How entrepreneurial are you? Take the test!

Many people believe that because they have decided to start their own business, this makes them an entrepreneur. If that were the case, why is it that they do not behave entrepreneurially in their own life or when working for others? In this article the business consultant, writer and motivational speaker Roger Cowdrey has put together some tests to find out how entrepreneurial you really are. Interested? Then go for it!

How to consider whether you are entrepreneurial

I have worked with countless embryo businesses, and, all too often, people have decided to start up a new venture because of redundancy or lack of employment opportunities in their field of expertise. This rarely demonstrates a true entrepreneurial desire but rather a ‘last ditch’ alternative to unemployment.

One way to consider whether you are entrepreneurial in your approach to life is to look at your behaviour at home or in employment. For example, try writing down all of the new ideas or processes that you have suggested and/or implemented in the workplace. Did this give you a buzz or did you resist the concept of change?

When I give lectures or work with entrepreneurs I often give some puzzles to illustrate my points regarding entrepreneurship. I do not refer to these examples as tests but rather as a stimulus to get people to want to look harder at how to become truly entrepreneurial. What follows are three examples of the sort of things that I use. I would suggest trying to tackle these before moving on to the answers that follow.

The third eye

Imagine that you have been given the privilege of having a third eye added to your body. You can have this eye added to anywhere on your body that you choose. Explain where you would put the eye and why.

Joining the dots

Below is a grid of nine dots. The task is to join all of the dots with as few straight lines as possible. You must pass through each dot on the grid with a straight line and you must pass through each dot only once. The straight lines must join to each other. How many straight lines did you draw?

Black and white hats

Here is a diagram of four men wearing hats. Two have black hats and two have white hats. They are buried up to their necks in sand and cannot turn around. The black rectangle is a solid wall. The men can only speak once they have deduced correctly the colour of their hat. Which man speaks first?

Now that you have had time to look at the three problems, let us look at what it tells us. What is important is not necessarily the answer but rather what reaching the answer tells us about ourselves.

If you are curious about the answers, just follow this link and take a look at how entrepreneurial you are.

See the results here