Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur

Someone forwarded me a request for information put out by a USA Today reporter. He was writing an article about entrepreneurial personality traits. He wanted suggestions from "experts" in compiling his list. The idea was to help people decide whether they should seek self-employment or not.

I was intrigued by the idea so I submitted my list to him. He did not email or call back so I assume either he was not amused or my submission was not his cup of chai. In any case, I thought my list was cool so I now present it to you and wait (with lazily suspended breath) for your insightful reaction.

P.S. Additions, enhancements and/or subtitutions are heartily encouraged.

Fred's Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur

10. You are unemployable. You can’t hold a job. You don’t want to hold a job. And you react to getting a job the same way a cat reacts when you try to give it a bath.

9. You are anti-authoritarian. You can’t fathom the thought of being anything less than Boss, President, Chairman, Don, and/or Emperor.

8. You have the uncanny ability to get other people to do all the work.

7. You are always looking for and/or seeing economic opportunity everywhere and in everything. While at a concert, you occupy yourself by estimating the evening’s take and its gross margins instead of listening to the music.

6. You spend more time and energy looking for easier, faster, cheaper, more effective ways of accomplishing something than if you just did the task outright.

5. You would enthusiastically trade a life-time pass to Disneyland for one ride in the Vomit Comet. In other words, you would give up a secure, even-keeled, bland existence for a life that whipsaws uncontrollably between exhilaration and terror.

4. You don’t see lack of money, lack of knowledge, and lack of experience as barriers to entry. You are also not deterred by the existence of formidable competition.

3. You favor multiplication over addition and you lull yourself to sleep by calculating price-earnings ratios.

2. You would happily invest your home’s equity and your life savings (and your mother’s life savings) in your start-up.

And the Number One sign you are made to be an entrepreneur . . .

1. When you project future earnings, your spread sheet shows that by Year 5, you can buy Argentina and sell it to Brazil.

www.lazyway.net

Comments

[Vee]

YES! Those signs applied to me. All this while I think I'm crazy,lazy & stupid. But, since you said that, it relieves me tiny bit. Thank you. U make me 50% smile...

[SpeedQueen]

Would you recomend someone who already knows they want to be an entrepeneuer to go to university?

[KingNothing]

Of course you should go to university. It's always good to have a contingency plan in case entrepreneurship fails.

[Fred Gratzon]

Schools are good for meeting interesting people and networking and, of course, going more deeply into the field(s) you love. But I would not recommend your going to college to get a bachelor's degree in business. If you want to major in business, do it in grad school.

But then again, Bill Gates is a college drop out.

[Eduardo Rocha]

Very interesting point about Brazil and Argentina :D

[Adam]

But wouldn't Argentina getting acquired by Brazil merely push up the value of other South American countries? At what point would it make sense to hold out and wait for a more lucrative offer from offshore VC?

[Bruno]

Very offensive comment about Argentina. I hope you change that kind of example.

The rest it's just fine.

[Fred Gratzon]

Dear Bruno,

I did not mean to be offensive toward Argentina. I'm just poking fun. I could have just as easily said bought Brazil and sold it to Argentina. Or bought Nebraska and sold it to Iowa. Believe me, I was just being silly.

[Donyell]

Great post! I can imagine why someone wouldn't see the humor/truth in it but for those of us who relate to the list, it makes a great laugh...especially number 10!

[marc denis]

Bruno, get a life.

[Joshua Volz]

While this list is funny, it is scary how true it rings to me. The one about spending more time finding away to do something cheaper/easier than just brute forcing it outright is especially true of me. I try to claim I am lazy, but my wife says "but you work so hard at it."

[Juan Manuel]

The Argentina/Brasil comment is not silly.
Not silly at all.

And Bruno, open your eyes,
what do you think
the world is?

No use
to sulk about it.

[Argent Brasel]

Bruno, you smell like cabbage... but I am offended that you put a space between "spread" and "sheet". This to me implies the use of unconventional means to arrive at projected future earnings.

[Searching]

Fred:

That was your best post. It struck a chord but it was not in Brazil or Argentina but in Wisconsin!

I read your book and it rocked. I am searching for more information as to how the Catholic church feels about transcendental meditation.

Keep Inspiring us, we are a minority!

[Praveen]

Hi Fred, I love your book, and your posts.
In my case, I still work for a corporation, but doing something I love (unix programming).

