Who wants to be an entrepreneur?

From the school yard to big business with the Big Zipper Challenge

Working Lunch is always bursting with entrepreneurs.

They are people with bright ideas who have made a name for themselves by running a business.

What do they have in common?

Entrepreneurs generally want to do things their own way.

They don't want to answer to others all the time.

When asked why they ran their own businesses, people gave the following answers.

Reasons for being an entrepreneur

A recent survey by accountancy firm Coopers and Lybrand quizzed entrepreneurs to find out why they went into business for themselves.

65% said because of a sense of personal satisfaction

43% liked the idea of doing things their own way

41% said the wanted to increase their job security

37% said they were looking for capital growth

27% enjoyed the ability to take a longer term view

24% said they wanted to increase their personal wealth

16% said they wanted something to pass on to their children

Just think

If you were running your own business, what would you want from it?

How do you compare with the survey results?

Entrepreneurial people

The Big Zipper Challenge was judged by several entrepreneurs.

One of them was Meena Pathak of Patak's foods. She runs part of the family business.

The name of the business was changed so British people could pronounce it more easily.

Barbara Cassani is the head of low cost airline Go

Barbara Cassani and David Puttnam are two of the others.

Just think

Carry out a web search to find out about them both.

What sort of businesses do they run?

How did they become entrepreneurs?

What do you think made them want to run their own businesses?

Becoming an entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs sell a product or service to other people or businesses.

What does it take?

A product that people want to buy.

A business only survives if it makes a profit so before you begin you need to carry out some market research to check that people will buy your product.

A price that people are prepared to pay.

A great idea can be a great success if the price is right.< p> If it's too high, you will have a disaster on your hands.

A product that they know about.

A brilliant product needs marketing.

If people don't know about it, they can't buy it.

A place where they can buy it.

Whatever the product, it must be under people's noses.

It might be in the shops, on the web or on a shopping channel - but whereever it is, people must be able to buy it.

Just think

Have you got a business idea?

Have you had to create a business plan for the course you are following?

Did your scheme match up?

Have you got what it takes?

Do you have bright ideas?

Can you make them happen?

Can you organise people?

Can you plan ahead?

Will you take the risk?

Taking a risk is a key part of being an entrepreneur.

When you put your money into a scheme, you want to know that it will make a profit for you.

It's never certain but the more careful the research and planning, the better the chance.

Just think

Explain why each of these skills is important when running your own business?

Can you think of any others?