Do you know someone who has started a business and manages the business facing considerable risk because the business model is innovative and untested? Do you want to know how to be a entrepreneur? In most things in life if we have faith and act on our dreams, we will succeed. But many entrepreneurs are not in that mold. They are completely different, see things differently than others, and do something that has not been done before. Now this idea is not completely correct. Some entrepreneurs take an existing idea and expand it into a system. They may obtain somebody else's idea and expand it into a growing and profitable business.

Another example is McDonald's. The original owner started out with one store. He then build other stores. McDonald still owns many of the McDonald businesses you visit. Then he decided to let others own his business as long as they ran the business exactly as he prescribed. That is he franchised his business. That is what the founder, Donald Kroc, did to become an entrepreneur. That is one way how to be a entrepreneur. (Correctly, to be an entrepreneur, but we have to follow our keyword search terms so that people can find what they are looking for..)

There is the element of expansion in entrepreneurship. John D. Rockefeller wanted complete control of his oil operations. He wanted a system that produced oil, refined the oil, and sold it at his service stations. Edison went beyond his light bulb. He took an existing idea, perfected it, and then build the systems to take the power into homes and businesses so that the light bulbs could be used. In that process he created General Electric. Now, that is how to be a entrepreneur!

I met my first entrepreneur when I was a boy. My older friend, Paul, told me to grab my red wagon and go with him. We picked up bottles along the highway, sold them to the grocer, bought bottles from the junk lady and sold those to the grocer. We made full deposit on those we picked up along the road and one red cent on each bottle we bought from the junkyard lady. Later, Paul bought dozens of homes, repaired them and converted them to rentals. Later he built (or bought) and sold condos. He got caught in the "condo crisis" and lost his shirt, but he recovered and is still in operation. Paul and his brother, Bob, were both "born" entrepreneurs.

I knew the brother, a mailman, of a man who took advantage of a special situation. World War II created a market for coal-burning stoves to heat army barracks. He became very wealthy building stoves and selling them to the government and spend his later years doing church work and writing books. Meanwhile his brother continued to deliver mail.

You can see that if you are not born with that entrepreneurial spirit that you can still become an entrepreneur. Think of building a system from an idea of your own or someone else. Look at Sam Walton. He not only build stores but he also got control of his product sources. Wal-Mart tells its suppliers what they must do to sell to Wal-Mart but the company will buy from those who want to introduce new products desired by their customers. You should contact them about this program. You might be able to get a new product in the marketplace quickly.

Wal-Mart is not a franchiser. But you could buy or create a single-location business and then sell franchises. You can require that all of your franchisees operate their business your way and purchase their materials and supplies, etc., from you. You would help them secure financing, select a location, build the structure, train the workers and operate the business.

Franchisees may be able to work from home, providing a service to other businesses. It may operate from a van like a rug-cleaning business. It may do office or professional work for businesses. There are so many ways to learn how to be a entrepreneur.

Many people earn a living on the Internet. They learn the skills needed and go on from there. No matter which way you decide to go, make sure you talk to business men, bankers, "free" consultants that work with you local college or university, and people in the business in which you are interested. Don't forget governmental sources of information secured loans from the Small Business Administration.

Fly Old Glory!