There are down points (long commute by train, mindless bureaucracy, and paperwork)but I love always figuring out ways to simplify and automate the work we do.
Even better, I love helping my co-workers
automate and simplify their work.

Over the last 10 years, I have flirted with starting my own businesses, but I definitely don't strongly exhibit your top 10 signs.

I'm too lazy to try to develop them - but the worsening corporate policies at my employer are pushing them on me by osmosis ;-)

[Mexican Chap]

Outstanding post, I couldn't stop laughing at the points that I thought I was just being bored, pedantic or obsesive about. Unfortunately I didn't get 10 out of 10. Missed lulling mysely to sleep over P/E ratios beat me. Love your stuff, keep up the good wowowo - fun & relaxation

[steve in sunny florida]

Fred,

It's sad to see the negative comments that have been directed toward you lately. I understand that you are a businessman, but I believe you really do want to help people become happy and more successful. Everytime I have e-mailed you personally, asking for advice, you have always responded generously.

God Bless, and keep up the good work.

[The Saint]

The Top 10 Signs You're Made to be an Entrepreneur rings true to me. I am there and there is NO turning back now. I MUST succeed for my Family and myself.

#5 refers to "a life that whipsaws uncontrollably between exhilaration and terror".

Lately, there has been an unbalance that stays more in the "terror" emotional area for me.

Any suggestions from my fellow Entrepreneurs on how to gain more of an "even mental keel" so ideas and performance become better and life seems less terrifying???

[Gideon]

Hi Fred,

You hit the nail on the head! I really enjoyed reading your post. I am currently on my way to go and live in Australia, and have been "looking" for work for quite a few months now. But to be honest, it has been an absolute nightmare, because for all the jobs advertised, it had one terrible thing in common - I WILL HAVE TO WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE!!! Heaven forbid! The more I live, the less I want to work for someone else.

Cheers for your awesome book. It changed my life, and I have now finally found my calling in life. Your book should be made compulsary reading by everyone ;)

I really hope there is another book of yours in the pipeline, because I will definately buy it!

Cheers for all the good advice!

Regards

Gideon
New Zealand

[Aussie girl]

Fred you are wonderful to tell me I am so sane and I laughed with relief, any suggestions for working on number 8? Now that my health is turning around I think I am too lazy to paint. Number 9 fits, but when I think about it, well thats too much like hard work.

Bruno,stop grizzling, Aussie has already been sold up the creek, but dont worry 'cause by year 8 my flying scaucer is big enough to beam all of us up.

Get this fellow entrepreneurs, I got CFS from computer EMR in the workplace, too afraid to follow my instincts. ha ha oh Fred, where were you 20 years ago. It could have been me buying Oz.

[Was auch immer]

Your idea of anti-authoritarian is someone who wants to be boss? I reckon you have your thinking twisted. Online definition: belief that communities should have the right to govern themselves and not be ruled by an outside force. That is, there would be no "boss", "emperor", or whatever.

[Esteban Yelinsky]

Fred, you should be the guest speaker at every major entreprenurial conference in the country. Marvelous blog. I laughed out loud, my wife laughed out loud and I sent it around to everyone I knew and I am sure they laughed out loud as well. Of course the laughter was filled with appreciation of the wisdom contained in your 10 traits.

Do they teach this kind of stuff at the Harvard Business School???

[Sue]

I loved this, I laughed so as it really is nice to know there are others that think similar to me, and knowing that I'm not crazy, I'm just simply being me, and finding better ways, that require little or no effort. Thanks for making my day a delight
Sue

[Tom St. Louis]

I liked the list. And I liked the title, Fred. But you left out my favorite:

Plenipotentiary.

Regards,

Tom St. Louis

[Seamus "Moose" Anthony]

Fred,

You seem to be getting quite famous there Freddy boy! I still say you are a Contemporary Taoist, a master of wu-wei (effortless action).

Check out my post about Intention Manifestation for Slackers.

[Scott R. Hotchkiss]

I make it on about half of your list.

One thing IAM always doing is figuring out how I can make some item or gadget I just bought better. Adding features to things to make them work the way I want them to work.

I put velcro on my tennis shoes and threw away the laces years before I saw that on any store shelf. I guess I should have gone to Taiwan and started making shoes, huh? I just didn't want to become just a shoe-maker.

