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- 2013-11-04 19:19:59
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Opinion
There is a spirit that is haunting AUBG – the spirit of entrepreneurship. New events have popped up that deal with entrepreneurship – competitions, presentations, discussions between students, AUBG-started companies and so much more. Wfe might even see our own investment fund that will invest in us. So that’s one of the reason why one cannot shut my mouth up when the word entrepreneurship is mentioned in my presence.
Recently, I barely talk about anything else. Maybe it’s because I found what I want to do with my life, maybe it’s because I deeply and unshakably believe that entrepreneurship is the key to fixing Bulgaria (substitute it with every other heavily represented country at AUBG, be it Albania, Georgia, Russia, etc). By fixing, I mainly mean restoring optimism and belief in a brighter future. I am not talking that much about politics, economics and so on. The latter two are an aftermath of a successful, active and optimistic civil society.
But why entrepreneurship exactly? Enter-new-opportunities – that’s how I interpret this word. New opportunities don’t have to be specifically business-oriented. Every new family is an act of entrepreneurship; going to a specific school is an act of entrepreneurship; learning to ski is also an act of entrepreneurship. You have been given an opportunity to do something that you believe is beneficial and then you do it. You venture into unexplored territory and improve yourself based on that experience. If it is a mistake – you’re still better off because of the lesson learned. All these individual improvements lead to a massive improvement in a society’s productivity, mindset and, most importantly, outlook. When you do something not for immediate gratification, but for some future reward you are much more likely to persevere and pursue your target.
People have a vision, an idea of where they want to be after a period of time and devote their energies to getting there. There is nothing more powerful than seeing dedicated individuals pursuing their goals to the extent of making their specific desires a reality. It is empowering for you as well. You see that success is achievable. And when seven million (substitute for your own population) people see that success is achievable, this society becomes an avalanche of hard-working, ambitious and passionate individuals that want to get stuff done. Suddenly, you become the embodiment of success and everyone is better off. It really is amazing!
Let’s also not forget that being an entrepreneur is really cool – you end up on the cover of magazines, you make a lot of money, you get to talk in front of people, but most importantly, you make your society better.
But if it’s so cool and amazing to be entrepreneur why so few people actually do it?
My very humble experience has showed me several crucial factors why people discourage THEMSELVES to become entrepreneurs, be it business or not, and pursue self-improvement. One that I faced recently was discouragement from my peers and environment. The remarks made about me ranged from me being a madman to being not capable enough of doing anything. It is scary. They all expect you to fail, most probably you will fail in the beginning. You prove them right, so they gather more encouragement to discourage you further. This mindset is common in most of our societies, especially in the older part of the population. I am not going into details of why that is, but it is a fact and is a major obstacle for beginning entrepreneurs.
A second obstacle is fear from success. “What if I make it and can’t handle the spotlight?” Challenging yourself and setting a standard that is very high is a scary, scary thing. Again, because failure is inevitable, you will never be able to achieve 100 per cent of the goals that you have set in front of you. Failure is painful and shameful. You’ll question yourself, beat yourself down and quit. Also, it is much easier to forsake all your dreams and desires and stay the way you are. Comfort zone is what they call it, and it’s a tough job to get out of it and stay out of it. However, you gotta show to yourself that you’re a different creature than what you were a minute ago. Because you’re meant for greatness. Because if you ain’t pissed off for greatness that means you’re okay with being mediocre. And nobody should be okay with that.
Another obstacle is what I am facing right now with my own company. Real life is a harsh, merciless place. No textbook stuff really applies to entrepreneurs. My beliefs that all it takes for success is an idea and a good team are also irrevocably shattered. Five per cent of entrepreneurship is a great idea, whiteboard strategics, research, competitive analysis and all the other library stuff. The remaining 95 per cent is the hard work that nobody sees and nobody hears about. So, when you get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, nobody will know about it, only you. That's the toughest thing to do - to make it happen when nobody is watching. An entrepreneur spends his time climbing up out of the gutter for 30 days in order to have one sunny day. This single sunny day motivates him or her to continue on the chosen path and go through hardship over and over again till more sunny days come.
Despite all those hardships, we are becoming entrepreneurs. By “we,” I mean all the people born after the fall of communism or these people who spent very few years living it. We are born free, with a daring, courageous mindset. We have traveled and we have experienced different cultures and lifestyles. We openly refuse to be treated badly, to deal with corruption, to bribe. We are driven to make our country a better place – we’re nationalists, but in a good way. So, go out there and chase your dreams whatever they might be. Just don’t let the naysayers stop you. Build, improve, learn, repeat. You are who you are as an entrepreneur, even if you do not consider yourself as one.
