Entrepreneurship

Could you become an entrepreneur?

If you want to become an entrepreneur, think about why you want it and what is important to you. Find out more about business opportunities, seek advice and take time to think. A successful entrepreneur can be someone with years of (work) experience or a recent graduate. It is just a matter of getting started, applying the knowledge and skills you already have, and learning and growing from experience.

Undoubtedly, each entrepreneur is unique in their personalities and attitudes, but they also have common characteristics. For example, being an entrepreneur means being autonomous and independent, being creative, creating change and solutions, taking responsibility and risks, etc. Entrepreneurs are also often described as open-minded, committed, persistent, flexible, motivated, ambitious, proactive, curious, determined, self-aware, resilient, willing to fail and able to learn from failures, etc.

A moment of reflection: Which descriptions in this list apply to you?

Regardless of the sector, entrepreneurship requires business knowledge and a willingness to learn, as well as generic skills such as communication, decision-making and adaptability, systematic thinking and learning, and, of course, people and process management. The development of knowledge and skills is a lifelong process that takes place at university, in continuing education courses, with the help of experienced colleagues, through (business) experience, etc. It is important to learn from success stories as well as from failures.

However, not everyone needs to become an entrepreneur. It does not have to be your first choice after graduating. It is an opportunity to gain initial experience, skills and knowledge as an employee, and to build self-confidence. If, over time, you become more and more interested in challenging yourself, it is probably time to look into starting a business.

If you are contemplating starting a business, consider the following topics to better understand what is really important to you. Think about your experiences so far and future scenarios, talk to your family and, if possible, talk to a career or business counsellor. Working with a mentor can also help you to develop your business ideas and plan your next steps. There are different forms of mentoring for different purposes. See examples and read more about mentoring on the websites of the UT mentoring programme, the Estonian Chamber of Mentors, county development centres, the NULA incubator development programme, and centres for creative industries, etc.

If you have decided to become an entrepreneur

Once you have made the decision to become an entrepreneur, you need a business idea and a business plan. It is equally important to find funding, to know how to market your product or service and to deal with sales and financial reporting. If you set up a business on your own, you will probably have to do more or less all the work yourself. Together with partners, however, you can share responsibilities according to their competences.

Be prepared to invest a lot of time and patience to learn about the market and competitors, find funding and partners, build trust and acquire necessary additional knowledge.