Entrepreneur or Opportunist?

Do you feel like an entrepreneur? Would you consider yourself one? You know there are many great opportunities out there. If you don’t already have an established business, you’re probably eager to start one! If there’s money to be made, you’ll find a way to make it! After all, you know you are an entrepreneur, regardless of your current occupation. You know that a person like you, with so much drive and ambition, will eventually find success. It just comes down to finding the right opportunity to work with. Once you are successful, you will have proved yourself as a true entrepreneur!
…Right?
Well, not quite. Take an honest look at yourself and your entrepreneurial qualities. There are thousands of other entrepreneurs out there just like you who are just waiting for the chance to be successful. That’s alright though, because any true entrepreneur knows that there is always a way to make money out there. But why are there so few who actually become successful?

The core idea and business model are what ultimately what determine and entrepreneur’s long term success. This not only applies to any successful entrepreneurs that may come to mind, but also to any entrepreneur in history. Throughout human history, entrepreneurship has been always centered on one basic, yet broad concept. It’s heard it fairly often today, but is rarely give it a second thought. There is a golden rule for every entrepreneur, regardless of what industry or market they work in.
Entrepreneurship comes down to the ability of finding a need of the people and filling it.
Although this is common knowledge, people who believe they are entrepreneurs often forget to question if the opportunities they are exploring fit the definition of entrepreneurship. They tend to get caught up in the hype and wealth potential, and often overlook the realistic pros and cons of any given opportunity. Furthermore, they almost always forget about their original goal of being an “entrepreneur.” This phenomenon usually occurs as soon as they start dreaming about the money that is within their grasp. They start imagining themselves sipping a margarita while sunbathing on a private white sand beach at a five-star Caribbean resort. Most people have experienced this sensation at one point or another, just on different levels. But, opportunities that generate this kind of thinking usually don’t result in long term success. If Chris Farley was still alive and was asked to comment on this article, he most likely would say, “You’ll have plenty of time to dream about sipping a margarita on a private white sand beach at a five-star Caribbean resort when you’re LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!”
Well, alright, maybe it’s not as cut and dry as that. Actually, there’s no reason you can’t be successful with these opportunities like these. The problem is that many people get hyped up in thinking they’re destined for riches because they have found what they believe is the best, newest, and most profitable opportunity out there. They know that all they need to do in order to achieve this success is capitalize on the opportunity.
It doesn’t take much to get people thinking they are on their way to Easy Street. What’s more interesting is that the people who do make a little money with these kinds of opportunities start to get a feeling of euphoric invincibility. All it takes is one sale, one week of profit, or one successful advertising campaign to get people thinking they have succeeded in their entrepreneurial efforts. It’s truly remarkable; humans just love the feeling of success. Regardless of the competition or goal, this victorious feeling, even in small amounts, causes people to celebrate, boast, and think very highly of themselves.
The resulting arrogance blinds people. Quite often, small businesses overcome large, established corporations because of arrogance. The Television Industry is a prime example of this. Today, there are thousands of television channels across the world. The vast majority of them are broadcast through cable and satellite providers. When the idea of cable television first came along, the established networks thought there was no way people would pay a monthly fee for television when it was already available for free. The arrogance of the networks caused them to lose a large portion of their viewer base. One possible example of arrogance hurting big corporations down the road could be the growing trend of satellite radio. Sirius has a contract with the NFL to broadcast every game, every week. They also will be adding The Howard Stern Show to their program list starting next calendar year. This could cause a huge loss to established radio networks like Infinity and Clear Channel. Still, the terrestrial radio networks don’t think people will be willing to pay for radio. Time will tell if their arrogance hurts their business.
Even if one were to find success with an opportunity, that doesn’t necessarily make him an entrepreneur. Many opportunities may be reseller programs or a form of Network Marketing. These can be great income streams, but it takes a certain kind of person to find success with these kinds of opportunities. Many companies will pitch their prospects a new, successful, entrepreneurial identity, convincing the opportunity seeker that their program will make him the ultimate entrepreneur by selling their products and recruiting others to do the same. This may be an income opportunity, but would this really fit the definition of entrepreneurship? Some might claim that the parent company needs their markets to be expanded on a personal level, and the network marketers who fill this need are indeed entrepreneurs. Well, without being rude, that is just flat-out wrong. Network Marketers are generally not entrepreneurs. They are opportunists. They may sound like the same thing, but they aren’t. The difference is this: Entrepreneurs find the need and fill it. Opportunists fill the need, but weren’t the ones to find it. The real entrepreneurs in this scenario were the ones who decided to utilize Network Marketing for their business plan. They will capitalize off of the success of their Network Marketers.
Opportunists are simply different than entrepreneurs. No one ever said they were less successful than entrepreneurs. If you don’t agree, here’s an example of a very successful opportunist. Think about a very famous, successful man; a man we all know is without a doubt the world’s greatest opportunist. Who would that be? Here are a few hints. He didn’t find the need, but he knew two entrepreneurs who found the need. He even worked for these two entrepreneurs who happened to fill one of the biggest needs in history. He didn’t even invent the product that filled this need, but most people who use this product don’t know that. Do you know who it is yet? Here are a couple obvious hints. To this day, his products are inferior to his competitors’, yet he still leads the industry. He made his wealth through quality marketing, not a quality product. If you still don’t know, here is the giveaway: He is the richest man in the world! Bill Gates, of course! Bill Gates is the greatest opportunist in history. But, he still wasn’t an entrepreneur.
So what? He’s the richest man alive!
Yes, he certainly is. But that doesn’t make him an entrepreneur. Steven Jobs and Steven Wozniak are the real entrepreneurs of the Computer Industry. They both are successful, but they were caught off guard by an opportunist with a vision. They could have very well had a virtual monopoly on computers to this day, but an opportunist stole it from them.
Alright…Well what’s so good about being an Entrepreneur then?
Well… Umm… it sounds good to say you’re an entrepreneur? No, that can’t be it. Uhh… Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur? No, that’s not it either.
The brutally honest truth is that being an entrepreneur is not all that it’s played up to be. It involves a high risk of failure, and the bottom line is most people aren’t going to take that chance. Also, it’s good to remember that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being an opportunist. Sure, you’ll have to factor in your own ethics and values. But, speaking monetarily, there is no wrong in it.

