Why I Am An Entrepreneur

I think of an entrepreneur as someone that has started a business to take advantage of a market opportunity. They are leaders who are courageous, they are willing to take risks and exercise initiative. Entrepreneurs are innovative and often develop disruptive products or ideas.

Am I an entrepreneur? I haven’t started what I’d call a “real” business and therefore I don’t believe that I’m an entrepreneur. I do believe that I have the necessary attributes to be entrepreneurial as I often come up with good ideas and my critical reasoning ability has been identified by others as one of my strengths. I have worked in managerial roles for approximately 18 years and by all accounts, do a good job. The skills required to be a good manager align with those linked to entrepreneurs, the only difference is that I have not taken the leap of starting a “real” business.

I grew up in Eltham, a small town in central Taranaki that had a large amount of industry, including a Meat-works and three different dairy

However, as I moved into the workforce, I found out that some employers offered university training for employees in certain circumstances. Without really understanding how, I vigorously pursued this route which led me into the dairy industry as this seemed to be the only path available for me to better myself. I worked hard and eventually I was offered the opportunity to study at Massey University, paid for by my employer, Kiwi Dairy Co-operative. On reflection, having my tertiary education paid for by the company could be considered entrepreneurial. It also set me on the path to achieving my goal of using my brains and not my brawn. I was the first employee from my department in six years to have been selected for further education. This was a reward for my good performance, hard work and