Risk Averse? You Can Still Aspire to be An Entrepreneur!

In a previous post Risking it All in the Name of Business I quoted Lord Gulam Noon who in an interview with the BBC stated that "if you don't take risk, you risk even more" (with the rest of this interview available on the following link "Britain's entrepreneurs 'must have a dream').

Reading this quote really got me thinking. If you are a risk averse person this may make you think that you can not be an entrepreneur. Or it may make you think that if you do decide to become an entrepreneur you
are unlikely to succeed. If you are an individual that overthinks, or takes great joy from analysing situations, problems or opportunities you may find that by the time you have finished thinking about it the opportunity it has passed you by or you have talked yourself out of it.

So what do you do if you aspire to be an entrepreneur but you are a risk averse person. I would argue that being a risk averse person will not neccesarily stop you from being a successful entrepreneur.

I would argue that what is more important to being a successful entrepreneur is having confidence in your decision making. If you spot an opportunity and evaluate it using a tool such as a SWOT analysis. Then decide it is a good opportunity. You need to have confidence in your decision making to then take this opportunity. Is this the same as being a risk taker? Well, perhaps it is. Risk, for many entrepreneurs is probably viewed as an occupational hazard. However, by using this approach you are certainly minimising risk and playing to your strengths (you can find out more about SWOT analysis on my post Entrepreneurs - SWOT that plan!)


So is being risk averse holding you back? Are You Risk Averse? You Could Be The Perfect Entrepreneur is an article written by Paul B. Brown (available on Forbes website). If you are anxious that being risk averse is preventing you from becoming an entrepreneur reading this article is likely to reassure you that you can still be an entrepreneur. It will probably build your confidence and make you realise that you are more suited to being an entrepreneur than you first thought.

Whilst considering the implications of being a risk averse entrepreneur I came across another article which I think any risk averse aspiring entrepreneurs will find helpful. It is called "The Risk-Averse Entrepreneur's Guide to Startup Success" (written by Carol Tice and available on YoungEntrepreneur website). This article provides you with seven helpful steps and explores areas you might not otherwise have thought of. As you would perhaps imagine it offers guidance on how to minimise risk. So I would say it is well worth a read.

This leads me to the final article that if you are risk averse and want to be an entrepreneur I think you will enjoy. 7 Uncommon Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs is written by John Jantsch on Duct Tape Marketing website. If you decide to read this article you may gain more of an idea of what traits an entrepreneur needs. You may be pleasantly suprised when you have finished reading it.

So, to summarise those of you who were worried that being risk aversive will prevent you being a successful entrepreneur the panic is over. It would seem that being risk averse, if anything, is likely to be a strength not a weakness. So, now do you think you can be an entrepreneur? If this post has got you thinking about risk check out my Squidoo Lens Risk Averse? Aspire To Be An Entrepreneur! for even more information, hints, tips and ideas for minimising risk.