With almost every entrepreneur we know of, there are other entrepreneurs that follow. Michael Dell founded Dell Computers on the idea that people want computers built to their custom specifications. He was and still is very successful with this. Soon, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Gateway, and many more adopted his principles into their business models. Many people would not be able to tell you which of the above companies was the first to sell customized computers.
Many people who declare themselves “internet business entrepreneurs” are really internet business opportunists. Many successful network marketers would call themselves entrepreneurs, but they are really network marketing opportunists. The real entrepreneur is individual or team that came up with the idea of adapting network marketing to their business model. They found a need for a business model that would utilize ambitious individuals who had no product to sell on their own, but still sought a way to earn an income through marketing a product.
Entrepreneurship is one of the many subjects of common knowledge that few ever stop to think about twice. There are thousands of people out there who say want to be entrepreneurs that don’t even know how to define “entrepreneur!” If that entire group was to eventually find success, the chances of the majority of them becoming a true entrepreneur would be very small. I would estimate that about 98% of them, if successful in the long run, are opportunists and not entrepreneurs.
Any given successful entrepreneur knows the concept described in this article all too well. That’s most likely because at some point, they lost some aspect of business to an opportunist who picked up on what need they are filling and how they are doing it. Steven Jobs and Steven Wozniak would be able to describe in detail the shear frustration of this.
If you really do believe that you want to be an entrepreneur, think about the golden rule of entrepreneurship. What is the need you will fill and how will you fill it? Personally, I would say that success is not hard to achieve if you are ambitious and hardworking. But you never know, that may just be the arrogance talking.