Most entrepreneurs are merely technicians with an entrepreneurial seizure. Most entrepreneurs fail because you are working IN your business rather than ON your business.
Unlike what most people think, entrepreneurs are not special people who know how to do special things that others don't. Entrepreneurs can be made, because we're all born with the potential - that special human quality - to create.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Entrepreneurs can develop their skills and creativity, as everyone has the potential to create.
Michael Gerber emphasizes that entrepreneurship is not an exclusive domain reserved for a select few. Rather, he suggests that anyone can become an entrepreneur by harnessing their innate creative potential. This perspective democratizes entrepreneurship and encourages individuals to recognize their own ability to innovate and bring ideas to life. The quote challenges the myth that entrepreneurship is a talent that only a few possess, advocating instead for a belief in one's own capacity to create and succeed.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech at a startup conference.
More from Michael Gerber
All quotes →The only choice that leads small business owners to real success in their endeavors is the one that requires real thought. Understanding and building the systems they need within their company to afford them a framework of organization that can scale the business from a company of one to a company of one thousand.
Quit being 'busy' and start actively owning and operating your company, and you'll be able to understand where the money is coming from and how to make more of it.
Most people who go into business for themselves and, therefore, believe they are entrepreneurs, are doomed to struggle because they don't have a true Entrepreneurial Perspective. They have a Technician's Perspective.
The entrepreneur rarely thinks in terms of what he or she wants, but dreams about results - always results and nothing but results - that can solve someone else's problem or contribute to making someone else's life better.
Here's the problem with phones - they are a ready-made diversion from the considerably harder work of growing a business.
Similar quotes
I have the world heavyweight title not because it was 'given' to me, not because of my race or religion, but because I won it in the ring through my own boxing ability.
The most successful people in this world recognize that taking chances to get what they want is much more productive than sitting around being too scared to take a shot.
When I was 16, I moved to Torrance, California to train at a more advanced studio, and by 19, I joined the American Ballet Theatre in New York. It all happened so fast - it was pretty unheard of that someone could train for so few years and become a professional at one of the most elite dance companies in the United States.
When I'm done skating, I guarantee you that I will not look back and remember standing on the podium. I'm going to remember these days - being with the team. Training alone, in my basement. Training when everybody else is sleeping. Doing things that nobody else is doing. Digging down. Seeing what kind of character I truly have. I love that stuff.
The career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human energy. The man dies and disappears, but his thoughts and acts survive and leave an indelible stamp upon his race.
You're still going to win with preparation and dedication and plain old desire. If you don't have genuine desire, you won't be dedicated enough to prepare properly.