The Difference Between An Entrepreneur and Serial Entrepreneur

Kind of like bootstrapping a start-up, a first time entrepreneur can actually be more beneficial and prone to success over a serial entrepreneur attempting to grow the same kind of business. First time entrepreneurs, undoubtedly, have a lot of hurdles to overcome, but they are usually more dedicated to their start-up business than a serial entrepreneur is. In many cases, a serial entrepreneur will be involved in existing businesses while they attempt to uplift a new one. This causes their attention to be diverted throughout all of their involvements, as to where a first time entrepreneur has just one business to focus on. For first time entrepreneurs, I would say the biggest task to achieve, is breaking the shell in their industry. Since they probably have no proof of prior experience, or no “connections,” they are forced to start from scratch and grow something out of nothing. A serial entrepreneur will probably have some cash to blow through, less time to give to a new business, and will probably hire other people to get the job “done,” rather than putting their own effort to finish something. I’m not saying that a serial entrepreneur has a tough time to grow a new business, but sometimes they are blinded by their own success, or just can’t see the reality of a new business.

Let me discuss a scenario for a web start-up. A first time entrepreneur trying to create a thriving web start-up will probably spend 23 out of 24 hours working, trying each and every way to grow their business. A serial entrepreneur will probably hire a bunch of people to do it for them, spending just a few hours looking over the results achieved, or lack thereof. While a first time entrepreneur might be inexperienced with starting a business on the web, leading to more time in the learning process, they will most probably know the ins and outs of what they are doing and where there ultimate goal for the business to be is. A serial entrepreneur might put a fixed amount of money up and see where the project goes and if it isn’t successful after a certain point; they will probably discard the whole concept. The problem is that serial entrepreneurs don’t feel forced or have as much pressure to really make a business grow. A first time entrepreneur is putting all of their efforts and time into making the business grow, so they really only have the option of it going in on direction- which is up.

Now let’s look at the downside of being a first time entrepreneur versus a serial entrepreneur. First time entrepreneurs face the difficult challenges of knowing almost nobody, requiring them to create a lot of “buzz” or “viral traffic” to their business. If a well known serial entrepreneur is behind a new venture, “buzz” is automatically created and eyeballs are attracted like a magnet. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether or not you have “buzz,” if your product is junk. It is as simple as that.

So what is the whole conclusion behind this? Easy- it doesn’t matter whether you are a serial entrepreneur, a first time entrepreneur, or don’t even consider yourself to be an entrepreneur. You need to:

1. Know your business
2. Know where you want to take it
3. Have a plan to take it there
4. And execute on the plan, with a lot of personal involvement

Creating a thriving business can usually only be done if one puts time into every action and sees it through. If doesn’t matter what someone has created in the past, because most of the time a new business will not depend on the success of one's old businesses.