Being An Entrepreneur Is More Than Coming Up With Ideas

I have always been an entrepreneurial person, my head brimming with millions of ideas and thoughts, every time I've encountered a problem my first thought was: could I do better? Not, gee I wish someone else would fix this issue for me.

This is what separates a normal thinker from an entrepreneurial-minded person. Entrepreneurs see problems as a challenge, not a roadblock. Have you ever stood in line at the post office and thought there has to be a better way than spending an hour waiting to buy a stamp? Or struggle to find time to eat healthy after working long hours at work?

Ideas are worthless

Everyone has ideas. Ask the person serving by behind the McDonald's counter if they've got any ideas, ask your grandparents if they have any ideas or parents, everyone has ideas.

The difference between an entrepreneur and a non-entrepreneur is whether or not you try acting upon those random thoughts of creativity and ideas. Acknowledging that you'll most likely fail more than you will succeed, not being deterred when you get knocked down, not letting lack of time or money be a hindrance.

Entrepreneurs always find a way

Have an app idea and can't code? Barter the skills you do have with someone that can code, skill swapping is a great way to get someone to do work for you without exchanging money. Need to convince someone to invest in your idea but you don't have a product built? Create some static mockups and use hotspots to link them up, A/B test and get early feedback. If there is one thing people love doing, it's giving away free feedback.

Being entrepreneurial doesn't mean you have to endure financial stress

You hear stories of founders maxing out credit cards, borrowing from friends and family, eating two-minute noodles and being sleep deprived pulling 20 hour days to build their dream. I disagree that you need to sacrifice financial security and your health for entrepreneurism.

With a little planning (especially if you've got dependents/family), you can slowly realise a dream without going "all in" and potentially losing everything, especially considering the odds of succeeding are quite low.

Remember to have fun or you'll just burn yourself out. Once you extinguish that entrepreneur flame, it's hard to reignite it again.