Last Updated on March 22, 2021 by Filip Poutintsev
There are two types of entrepreneurs; those who start a company and those who start many companies. Numerous businesses guarantee that your life will never be boring. Starting a business brings with it a whole host of unique challenges and thrills.
1. Serial entrepreneur definition
A serial entrepreneur is an entrepreneur who is constantly coming up with new ideas and starting new businesses. In other words, a serial entrepreneur is a person who starts various businesses.
A typical entrepreneur usually comes up with a new idea, starts his own business, and then stays in that company. Then he/she plays the most important role in the day-to-day operation of the company. But a serial entrepreneur usually comes up with a new idea, starts the business, then gives the responsibility to someone else, and goes after the new idea and the new wealth himself.
2. Serial entrepreneur characteristics
Serial entrepreneurs do not have the patience to do repetitive tasks. They start a business, bring it to a significant size, and then move on to another business. Most of the micro-entrepreneurs are interested in shortcuts and some have started the company and are watching its growth until they get tired of it and get bored. Then they sell it and start another company. Some of them are parallel entrepreneurs who manage several companies simultaneously. Starting a company is a very creative, innovative, energetic, and enjoyable process. In other words, a creative entrepreneur starts several different businesses and does not intend to run each of them for a long time. They are faced with a lot of unique and risky ideas and are not interested in routine works.
3. What must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Defining which customers to target, what technologies to use, what organizational identity to imagine, and how to participate in them are at the heart of any individual entrepreneurs. Against competitors, have choices. Decisions made in these areas are interdependent; That is, customer choice affects the company’s organizational identity and technology choices.
3.1 Cooperation or competition?
Collaborating with large companies provides access to resources and supply chains, enabling startups to enter a large, well-established market more quickly. Of course, there will be long waiting times for startups and also they will receive a small portion of a large cake, due to the bureaucratic nature of large organizations. On the other hand, competing with large companies, startups, has more freedom to create the value chain it wants, to work with customers that large companies have overlooked, and to bring innovations to market that add value to the customer.
3.2 Defensive vs offensive?
Some companies invest in their intellectual property protection because they think that they will no longer be vulnerable to imitation. But this priority increases the transaction costs and challenges of bringing an innovation to market and working with customers and partners.
In contrast, focusing on rapid market entry accelerates the commercialization and development of the product. Startups that choose this approach prioritize their ability to test and replicate the idea directly in the marketplace, so while a control strategy can delay market entry, startups focus on rapid market entry. They also react faster when faced with competitive threats.
4. What are the types of entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurship is a process of innovation and taking advantage of opportunities, with great effort combined with the acceptance of financial, psychological, and social risks that are motivated by financial gain, success, satisfaction, and independence. In other words, entrepreneurship is a process that leads to the creation of new satisfaction or demand.
There are three important reasons to look at entrepreneurship, wealth creation, technology development, and productive employment. Different types of entrepreneurship have been introduced, which are mentioned in this section with only four of the most important ones:
4.1 Lifestyle Entrepreneur
A large group of lifestyle entrepreneurs in the United States is called “working mothers.” But these types usually start traditional or project-oriented businesses, and their goal is to start a business, focus on family, and have an interesting life at the same time. The development of the company’s services and products is done in cooperation with similar companies. Customers and others are not involved in this discussion.
4.2 Individual entrepreneur
Individual entrepreneurial actions are creative and the individual entrepreneur’s competitor in the market. What an individual entrepreneur does is remove market barriers to survival and competition.
4.3 Tech entrepreneur
Tech entrepreneurship is important from two perspectives. First, it is a process that the tech entrepreneur contributes to the economic growth and development of society by applying technology and creating, developing, and crystallizing it in the form of valuable products and services. On the other hand, in leading companies, it causes product and process innovation that changes the competitive environment, which is called organizational technological entrepreneurship, which increases competitiveness and stabilizes their sustainability in the international environment.
4.4 Digital Entrepreneur
Digital entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs who are exclusively focused on digital commerce. Creating a user-friendly environment, a more customer interaction space, and brand management strategies are among the most important features of a digital entrepreneur.
5. How to become a serial entrepreneur
5.1 Focus on starting a business, not money
It is easy for micro-entrepreneurs to get involved in the capital-raising game; offer an exit strategy and sell the company at auction at the highest price, but this approach is short-sighted. The rise of the entrepreneur’s story proves that it is better to focus on products and services instead of money. Creating money is more valuable than accumulating money. The entrepreneurial outlook on this group of people has little to do with the greed to make money, and then creating big events is more important than accumulating wealth.
5.2 Do not be afraid of failure
Most people see failure as a threat to their motivations and become so upset when they fail that they subconsciously destroy opportunities for success. But entrepreneurs learn great lessons from their failures and use them for greater success.
5.3 Pay attention to everything from the customer’s point of view
Customers are the best coach of an entrepreneur. A business that can provide quality products and solve customer problems is highly valued. As a business owner, you need to read your customer’s minds and look at what problems they are dealing with and how you can make their lives easier and simpler. So seek customer feedback until you always think your solution is right.
6. Benefits of Serial Entrepreneurship
6.1 Many jobs can provide financial security
If you are not interested in the excitement of starting a new business, you may enjoy financial security. If you want to sit on a mountain of money in the future, you have to start more than one company.
6.2 More fun with starting multiple businesses
Every time you start a new company, you learn new things. Learning is half the fun of doing work and keeps your mind alert and your skills up to date. Starting a business is no longer a waste of your personal experience. One of the worst things you can do with your experience is to let it go. Experience must be used and shared, and by practice do not let it suffocate in the sperm.
6.3 An easier start
When you start a company, you meet investors, consultants, creative entrepreneurs, salespeople, service providers, and other people who help you grow your business. These relationships are very valuable, they make your personality valuable and allow you to start more companies.
6.4 More credit by starting more businesses
Revenue is not the only thing that grows with more businesses. Your credit will also increase. Serial entrepreneurs do not stay out of the spotlight for long. Because of their experience, they are asked to share their experiences. They speak at conferences, give interviews, and write blogs. Such an effect can be frustrating, but it is satisfying. Credit is part of a personal brand that you can use to make more money.
6.5 More business equals getting better
The first time you do something, you rarely do it again. Doing it a second time will make you a little better. The third time, you gradually begin to increase confidence. The fourth and fifth time you feel like you have mastered it. This is also true for starting a business. With each new job the creative entrepreneur creates, brand promotion, market targeting, and marketing experiences would be far better than before.
6.6 A creative entrepreneur can build successive jobs faster than before
Everything related to business creation, such as funding, marketing, development, research, strategy setting, etc., is a time-consuming process. Each time you do these time-consuming activities, they become easier and faster. You can spend less time writing a proposal, searching for vendors, hiring developers, developing a marketing plan, or searching for a target market.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurial investments can bring great financial results, but they require sacrifice, time, energy, a vision of success, and the courage to fail. Serial entrepreneurs not only reap the benefits of their past success but also rely on their experience to start new ventures. Many of these people have started several business ventures in different fields on their own, and their successes and failures have taught important and inspiring lessons to other entrepreneurs.
