Rethinking the entrepreneur

Many of us likely have a very specific vision of an entrepreneur: young, male, probably a computer or business genius, creating something that has never even been thought of before.

Some think entrepreneurs are those who receive multimillion-dollar investments from Silicon Valley. The reality is, of course, much different.

An entrepreneur is simply someone willing to take the risk to start something on their own. Entrepreneurs may innovate and grow faster than more-established businesses not only because they can, but often because they must.

Sadly, many of our community’s most innovative business leaders don’t even recognize themselves as entrepreneurs. If we are going to support entrepreneurship and all it does to benefit our community, we are going to have to correct these common misperceptions.

I’m amazed at the number of people who have started their own business, but don’t consider themselves entrepreneurs. They think of themselves as architects, accountants, plumbers, designers, restaurateurs or whatever their “profession,” but fail to credit themselves for their business leadership.

That’s what makes an entrepreneur: the self-determinism that moves them forward. That same spirit helps build our local economy one job, one purchase, one building, one investment at a time.

So how do we build a community that supports such a diverse collection of businesses and individuals? Luckily, we already have a strong start.

There is an entire ecosystem of people and organizations that support entrepreneurs: volunteers, businesses, government groups, universities, nonprofits and private citizens. This ecosystem offers experience, specialized expertise, funding and other support, but entrepreneurs need to realize these services are here for them.

We’ve said it before here at e2e: We love to make introductions. We love to connect entrepreneurs with the resources that are out in our community.

We also like to help people realize that they are entrepreneurs, that they are helping build our economy, and that they can benefit from the support systems that exist, but they may need to take the first step and reach out.

They need to know they are entrepreneurs, no matter who else they may be.

There are several exciting new initiatives forming in 2017 to help us all reform our image of an entrepreneur. One group taking positive steps in that direction is the newly formed WeKan-Women Entrepreneurs of Kansas.

WeKan was started by Marquetta Atkins, and a group of like-minded women, early this year with the goal of women supporting other women as current and future entrepreneurs.

There are certainly other important women’s groups in Wichita that provide support and mentorship, but WeKan takes a slightly different approach. WeKan wants women to realize that they are entrepreneurs, even if they may think about their paths a little differently than their male counterparts.

Powerful things are happening in our entrepreneurial ecosystem. The key is that no one gets left behind because their own or someone else’s image of an entrepreneur somehow excludes them from taking part.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Rethinking the entrepreneur."