Too much work!

[Joe Lowski]

Do you really believe in your stuff? Seriously?!! You can't be real.

[Mike]

Sounds like I'm a perfect fit. I guess there's hope for me after all! ;)

[AJ Hamilton]

I thought the below link would be interesting to your readers to see how they rank on an Entreprenurial scale.
http://www.careerdiscovery.com/hbspsba/bcii_start.html
AJ, Seattle

[adria]

Sounds good to me. The one thing I have a problem with is the "price-earnings ratios." Ideas are exciting to me, numbers are not. What does this mean for me as an entrepreneur?

[Peter Glyman]

I love it Fred...work smarter not harder

[Chris Naaden]

For the Saint: There's no such thing, until you've covered your monthly nut.

[Deon Botha]

When you put it like that....

[Dawn Faith Kaka]

Hi Fred

I loved every bit of what you wrote. I laughed with it all.

Blessings
Dawn

[Paula]

What will become of me!! I scored a big fat zero! Can I get to have more money in my life or am I a lost cause?
Help!
Paula

[Rachel]

I'm 10/10. Wheee!

[avria]

I really liked how you said 7."You are always looking for and/or seeing economic opportunity everywhere and in everything" that is great in the sense of taking an ordinary thing/subject and making it into a business. I'm helping my dad promote University of Victory by finding cool entrepreneur stories.
I admire the top 10 your made to be an entrepreneur.
~avria (student grade 7)

[Victory Darwin]

After my daughter showed me this top 10 list, I had to order "Lazy Way to Success". You know you have a profound, essential truth when it is both outrageously funny and yet 100% true. Not only do I score 10 on this list, but the only reason I found it is because I hired my daughter to find unique entrepreneur/education content for my entrepreneur university (universityofvictory.com). My official contribution: #11 When you have a job so easy that you can't justify hiring another employee, and you should just get your ass in gear and do it yourself, you hire your kids instead!
~V

[Ryan Surratt]

Hey guys,

I am a graduating senior from college and I just happened to stumble upon your your top ten signs of an entrepreneur and they are so true. I am busting at the seams to get out in the world and make it big, my way. Love the positive atmosphere of your website!

[Tedel]

According to these 10 points, I am a born Entrepreneur and happy to know it, thanks a lot. =)

[Business Blogger]

Very Nice post! I'm sure that we could have some great business conversations. I think you just nailed down every entrepreneur reading this.

[ta4ka]

I got 9 out of 10, pretty good acording to me ;)

[Ezinet Global]

I did a cover version of the above motivation quote I want to see it here:
http://search4article.com/review/for-the-millionaire-focus-minded/
Since I saw no name per se to credit the original to I gave the creative licence to www.lazyway.net with a link on the page pointing back to this webpage.

I hope it's O.K with the variation I wrote as I found it very inspiring.

[lazyasell]

I only have 3 1/2 of those characteristics, so I guess I'm not much of an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, two of those characteristics guarantee that I won't be happy with a regular job. #10: I'm almost unemployable and don't want to hold a regular job. #9: I'm anti-authoritarian. I don't want to do what others say, I want to what I want to do. #7: Sometimes I go through phases where I'm always looking for an economic opportunity. #6: Yes, this describes me perfectly.

I may also be able to mold myself into #4 and #1.

[Billy]

Number 6 is very much me. However I don't worry to much about profit Ratios... just Profit is good in my eyes.
Also, I'm always creating inventions in my head, I think of something on a nearly weekly basis! I never act on any of these inventions.... maybe I should aye?

[Koka Sexton]

This is a great article. Though some of the point are a bit extreme, by nature entrepreneurs are extreme and that is how they excel. The tough part is getting to the point where you can make the break from working for a company and becoming the company. If you have the guts, the drive and have found the right market to go after, you are already steps ahead of most startups.

[Okan]

I am still laughing. Oh... man... When I read the number one reason.... I could so see this.... so true..... all those f...n spreadsheets... Very well said... Thank you. You made my day.... sh....t...

[VlogHog]

I do everything on this list except get others to do work for me.

Then again, I do post a lot of other people's videos on my blog.

