Separating truth from fiction can be difficult, but Georgina Peters has given eight essential truths extracted from her entrepreneurial encounters and experiences. This was first published in Business Strategy Review, Volume 25, Issue 2 - 2014. Subscribe today to receive your quarterly copy delivered to your home or work place. http://bit.ly/BSR-subscribe

1. © Copyright 2014 London Business School
Eight
entrepreneurial
truths

2. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 2
Separating truth from fiction can be difficult,
but Georgina Peters has given eight essential
truths extracted from her entrepreneurial
encounters and experiences.

3. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 3
Not everyone who says they are an entrepreneur is one.
Being an entrepreneur is not an occasional indulgence or distraction. It is
more fundamental – something in your bloodstream. To real
entrepreneurs, being an entrepreneur is something they are, rather than
something they merely do.
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4. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 4
Entrepreneurs are turned on by businesses that work –
they’re not slaves to a big idea.
We all have ideas for new businesses. What separates entrepreneurs
from the millions of people with bright ideas is their willingness to make
the idea a reality. Ideas are cheap; turning them into something viable
and robust is much more demanding.
2

5. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 5
Entrepreneurs exhibit pure ambition.
Entrepreneurs see success in terms of changing the world or altering the
marketplace. They want to make the world a better place and tend not
to talk about money as a motivator.
Instead it is a necessary commercial lubricant rather than a vital life force.
3

6. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 6
Entrepreneurs fix things.
Entrepreneurs are natural-born problem solvers. Many in
the corporate world remain problem creators with the IT
department on speed dial.
4

7. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 7
Entrepreneurs are comfortable with their own
inadequacies and limitations.
Running your own business, it becomes pretty clear pretty quickly
what you can and can’t do, what you should and should not do. You
often have to speedily develop new skills (such as fixing computers,
accounting, salesmanship, graphic design and much more).
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8. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 8
Entrepreneurs are adept at enlisting others to fill
the gap.
Being able to beg and borrow is an essential entrepreneurial skill,
yet one sadly neglected in the big corporate world. Having the
cheek, the contacts book and the lateral thinking to connect with
people who can and will help is entrepreneurially vital.
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9. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 9
Entrepreneurs are opinionated but not egotistical.
Entrepreneurs are good company. They have views and are generally
happy to share them. They have an enthusiasm for simplification
rather than over complication, which lends itself to holding and
expressing opinions. Entrepreneurs are not saints, but they tend to
be interesting.
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10. BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW 10
Entrepreneurs cannot save the world alone.
The skills required to scale a business, to really scale a business, tend
not to be those of entrepreneurs. The crucial one of these is
managing people. For many entrepreneurs, managing people is the
biggest nightmare. They got into business to change the world, not to
deal with the motivational travails, emotions and peccadilloes of
feckless employees. The very word employee makes them
uncomfortable. Who, after all, would want to be an employee when
you could be an entrepreneur?
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11. This was first published in
Business Strategy Review
Volume 25 Issue 2 2014
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