Many think of becoming an entrepreneur but not many catch hold to becoming CEO. Have I confused you? If so, don’t worry because that is definitely not my goal. Just know that there is definitely a difference in the two as evidenced by the entrepreneurs who bring in CEOs to help them run their business. What’s the difference between the entrepreneur and the CEO? How does the entrepreneur become the CEO? What are the challenges and opportunities they face?
In this series, I’ll talk about what it takes to go from Entrepreneur to CEO as well as the challenges and opportunities of making the shift. The first thing that is important to consider is what it means to be an Entrepreneur verses what is means to be a C
EO.
So just what is an Entrepreneur? You can actually define the term two ways.
One definition states that an entrepreneur is a person of very high aptitude who pioneers change. This feat requires that the entrepreneur possess characteristics found in only a very small fraction of the population. Interesting, right? The other definition says that an entrepreneur is anyone who wants to work for him or herself.
The CEO, or Chief Executive Officer, is often but not always also the President of a company, and is responsible for a firm’s overall operations and performance. He or she is the leader of the firm, serves as the main link between the board of directors and the firm’s various parts or levels, and is held solely responsible for the firm’s success or failure. One of the major duties of a CEO is to maintain and implement corporate policy, as established by the board.
Have you figured out the difference yet? If you are an entrepreneur, who has not transitioned yet, I sure hope that you see the picture I’m painting.
The Entrepreneur is the one who gets things going. He or she is the one with the vision and the passion and skill to launch the business. However, it is the CEO who makes it all tick and work, like a well oiled machine. Perhaps this is why 95% of entrepreneur efforts fail in the first 5 years. They fail to grab hold of the CEO hat and never take the time to learn how to effectively implement the vision for success.
The truth is I’m transitioning from entrepreneur to CEO. Even though, I’m well into the transition, the journey is quite challenging! Through this series, I will share information that I’ve found helpful for the transitioning entrepreneur as well as my personal insights. A few of the topics will be:
- Why managing your health is important to your shift from Entrepreneur to CEO
- How to create a plan of action that incorporates your vision and high level steps you’ll take to realize the vision.
- Why you should partner with people who share an equal level of respect for you, your programs and services.
- Surround yourself with people who have skills that you don’t have so you are able to create a win-win relationship for sharing in the work.
Who knows where this series will lead! Grab pen and paper to take notes as this will be a great series to learn from. And by all means comment and share your thoughts on this concept. I look forward to growing and learning with you.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Hi Wendy,
I’m in the midst of this transition myself (and am finding it’s a bit of a struggle) I’m really looking forward to your series!
October 30th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
As a current entrepreneur who has worked with others in the same position, I find this post timely and helpful. There are obviously big changes going on in the structure of our economy right now. Stepping into the opportunities, developing the CEO mindset, and restructuring how we think about business are going to rejuvenate the economy.
This is why I love social media/social networking so much. It gets us to think outside of our own limiting assumptions and make the shift from entrepreneur to CEO. I believe developing genuine business relationships is essential to the topic of this series. I’m looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
This is a great explanation. I am an Entrepreneur because of my vision. Having the vision is only part of the process as you mentioned. When you’re a small business owner, you have to become the CEO—almost simultaneously—in my opinion. I became the CEO–not necessarily by choice–but because I had to make people see my vision. That takes work. Putting someone else in that role can have a detrimental effect on what you’re trying to achieve–especially if they don’t “see” things quite the way you do. I have been blessed to have a small circle of people who took my vision and embraced it. When you find people like that, you hang on to them and everyone wins.
This is a great post and I would love to add it to my weblog.