What Type of Entrepreneur are You?

I enjoy reading, watching, and listening to various entrepreneurs talk about their experiences as well as the trials and tribulations that they encountered throughout their journeys.  It is particularly interesting when you have the opportunity to briefly step inside the minds of these entrepreneurs, taking away bits of their wisdom and unique views of the world.  In a previous post, I talked briefly about the innate personality traits that all entrepreneurs, no matter what industry, seem to possess.  I want to dive a little deeper and talk about a particular topic that every single individual faces, but is magnified in the entrepreneurial arena.  It’s a simple question, that can be difficult to answer at times :

• “Would you rather be great at just one particular thing…OR…just good at many things?”

Let me try and explain what I mean by this hypothetical question.  I have always wondered which of the above scenarios fared best for a particular entrepreneur.  Is it the “field expert” that is more likely to succeed over the “jack-of-all-trades”, or is it the other way around?  Think about it for a moment.  What do you consider yourself?  I purposely emitted the option to be great at many things because it is extremely rare.  On the other hand, individuals, especially entrepreneurs, are often classified by their multiple skills or their expert knowledge in a particular field.

So which entrepreneur has a better chance of succeeding?  I would love to say that the entrepreneur with the many skills and talents wins out.  These are the individuals I can relate to, enjoy reading about, and would like to grab a beer with.  Despite the dexterity and flexibility that they can bring to their business venture, it may not be enough technical or expert talent needed to propel their product or service.

In a way, it’s similar to the debate over boxing vs. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).  I am a huge proponent of MMA and admire the athletes that compete in the cage.  There are so many dimensions to MMA, that is not uncommon for a fighter to train 1) Stand Up [boxing] 2) Muay Thai [kickboxing] 3) Jiu-Jitsu 4) Judo.  The point is…these guys are truly good at many things.  Boxers on the other hand, excel at one thing and only one…boxing.  When it comes to boxing, they are unparalleled and can beat any man in a ring, including mixed martial artists.  If the fight goes beyond the boxing ring and is brought to the cage, however, the boxer would simply be outmatched.

Some parallels can be translated over into the business world, with entrepreneurs.  It is the expert technicians who excel and can dominate a particular arena.  With that said, these same experts will likely fail outside of their defined area of expertise.  Conversely, the multi-skilled entrepreneur has the ability to take their business in new directions, if the business happens to “go to the ground” or take an unexpected path.  I think it’s fair to assume a successful partnership will likely occur if you team up both of these individuals.  If you haven’t found your “other half”, do so immediately so you can prepare for a battle in the ring or the cage.