How to Tell if You're an Entrepreneur

Jim Wolfe, professor of management and entrepreneur-in-residence in the School of Management at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., has had 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur.

He founded his own economic development and international investment consulting firm in 1989, a software development and services company in 1997 and a private business consulting firm, J Street Consulting, in 2001.

For Wolfe (jwolfe7@gmu.edu), being an entrepreneur is about having a certain mindset. Entrepreneurs, in his experience, have tendencies and personality traits such as team building skills, persistence, selling skills and a very low tolerance for mediocrity.

Wolfe has developed a tried-and-true checklist, based on his experience, that can help a person decide if he or she has the makings of an entrepreneur:

• Instead of playing ball as a kid, you were always the one organizing games so you could sell lemonade to the players.
• You organized the college spring break trips, with a commission from the travel agent to cover your beer money.
• Your parents begged you to drop out of college after they saw how much money you were making with the business you started in your freshman dorm.
• You interviewed prospective dates as if they were candidates to be your first business partner.
• Other kids made college money baby-sitting; you made money selling your baby-sitting business when you went off to college.
• You took your first job as a way to explore the industry as maybe a good place to start you own business.
• In your mind it was never a matter of if, but just when, you would start your own business.
• Your level of frustration with the managers at your job was always higher than your satisfaction with the pay.
• You are neither a risky gambler, nor a tightwad. You carefully balance what you see as a big payoff, with the chance of a serious financial loss.
• You firmly believe there is someone out there better than you at each task you undertake. And you are good at getting those kinds of people to work together.
• You are convinced you have a unique idea that could help save the world, and since nobody else is doing it, you'd better get to it.

If these descriptions sound familiar, you may have the makings of an entrepreneur. The question is: Where can you find the right environment to cultivate your entrepreneurial spirit? Entrepreneur magazine and the National Policy Research Council studied that question in 2006 and came up with the locations that best foster the creative spirit. Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., was ranked second among large U.S. counties for entrepreneurs for starting businesses. Virginia was ranked second among the 50 U.S. states, according to the rankings.

Entrepreneurship in the Washington area? Don't scoff, Wolfe says. "Some people claim that entrepreneurship in the Washington area is an oxymoron – that we’re just a bunch of government contractors. I think just the opposite is true. This is a great market for entrepreneurs," Wolfe said. "The federal government is the single biggest purchaser of goods and services in our economy. We preach to entrepreneurs to get close to their clients. Having the government as an early, stable client can be a real boost to an early stage company."

Wolfe added this thought: "Entrepreneurship is not just about start-ups. It’s about learning to attack new challenges without having all the needed resources in hand. I see a lot of entrepreneurial activity inside our mid-sized and larger firms around Northern Virginia and Washington."

Thousands of entrepreneurs have chosen Fairfax County, Virginia, located minutes from Washington, D.C., as the best place to position their business.  Fairfax County, which the U.S. Department of Labor described as the private-sector job leader in the Washington area, is home to seven Fortune 500 companies, 5,400 IT companies and more than 360 foreign-owned firms.

A U.S. Department of Labor study called Fairfax County the private-sector job leader in the Washington area, and a Time magazine columnist described Fairfax County as "one of the great economic success stories of our time."  With a talent pool like that, you know your options will never run dry. Fairfax County also features a quality of life that's hard to beat, with a top-ranked public school system, excellent public services, innovative George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College, and access to Washington’s historical and cultural activities. 

To find out what Fairfax County can do for you and your business, contact the award-winning Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. It has experts to guide you as you plan for your business– at no charge.  Call 703-790-0600 or check out www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org.