Are Entrepreneurs Made or Born?
My daughter started making jewelry for family members as a hobby this summer. Before I knew it, she had opened an Etsy store and started tracking her expenses and revenue on a spreadsheet. She made some changes to her store and tracked the resulting increase in views. She has been researching what makes for a successful store and getting ideas off the internet. She has been involved in social networking and posting pictures on Instagram for her over 3000 followers.
She has done this all on her own and really seems to be doing relatively well without input from anyone. She made 2 sales in November and already has 2 in December with a goal for making another four. She has been on college break for the past week and has been adding to her inventory for sale. And despite the fact that her expenses for supplies have exceeded her revenue, she is optimistic that she will make a profit since she has enough stock to make a lot more jewelry.
Which all begs the question — Are Entrepreneurs Made or Born?
Honestly, I don’t really have the answer. I am sure that there are many entrepreneurs that come by their skills naturally while others have been able to learn and refine their skills through intentional development and education.
I do know that she has watched me purchase rental houses throughout the years, and I have explained a lot about economics, building businesses, expenses, revenues, profits and losses on long drives in the car. I have also explained the concept of inflation, supply, and demand. So do these discussions have a role or is the fact that I am interested in these topics mean that there is some genetic component. I really don’t know. I suspect there might be a little contribution from both.
What I do know is that all the mental gymnastics and planning don’t mean a thing until you actually get out and do something. I also know that virtually every successful entrepreneur has multiple failures and struggles in the early years that we seem to forget when looking at their successes.
Needless to say, I am really proud of her getting out their and doing and learning on the go rather than sitting back and just thinking about doing it.
So if you want to check out Kayla’s Etsy store, you can do so. Plus, if you order something type in GRAND as a coupon code when checking out and you can get free shipping.
What are your thoughts about entrepreneurship? Do you think it runs in families? Is there more of a genetic component or environmental influence at work? Do you know of any good studies?
I think it is a combination! Her exposure to what you have done doesn’t hurt. Parents influence their children by what they do much more than what they say.
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Kids certainly learn more by what they observe. It probably is a combination of genetics and environment.
I think she picked it up from you. Congrats with such an adventurous child!
Obviously environment and experience she absorb from you made all the difference. Regardless whether there is a future in jewelery or not it will be exciting and boost her confidence in new start-ups!
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Thanks. I am impressed with the amount of work that she has done on her own. I think she likes the idea of creating something out of scratch and watching it grow.
It’s a tough question to answer. It seems to me that the desire to be a free-spirit (an entrepreneur) might be innate. However, the ability to execute a business can definitely be learned.
I’ve had many businesses over the years, starting as young as 16 and I’ve definitely learned a great deal about business from school and experience.
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I have no doubt that some abilities are innate, but these can be enhanced and upgraded through training. I would wonder how much of entrepreneurship could be taught given no innate ability. Do most of us have something already and don’t recognize or develop it? I don’t have a complete answer to that question.
In my experience entrepreneurship tends to run in families. I don’t think it is anything genetic, but rather by seeing examples of entrepreneurs close to home and growing up around that mindset one is just more likely to go down that road themselves.
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I certainly think that the environmental element and exposure plays a big role. Look at all the families of football players, race car drivers, lawyers, doctors, politicians, etc. It is easy to pursue something familiar that you saw growing up.
I think it’s a combination of both. If you belong to a family of entrepreneurs, you are exposed to this type of environment hence your inclination is towards starting up your own business someday.
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I do think that there is some contribution from both nature and nurture.