P.S. Your feedback on this article is greatly appreciated. You can e-mail me at tdd100 for any questions, concerns, whether you agree, disagree. I’d be extremely glad to engage in such a discussion.
Contributing author : Teodor Dimitrov
Recently, I barely talk about anything else. Maybe it’s because I found what I want to do with my life, maybe it’s because I deeply and unshakably believe that entrepreneurship is the key to fixing Bulgaria (substitute it with every other heavily represented country at AUBG, be it Albania, Georgia, Russia, etc). By fixing, I mainly mean restoring optimism and belief in a brighter future. I am not talking that much about politics, economics and so on. The latter two are an aftermath of a successful, active and optimistic civil society.
But why entrepreneurship exactly? Enter-new-opportunities – that’s how I interpret this word. New opportunities don’t have to be specifically business-oriented. Every new family is an act of entrepreneurship; going to a specific school is an act of entrepreneurship; learning to ski is also an act of entrepreneurship. You have been given an opportunity to do something that you believe is beneficial and then you do it. You venture into unexplored territory and improve yourself based on that experience. If it is a mistake – you’re still better off because of the lesson learned. All these individual improvements lead to a massive improvement in a society’s productivity, mindset and, most importantly, outlook. When you do something not for immediate gratification, but for some future reward you are much more likely to persevere and pursue your target.
People have a vision, an idea of where they want to be after a period of time and devote their energies to getting there. There is nothing more powerful than seeing dedicated individuals pursuing their goals to the extent of making their specific desires a reality. It is empowering for you as well. You see that success is achievable. And when seven million (substitute for your own population) people see that success is achievable, this society becomes an avalanche of hard-working, ambitious and passionate individuals that want to get stuff done. Suddenly, you become the embodiment of success and everyone is better off. It really is amazing!
Let’s also not forget that being an entrepreneur is really cool – you end up on the cover of magazines, you make a lot of money, you get to talk in front of people, but most importantly, you make your society better.
But if it’s so cool and amazing to be entrepreneur why so few people actually do it?
My very humble experience has showed me several crucial factors why people discourage THEMSELVES to become entrepreneurs, be it business or not, and pursue self-improvement. One that I faced recently was discouragement from my peers and environment. The remarks made about me ranged from me being a madman to being not capable enough of doing anything. It is scary. They all expect you to fail, most probably you will fail in the beginning. You prove them right, so they gather more encouragement to discourage you further. This mindset is common in most of our societies, especially in the older part of the population. I am not going into details of why that is, but it is a fact and is a major obstacle for beginning entrepreneurs.
A second obstacle is fear from success. “What if I make it and can’t handle the spotlight?” Challenging yourself and setting a standard that is very high is a scary, scary thing. Again, because failure is inevitable, you will never be able to achieve 100 per cent of the goals that you have set in front of you. Failure is painful and shameful. You’ll question yourself, beat yourself down and quit. Also, it is much easier to forsake all your dreams and desires and stay the way you are. Comfort zone is what they call it, and it’s a tough job to get out of it and stay out of it. However, you gotta show to yourself that you’re a different creature than what you were a minute ago. Because you’re meant for greatness. Because if you ain’t pissed off for greatness that means you’re okay with being mediocre. And nobody should be okay with that.
Another obstacle is what I am facing right now with my own company. Real life is a harsh, merciless place. No textbook stuff really applies to entrepreneurs. My beliefs that all it takes for success is an idea and a good team are also irrevocably shattered. Five per cent of entrepreneurship is a great idea, whiteboard strategics, research, competitive analysis and all the other library stuff. The remaining 95 per cent is the hard work that nobody sees and nobody hears about. So, when you get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, nobody will know about it, only you. That's the toughest thing to do - to make it happen when nobody is watching. An entrepreneur spends his time climbing up out of the gutter for 30 days in order to have one sunny day. This single sunny day motivates him or her to continue on the chosen path and go through hardship over and over again till more sunny days come.
Despite all those hardships, we are becoming entrepreneurs. By “we,” I mean all the people born after the fall of communism or these people who spent very few years living it. We are born free, with a daring, courageous mindset. We have traveled and we have experienced different cultures and lifestyles. We openly refuse to be treated badly, to deal with corruption, to bribe. We are driven to make our country a better place – we’re nationalists, but in a good way. So, go out there and chase your dreams whatever they might be. Just don’t let the naysayers stop you. Build, improve, learn, repeat. You are who you are as an entrepreneur, even if you do not consider yourself as one.
P.S. Your feedback on this article is greatly appreciated. You can e-mail me at tdd100 for any questions, concerns, whether you agree, disagree. I’d be extremely glad to engage in such a discussion.
Contributing author : Teodor Dimitrov