Role of entrepreneurs during startups

The role an entrepreneur plays during startups is a major determinant of whether a project is successful or not. Entrepreneurs are responsible for coming up with a plan, selling the idea to the relevant stakeholders and executing the plan in a way that allows for attainment of the set goals and objectives. Good leadership skills are therefore ideal as entrepreneurs are often in charge of individuals who work together to promote the growth of a startup. Other than possessing desirable leadership skills, entrepreneurs must also learn how to be architects; tell a compelling story; and be disciplined when executing their plans.

Entrepreneurs who are architects find it easy to present their vision to the rest of the team. Their creativity helps them to share their vision with others in a way that brings people together to help achieve a common goal. As entrepreneurs, more attention is placed on sharing the idea with other colleagues in order to unite them towards a common objective (Gardner, 2015). The entrepreneur must therefore possess the skills needed to create an image of the desired end product and also how to go about bringing the idea to life. Entrepreneurs bear the responsibility of ensuring that the plan is clear to all stakeholders and this helps create an ideal environment to bring the ideas to life.

Once an idea has been generated, storytelling plays a major role in ensuring that the idea manifests into tangible product or service. Entrepreneurs must learn how to go about informing people about the vision for the startup and also coming up with ways to be more innovative. The image created by the entrepreneur helps to break down what is needed for the startup to be successful, acquiring capital to fund the project, recruiting employees to help meet the set objectives and creating interest for the products and services offered by the startup (Feld & Ian, 2020). In cases where the products being launched are new in the market, the entrepreneur ensures that the target audience is well informed about the products and how they are suited to satisfy customers’ needs and wants.

Discipline is also commendable because the entrepreneur is responsible for anticipating threats and finding ways to overcome them. Other than sharing the vision with other employees, entrepreneurs must also learn how to anticipate threats that could bring down the startup and come up with guidelines to help all parties involved overcome them (Tjan, 2010). The entrepreneur ought to set an example that other employees can follow not only when overcoming threats, but also when executing the steps suggested to yield desirable outcomes.

The role played by an entrepreneur in any startup is crucial because the individual is responsible for communicating the ideas to everyone intended to implement them. Although having good vision, being a good story teller and discipline in execution are ideal traits to have; entrepreneurs can be effective despite not possessing all the tree traits. Efficient entrepreneurs learn to identify areas that they are strong in and then delegate other responsibilities to other employees who are more capable. Entrepreneurship calls on the individual to not only identify their strengths but also identify the strengths and weaknesses of colleagues so as to position each individual in a team to a position that they are best suited for. Although there are various factors that determine the success of a startup, the leadership skills demonstrated by entrepreneurs during the architecture stage, storytelling and implementation are crucial to the success of any project ventured into.

 

 

 

References

Tjan K, (2010) “The three roles of great entrepreneurs” Harvard Business Review, retrieved        from, https://hbr.org/2010/06/the-three-roles-of-great-entre.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-         DAILY_ALERT-_-AWEBER-_-DATE

FELD, B. H., IAN. (2020). STARTUP COMMUNITY WAY: how to build an entrepreneurial        ecosystem that thrives. [Place of publication not identified], JOHN WILEY & Sons

GARDNER, D. (2015). The startup hats: master the many roles of the entrepreneur. United         States: Freebooksy Press