Is entrepreneurship right for you?

Beyond having a good idea, it requires substantial passion, determination, market research and commitment to the task at hand to become a successful entrepreneur, according to industry experts.

"Ideas are very cheap. Entrepreneurs have lots of ideas but very few actually (become) viable businesses," says Martine Spence, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Management.

Knowing entrepreneurship is for you is figuring out your passion for an idea, she added.

"It's really the passion. Without the passion for a specific project or a product or process or service the person will not be able to convince potential investors or even potential clients to buy."

The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation's Entrepreneurship Centre has begun holding a seminar for budding entrepreneurs to help them decide if starting a business is the right path for them.

The centre's executive director, Stephen Daze, says there are a number of factors that come into play to determine the level of success an entrepreneur will have.

These factors include managerial skills, access to financing, product or service expertise and access to clients.

Another factor is defining a market opportunity.

"(Discovering) a quantified critical mass of customers that are just as excited as the (entrepreneur), and (they) have a desire, willingness and ability to pay for the product or service," says Mr. Daze.

Leading the Entrepreneurship Centre's seminar is Marie Desjardins. For her, the best characteristics of an entrepreneur are the need to have perseverance, the ability to accept risk and the ability to communicate effectively with people.

However, just because there is a lot of literature out there that says an entrepreneur needs to possess certain qualities, there is no perfect combination of skills and personality.

"Our goal is to tell people you may not fit into categories but that doesn't mean you won't succeed if you persevere," says Ms Desjardins. "Realizing you might not have all the success factors doesn't mean you won't be successful. You just need to find the ways to get the right skills."

Basic knowledge of all areas that affect a business' operation is critical, Ms Desjardins added. For example, an entrepreneur may not be an accountant but they do need to be able to understand what their accountant is telling them.

A pool of friends or contacts that have the skills an entrepreneur may not have is the best way to ensure success, according to Ms Spence. "You need a team and of course at the beginning it is very difficult to hire people. You need to have friends or contacts which you can call upon when you need specific skills or when you need to talk about specific areas in which your knowledge is not as deep as in others."

Cold calling is another skill Ms Desjardins says is necessary to build a client base and find success.

"If you don't like picking up a phone and talking to people then you'll have trouble soliciting customers."

While the experts often tell entrepreneurs to make sure they have a customer before they decide to start a business, that scenario is not always possible, according to Ms Spence.

"This is a catch-22 situation. If you want to be different you need an innovative idea which people don't always know about it or something which people may need but they are not aware of this need because it has never been proposed to them," she said. "If the entrepreneur knows how to scrutinize the market, how to find disparities or gaps in the market then this is generally what triggers the development of a product or service or a new proposal."

The effect that starting a business has on the entrepreneur's family and social life must also be considered before jumping in. Ms Desjardins says a solid support system is vital for entrepreneurs.

Ms Spence agrees.

"Your life is really 70 to 80 hours a week in the business for a number of years depending on which sector you are operating. This has to be compatible if you have a family, if you have other responsibilities. Some entrepreneurs have spent so much time with the business that the family grew up and they didn't speak or ended up in divorce. There has to be a balance between the obsession of being an entrepreneur and making the business viable ... and (your) private life."

A high resistance to stress gives entrepreneurs the ability to manage all the facets of operating a business, otherwise they will likely return to being employees, says Ms Spence.

But it is their attitude that will likely make or break them.

"The attitude is really the perception that you can do something to influence your fate, to influence your life, to influence the environment," says Ms Spence. "Generally entrepreneurs are action-oriented, which means that they need to do something and be proactive. These are some of the characteristics on which entrepreneurs score generally high compared to the average Canadian."