Monday, February 8, 2010

What motivates an entrepreneur ?

One of the toughest questions Private Equiteers deal with is the art of fathoming the motivation behind entrepreneur - is it money, fame, self-fulfilment of driving to fruition an idea or the genuine drive to make a difference to the society ?

The piece I read recently, What motivates an entrepreneur ? is a pointer to some of this. It is a little dated but I presume nothing much else has changed. A majority of people seem to cherish the autonomy of being one's own boss (Is that a good thing for a private equity fund ? How much space will such a person be willing to secede for other's ideas).

One of the most important questions we need to pore our heads over is the resilience and dedication of the entrepreneur to the cause at hand. If times go sour, will the person be willing to stick on and improvise on the business ? Or is he a fairweather merry maker who likes the sheer thrill of doing something new all the time and has no qualms shutting the door if the going is not good enough ? Is he going to be happy seeing his face on the cover story of a business magazine or pink daily or is the latest new sedan going to give him the highs ? Or is it the thrill of being acknowledged by his social coterie about his achievements ?

Often, a lot of entrepreneurs I have met are not so much motivated by money (especially in an Indian context where ostentatious display of wealth is still not taken very well by the society) but more by self-fulfilment (whether it be desire to make a difference to society or to prove oneself that one can do it). If you cannot get this pulse right and touch the right nerve, no amount of external pressure or coaxing/cajoling is going to make the entrepreneur come out of his shell and look beyond the obvious.

Surely tougher than it sounds, is'nt it ?


~Varadha
(varadha.r1@gmail.com)

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