It is believed that there are many factors that need to come together to make an entrepreneur tick. There could be many factors, but in my mind, there are only 3 things that you need to put right in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. And for the rest? They will take care of themselves.

Ability to see the need gap

To me, a prime difference between an entrepreneur and small business owner lies in the fact that small business owners follow the pack. He or she sees an opportunity and hop onto that with full gusto. There is nothing wrong in it, but doing what others are doing is not something entrepreneurs are after. They are more concerned about fulfilling the need gap.

A successful entrepreneur has the knack to find the need gap.

Ability and dedication to find the solution

For anyone to be called an entrepreneur, he or she has to have the ability to find the solution for the need gap he or she has recognized. A solution needs to be found, just knowing the problem is not enough.

A successful entrepreneur knows that the solution might not be immediate, but if he works hard, he will be able to find solution to solve the problem (need gap) he has identified.

Passion for the work

A successful entrepreneur is passionate about what he does. It is not a meager feat to identify a problem, that too on an ongoing basis. Identifying the problem may come easy, but finding a solution to it never comes easy. And an entrepreneur has to be fanatically attached to the problem to be able to find the solution, regardless of the odds.

The aforementioned traits may look nothing, but they pose the most insurmountable challenge for an entrepreneur. Those who get ahead of these, succeeds, and those who do not fails.

It is believed that there are many factors that need to come together to make an entrepreneur tick. There could be many factors, but in my mind, there are only 3 things that you need to put right in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. And for the rest? They will take care of themselves.

Ability to see the need gap

To me, a prime difference between an entrepreneur and small business owner lies in the fact that small business owners follow the pack. He or she sees an opportunity and hop onto that with full gusto. There is nothing wrong in it, but doing what others are doing is not something entrepreneurs are after. They are more concerned about fulfilling the need gap.

A successful entrepreneur has the knack to find the need gap.

Ability and dedication to find the solution

For anyone to be called an entrepreneur, he or she has to have the ability to find the solution for the need gap he or she has recognized. A solution needs to be found, just knowing the problem is not enough.

A successful entrepreneur knows that the solution might not be immediate, but if he works hard, he will be able to find solution to solve the problem (need gap) he has identified.

Passion for the work

A successful entrepreneur is passionate about what he does. It is not a meager feat to identify a problem, that too on an ongoing basis. Identifying the problem may come easy, but finding a solution to it never comes easy. And an entrepreneur has to be fanatically attached to the problem to be able to find the solution, regardless of the odds.

The aforementioned traits may look nothing, but they pose the most insurmountable challenge for an entrepreneur. Those who get ahead of these, succeeds, and those who do not fails.

It is fear of getting the idea stolen. Yes, fear of idea theft is what keep entrepreneur awake at night. These days no one much care about the capital as much as one care about idea, because the latter is scarcer than the former. And our economy is based on nothing but breakthrough idea.

Do it better or do it different?

These are the two different aspects of a coin. “Doing it better” will fetch us incremental benefits, but “doing it different” will lead us to entirely new future.

“Doing it better” is what developing and undeveloped countries are after, and “doing it different” is the goal that entrepreneurs in a developed country chase. That is why major breakthroughs come from developed country.

You can say that “doing it better” will at best get incremental technology; for example, a more energy-efficient air conditioner, better soap, good shoe at less price, etc. But “doing it different” will get us disruptive technology—the technology that ends the previous ones while giving birth to entirely new industry. For example, instead of making better typewriters and calculators, computer was invented; instead of making faster and faster main frame computers, PC was invented.

All innovations are disruptive in nature, and it is the innovation that keeps the ball in the developed economy rolling.

Which one is better?

Both.

Both of them have different use in our lives, and both of them are important. There are times when we need a better product, and there are times when we need a new solution to the same problem.

Innovation is important, but so is improvement.