The multiple facets of an entrepreneur

We are all aware that entrepreneurs come from a variety of backgrounds and are of varying age, race, and gender.

All we have to do is look around our community to see an incredibly diverse population of innovators taking on their own ventures. Each will face their own unique set of challenges, opportunities, setbacks, and victories, but they do have many things in common.

One thing I think is commonly overlooked is the amazingly diverse set of skills that every entrepreneur must possess or access to become successful.

Each entrepreneur begins with a remarkable idea that can be something very simple or truly cutting edge. They have a vision that they believe is worth pursuing and worth putting in the time and effort to capitalize on, but that is really only the beginning.

What happens when the prototype is done? The doors are open? The first version is launched? So much work and passion go into getting to that point, so much planning and mental struggle is required, that it’s easy to overlook the monumental day-to-day effort that must go into building a business from that point.

Some challenges will be specific to their industry: finding the right manufacturer for your product, staying ahead of technological changes and advances, selecting the right equipment. Still other challenges are universal: managing the books, putting together and keeping together the right team, marketing your product to the right customers.

It’s a daunting task for any individual, and for most entrepreneurs all these things must be accomplished on a short time frame and with extremely limited funds. Most of the time there is no safety net. So how does an entrepreneur successfully manage all these necessary tasks?

Some are lucky enough to have a partner, who brings in a secondary skill set, others get the early opportunity to put together a team, but many still end up doing a lot of it on their own.

No one can be an expert in all of these areas and keep ahead of everything that may come up or keep all aspects at the forefront their mind all the time.

In my mind this is what makes an entrepreneurial ecosystem so key to the success of entrepreneurs. A strong ecosystem can offer so much: active mentors offering insight and advice, the chance to discuss with other entrepreneurs the way they handled the challenges, networking opportunities to meet the right people to bring on board and work with, classes to help you supplement the skills that are not your strengths, and the people who are there along the way so that you can bounce ideas off of them and who aren’t afraid to tell you that may not be making the right choice.

In so many ways an entrepreneur is on their own, but those everyday small supporting roles that a community can offer can make a huge difference to their ultimate success or failure.

Innovation, passion and hustle will get an entrepreneur a long way but staying there and moving ahead sometimes takes more; a strong community ecosystem.

This story was originally published August 9, 2018 at 1:39 PM.