Entrepreneur is a term we hear every day. However, few people know what it means, and those that do usually confuse it with a business person. A successful entrepreneur converts opportunities into commercially feasible ventures while taking more risks than usual.
Entrepreneurs, however, are not all alike. In addition to the 580 million entrepreneurs worldwide, some people tend to start more than one business during their lifetime. This article is about serial entrepreneurs who launch many companies while taking much more significant risks than the average entrepreneur.
Did You Know? Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs, who was pushed out in 1985, was perhaps the most famous serial entrepreneur. Serial entrepreneur could be someone who likes innovation and loves to handle more than one business idea at the same time.
What does a Serial Entrepreneur Mean?
A serial entrepreneur is someone who starts more than one business at a time. Alternatively, they might delegate leadership roles to others, selling or stepping back from a company before beginning another. In addition to starting their businesses, they invest in or are involved with other early-stage start-ups that appeal to them.
This type of entrepreneur is good at spotting new business opportunities and creating a vision for a business. In addition to product conception, team building, and attracting investors, they are most interested in the early stages of a company.
Serial entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes. Many serial entrepreneurs work in several unrelated fields at the same time.
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Multi-Business Entrepreneurship: How Do They Manage?
A serial entrepreneur hires a staff responsible for running the specific business venture once the venture begins to do well. As a result, each of their business companies will be able to receive enough attention and focus.
Now, the question you may have is, when someone is doing so well with their current project, why would they consider starting something new from scratch? That's what makes them serial entrepreneurs. As soon as they come up with a new idea, they want to try it out and see if it works. This will allow them to try out their new concept on the market and give them more exposure to improve their multitasking and creative skills.
Of course, who doesn't enjoy building something new and making some money out of it?
You don't have to start your business on your own to be a serial entrepreneur. You could also partner with someone on a business idea. It could also mean you are introducing multiple products in the market under the same venture name.
A serial entrepreneur likes entrepreneurship and wants to handle multiple business ideas simultaneously (whether they are new products, new services, or a new division of an existing company).
Characteristics of a Serial Entrepreneur
The serial entrepreneur stands out, whether on a personal or professional level. Optimistic, risk-taking, and long-term-oriented, they enjoy taking risks. A serial entrepreneur possesses the following characteristics -
1. Great Managers
By setting concrete goals and managing their time well, serial entrepreneurs avoid the risk and hassle of managing multiple ventures at once. They prioritise and work on the most significant bits first, then move on to the less important ones.
2. Risk Takers
A serial entrepreneur is a mega risk-taker. Multi-venture companies run a greater risk of losing money. New projects can sometimes interfere with existing ones.
3. Great Visions
Walking think tanks are what serial entrepreneurs are. In most cases, they are on the cutting edge of things, regularly helping to churn out successful ideas and projects. Serial entrepreneurs rarely dwell on their past but instead focus on what lies ahead. Their minds constantly search for ideas and ways to start their next venture.
4. Excellent Team Players
Many serial entrepreneurs work alone or in tandem with one another. Nevertheless, they are all good at managing people (if not at the start, they become influential leaders soon after). To grow multiple businesses, you must be able to lead and organise yourself as well as a team. Creating a new venture requires serial entrepreneurs to find, lead, and assign the right roles to the right people. If they don't do so, their company will fall.
5. Multi-Taskers
A serial entrepreneur is usually a creative multi-tasker who can juggle many operations, goals, and projects simultaneously or on short notice. Additionally, serial entrepreneurs have the solid discipline to avoid letting their multitasking negatively affect the state of affairs. To bring their ideas to life, they are willing to do whatever it takes to make them a reality.
6. Making Money is Not Their Interest
Instead of focusing more on monetary goals, serial entrepreneurs tend to develop newer ideas and bring them to life. Despite the importance of financial success for any business, serial entrepreneurs do not make it their primary objective. Instead, they want to get a team together and carry out their ideas. The thrill of starting and running a successful business motivates serial entrepreneurs.
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Examples of Serial Entrepreneurs
Below listed entrepreneurs are some examples of serial entrepreneurs.
1. Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is one of the most successful serial entrepreneurs, making him one of the world's wealthiest person. Musk's first venture into entrepreneurship was Zip2, an online business directory like Yellow Pages. In addition to these early successes, Musk founded or invested in companies such as Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and The Boring Company.
2. Somdutta Singh
Somdutta Singh, a women entrepreneur from Kolkata, founded Assiduus Global Inc in 2018, an AI-driven cross-border eCommerce accelerator. Assiduus Global Inc helps direct-to-consumer brands expand across eCommerce platforms and geographies through digital commerce with the help of end-to-end distribution and supply chain management.
She previously ran D2C private labels like Amplicall, The Real Boss Lady Beauty, Biotevia, and Irotica. She launched her first start-up in 2013 - Unspun Group - before Assiduus.
3.Josh Kopelman
Josh has founded Half.Com during 1999 and led it to become the largest seller for used books, movies and music in the world. The company was acquired by ebay in 2000. Josh is a founding Partner at First Round Capital, a seed-stage technology venture fund. Josh has been an active entrepreneur and investor in the Internet industry since its commercialization.
4. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a famous American philanthropist, entrepreneur and is recognised for award-winning talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show” where her career started as a local TV anchor. During 1986, she established Harpo Productions, Inc., that owned rights to “The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1988 establishing the foundation of her entrepreneurial ventures.
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How To Become a Serial Entrepreneur?
When you read about them, successful entrepreneurs may seem rare and out of reach, but 11% of self-employed individuals are serial entrepreneurs.
1. Identify Your Strength
Serial entrepreneurs have one trait in common: inner strength. Despite setbacks, they keep aiming high. Inner strength comes from a deep, unstoppable belief that your dreams deserve to be achieved. Examining and overcoming your limiting beliefs can help you develop inner strength.
2. Develop a Growth Mindset
Growth mindsets believe that change is possible. A serial entrepreneur can see problems as potential and find opportunities in every failure.
3. Enhance Your Creativity
Creativity is often considered innate or limited to specific skills, such as painting, writing, music, etc. Neither of these beliefs is true. Creativity is an essential part of leadership to be successful as a serial entrepreneur. Innovating across multiple companies requires endless imagination. You can develop it even if you don't believe you're creative.
4. Commit To ‘I Can’
Serial entrepreneurs must be agile and able to adapt quickly. Their customers' needs are very important to them. They can leave behind a declining industry without any worries. It's common knowledge among serial entrepreneurs that if you do what you've always done, you'll get the results you've constantly obtained. In a way, most of us can only dream of; they strive for continuous and never-ending improvement.
Earnings of Serial Entrepreneurs
US serial entrepreneurs earn an average annual base salary of $64,686, and the majority earn between $54k and $76/year. A serial entrepreneur's salary can range from zero to millions.
Many entrepreneurs reinvest profits back into their businesses rather than take salaries during the early stages. Apple's founder, Steve Jobs, earned just $1/year as Apple's CEO from 1997 to 2011. He succeeded in his strategy.
In the case of India, some earn as much as an estimated $100 million or ₹800 crores. Entrepreneurs are compensated in ways other than salary in other cases. For example, they can earn money through dividends off their company stock.
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Conclusion:
In conclusion, serial entrepreneurs are very enthusiastic about their business ideas and, therefore, make the efforts to make their idea successful. It is not easy to set up a successful business. Making it reach its full potential requires teamwork and hard work. One needs to be confident about your abilities if you want to experiment with a new business idea. Uncertainty prevents you from starting something.
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