[Raymond]

damn..!! haha
this is my first time to write a comment in all the articles i have read.

i actually have all those that are listed..

i'm currently studying webprogramming, I dropped my secondary school in order to pursue my dreams.

i'm 19 years old, i admit it, i'm really suck when it comes to education.

now i'm on my way to make my own website, i dont care if my father hates me from doing this but i believe that i will be someone someday.

thanks.. really

[Riz]

When i read your 10 traits of being lazy I felt someone had got my secret. You are right on dot when you say this.

In 2005, after working for 10 years in a company I had planned to quit my job, and start a business. Tough decision. So what do i do. Dig myself into the couch. Everyone at office and at home thought i was not serious about my plan, and was either too comfortable with my job, or too scared to venture out. In fact I was looking for a solution where I could put half the effort and get both the worlds. Lo and behold i got a better plan! I discussed it with my boss, and now voila.. I have my job and also run my business remotely.

My job involves getting projects, managing them and the work is outsourced to my own company! I have an assistant to manage my work at office, and a General Manager who manages my work at my company.

My boss, My clients, My employees, My family are happy now. Me? am back in my couch reading books, watching all work, and trying to find something better and easier to do..

很好！

[Matt]

Great article! There is nothing quite like being your own boss. Thats the only time you ever get to use the full 100% of your potential. Thanks for the great insights!

[bryan]

I never told you to write this.

;)

[Anthony]

how about a slight modification of no. 10 - by Year 5, you can buy the Coca Cola Co. and sell it to PepsiCo

[Ralph Scott]

Oh man, do we share DNA or what? This is like the unfinished story of my life.

God help you.

Regards,

Ralph

[axel g]

That was a solid list.

"You are anti-authoritarian"

This is a valid reason for being self-employed +_+

[Successful Filipino Entrepreneur]

Love this list.

Number 10 is me! Completely unemployable and I would never ever work for anyone ever again!

Fun but great list.

[Vic]

Damn, I know I'm meant to be an entrepreneur, but my damn mom thinks I'm just nuts. Is it madness, or sheer brilliance? She's just too dumb to see my true level of intelligence.

[Debbie Wilson]

Fantastic:-) I loved this so much...describes me to a T! I laughed so hard I cried.

[Aldohas Personal Development]

wow, now I'm sure that I'm made to be an entrepreneur
thanks

[Magi]

Hi Fred,

Good one on finding your calling. Is it normal to work on something passionately for 5-6 years of your life and then suddenly lose all interest? I mean same thing that you once thought was your calling in life at one point of time no longer holds your interest.

Oh ye and I took a year long sabbatical to find the new calling, I still seem to be clueless.

[Rishad Mehta]

I haven't laughed so long in a hard time but interestingly each and every point is so true. Especially the last one.

[Attorney Smith]

Your idea of anti-authoritarian is someone who wants to be boss. I think your have twisted idea. Online definition: belief that communities should have the right to govern themselves and not be ruled by an outside force. That is, there would be no "boss". I like your all posts Fred. Thanks for sharing.
attorneysmax

[carol]

leadership, I think is the number one quality a successful entrepreneur must possess or else there will be someone who will willingly sink your boat for you. delegate your tasks but never hand your business to others no matter how you trust these people. i don't know, it just came over me. great post though. thanks. :)

[Seth M Baker]

I'm the most unemployable fool in the world and
my resume looks like moldy swiss cheese. I do see this as a benefit.

Can't say I fall asleep calculating P/E ratios, though.

[Mudassar]

Hi nice site I like it & keep it up

[Ali R. Khan]

The Last number One Sign is complete Funny and True...It implies that Always Think Big and go Multinational.

[ffxiv gil]

Regards,

Tom St. Louis

[Karen Sheets Clum]

No wonder I've been so anxious lately!!! I lost my job and have been trying to decide between starting my own business and going back to school. Why go to school if I just want to be my own boss?

[jacques magloire]

Genius!

[jacques magloire]

It all makes sense to me.I'm in the process of rebounding and your newsletters,blog, and book will surely be my sound board along this ride.I agree and identify with your top 10 all the way.You've nailed it!

[Jaap]

I always thought I was nuts... I seem to be normal now.

[Barney H]

Really good stuff here. These are the reasons why we have the innovative people doing what they love.

[Jack's Customized Fat Loss Review]

majority of those 10 signs just pointed to me, so should I try to do it, enter entrepreneurship?

- Jack Leak