Turning risk into opportunity

Entrepreneurism is a way of thinking that can be applied to all avenues in life. It is a way of looking at the world, a mindset that is shaped and enriched by experience. It is the uncanny ability to turn every risk into opportunity. If an entrepreneur wants to build a thriving business, he must look beyond today's certainties into tomorrow's uncertainties. He must be able to hazard what is going to happen next and place himself in a position to take advantage of it.

There is a cliché that entrepreneurs are born, and not made. This is both true and false. There are some personality traits that are common to the majority of entrepreneurs, such as self-confidence, spirit of adventure, optimism, and energy; a clear vision about the future, and a capacity to shoulder enormous responsibility.

Comprehensive roadmap

Conversely, the globalised economy today presents innumerable opportunities to all types of people to understand and employ the entrepreneurial instinct in them. Many more people today are touched by enterprise than was the case, say, a few decades ago. Today's entrepreneur does not have to be like the nineteenth-century explorer, heading off into an unknown territory without a map.

There is enough resource by way of rich experience duly detailed and documented in the form of management literature along with empirical case-studies, which provides a comprehensive roadmap to the budding entrepreneur. It describes the qualities and skills of those who have earlier travelled through it successfully. It explains the principles that will enable the new and the novice to negotiate the pathway properly and profitably.

Good entrepreneurs know that the foundations they lay down determine the size of the edifice. If they build in a modular manner, they can add as they go along. But if they start by pitching a tent on the site, they cannot build on it at all. Building a successful business is not easy. It will take several years. It will demand close and constant attention to every detail.

Many people choose to fly by the seat of their pants. While they are seduced by the magnitude of the prospective reward tomorrow, they lack the courage and conviction necessary to make a success of their venture today. By contrast, good entrepreneurs know what is realistic in a situation. They understand the difference between risk and uncertainty. They have the know-how to turn every risk into an opportunity.

Do not fear failure

While the word “risk” has the connotation of danger, “uncertainty” is only indicative of insufficient knowledge to be able to forecast the firm outcome of an event. In the context of entrepreneurship, it is more constructive to talk about uncertainty than to talk about risk, if only because the word risk seems to provoke a needless and negative emotional reaction.

While uncertainty and opportunity go together, risk and imminence of failure look like close cousins. Good entrepreneurs do not fear failure. They realise that “failures are the stepping stones to success”.

There are some other characteristic features that good entrepreneurs usually manifest. They are good leaders. They have an inspiring vision. They are able to attract people and win their loyalty. They have an insatiable drive to succeed, towards which they take extraordinary efforts and keep persevering until they achieve their goals.

(The author is a Chennai-based management consultant.)

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