Joseph Mancuso’s Insights on Entrepreneurship

Joseph Mancuso wrote  “How to Start, Finance, and Manage Your Own Small Business” and included an “Entrepreneur’s Quiz” a self-assessment for entrepreneurs. His explanation for the reasons behind some of the questions includes the following nuggets:

Joseph Mancuso Offers Insights on Entrepreneurship

Joseph Mancuso’s “Entrepreneur’s Quiz” is a self-assessment for entrepreneurs. His rationale for some of the questions includes the following six nuggets.

“The enterprising adult first appears as the enterprising child.”
Joseph Mancuso

This is not so much a matter of choice as of personality–although upbringing is certainly as large a factor.

“The first school for any entrepreneur is the home; it’s not surprising many have at least one self-employed parent.”
Joseph Mancuso

It’s an accident of birth but an entrepreneurial parent (or close relative) is a reliable marker for a sustained and informed motivation toward entrepreneurship. Of course it can work the other way as well. I remember when my younger son came to me when he was 12 and told me in an excited voice: “Papa, you are your own boss!” As the years have gone by he finds the idea much less exciting.

“More often than not, money is a byproduct of an entrepreneur’s motivation rather than the motivation itself.”
Joseph Mancuso

Sales people focus on meeting quota, entrepreneurs need to meet payroll. I find a desire for autonomy and achievement to be more reliable indicators of an entrepreneurial inclination than a focus on wealth.

“Entrepreneurs are not high risk takers when they can’t affect the outcome. They tend to set realistic and achievable goals, and when they do take risks, they’re usually calculated ones.”
Joseph Mancuso

It’s prudent risk taking, small bets that risk affordable losses with a skewed upside.

“Entrepreneurs are participants, not observers; players, not fans.”
Joseph Mancuso

It’s not about the gambling, it’s find opportunities for particular skills and insights, coupled with hard work and attention to detail can make a significant difference.

“To be an entrepreneur is to be an optimist, to believe with the right amount of time and money, they can do anything.”
Joseph Mancuso

You have to see the future to create it but it’s more about exploring and then blazing a trail than seeing the complete path at the outset.

Related Blog Posts

• The Likely Consequences of Entrepreneurship Require Perseverance
• Life Is Too Short
• You Need to Be a Little Crazy

Photo Credit: Kevin Murphy, used with permission. I think the alert look on the squirrel matches the entrepreneur’s ongoing hunt of opportunity.