work harder to achieve similar talents.

For instance I heard of people losing their main source of income and they come across IM and become very successful, does that mean it was innate all along or survival mode?

I think everyone can be ENTREPRENEUR and be succeed.
Hard working is important!

wow robert you are right your wife is wrong.


I ADD . They work smart too.levereage from other people

Effort, hard work, and drive. That's it.

There are plenty of people who are born with all kinds of gifts, who take a few stabs at entrepreneurship and fail.

There are some others who are pretty average all-around. But who have more than average drive and who simply won't stop until they succeed.

There is more to the actual process, of course. But as far as the only essential factor, it's not a case of being born an entrepreneur (or an artist, musician, etc. for that matter).

Effort, hard work, and drive. That's it.

I think she's right.

I know several people who just don't understand the concept of making money from home. They feel that's it's a risk.. Of course it is, but they seem to want the comfort of working for someone else. These type of people are not suited for IM or being business owners because they don't have the desire to make something for themselves.

It is absolutely ludicrous to believe that anyone is born with the skills required to become an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial skills are attained and can be taught. No one is born with business skills. It's laughable to even suggest such a thing.

I think it could go either way. I was probably "born" to be an entrepreneur - I love working on project-to-project basis, get bored doing the same thing too long, and am not risk-averse. Entrepreneurship & freelancing is a perfect fit for me.

My husband, on the other hand, is NOT a "natural-born entrepreneur". But he said something to me a couple months ago, just as he was beginning his entrepreneurial journey. He was in the freaking MILITARY for goodness' sake! Everybody always said that the military was "stable", and he's always been a fan of stability. But with downsizing, even "stable" careers like the military aren't stable anymore. And he said, "These days, it looks like the only way to have stability is to make it yourself." For him, he had to be PUSHED. He eventually came to the realization that the only way to really have job security and a stable income is to work for yourself, and to realize that entrepreneurship or freelancing is (in a lot of ways) more stable than working for a company. When you work for others, you're interchangeable. You're replaceable.

Your wife is pretty much correct.