By Aditri Gadigi ('23)
Being an entrepreneur means experiencing failures, dead ends, and sleepless nights. But, it also means gaining a sense of success and pride that can’t be found anywhere else.
Mr. Neel Sinha, the founder of N factor, a marketing and business consulting company, and the founder of MyLoc, a website that makes it easy to share locations, defined an entrepreneur as “someone with passion who wants to start on a journey.”
Formally, an entrepreneur is a person who operates his or her own business. They are their own managers and bosses. According to Sinha, while this may sound appealing this is one of his biggest challenges as an entrepreneur.
He said, “...The reason and desire to work is all mine. Nobody tells me to get up in the morning, nobody calls me to work, nobody tells me that this is not the time to waste my time…”
The flexibility of entrepreneurship means entrepreneurs can choose their work hours and just how much they want to put into their job. However, most entrepreneurs, like Sinha, work every chance they get.
Being an entrepreneur requires serious dedication and perseverance. But above all this, as Mr. Sinha notes, is passion. Without passion, there is no drive or motivation to overcome the hurdles or roadblocks that will inevitably occur.
With these challenges, some advantages come with being an entrepreneur.
Careertrend.com mentions that a degree is not at all required. As someone who works for themselves, the education path is completely up to the entrepreneur.
This article also explains that, while a degree is not required, the most common degree among entrepreneurs is a bachelor’s in business. As stated in collegetuitoncompare.com, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the many schools that offer this degree, with the average price being $57,713 annually.
Fox Business News shows that the average entrepreneur earns $72,000 as an annual salary. However, because the success of the company depends on the entrepreneur, the salary varies significantly. Salaries can even reach millions if companies produce high profits.
Being an entrepreneur requires leadership skills, communication skills, decision-making skills, and social skills. Mr. Sinha considers communication to be the most important.
He said, “You will continuously meet new people, whether to hire new talent or join with business partners.”
These skills are needed to plan and direct business, set goals and lead others. Careertrend.com discusses that responsibilities in entrepreneurship include making financial decisions and having time management skills.
According to bls.gov, the projected job growth rate for top executives within the next decade will be 5% and there will be an employment change of 150,600.
In short, entrepreneurship is a path for leaders who are hard-working and determined. With this, however, certain qualities, including passion, are required to be successful.