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Murray is Managing Director of Strachan and Partners, a specialist business advisory consultancy, and Chief Executive of Albyn Ventures, a business investment group. He also holds a number of non-executive Chairman and director positions in a diverse range of companies throughout the UK, many of which he is a shareholder in. He is also Vice Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

To become a successful entrepreneur! It’s not just about attitude & behaviours, or is it?

Another question I was asked to address as part of the annual entrepreneurial lecture at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, earlier this year was "To become a successful entrepreneur, is it just about having the right attitude and behaviours?"  

My colleague at the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland, John Anderson was quoted in a recent interview with a national Sunday paper as saying that "entrepreneurship is a state of mind".  Now, whilst I agree entirely with the sense and wider context of John's comment (as we have debated this point many times), I believe that it's important to note a number of essential factors that contribute to this "state of mind", i.e having the right attitude and behaviours.  These include:
  • having the essential knowledge, skills, abilities and attitude (KSA's) and being able to apply them in the most appropriate way
  • early life influences greatly shape your personal DNA.  Certainly was for me!
    • parental background & involvement (+ve or -ve)
    • the values that are instilled &/or adopted (e.g. hard work, honesty, fairness, respect, competition, always do the best you can, caring for others)
  • a good education &/or training (including in life) are crucial
  • sport & exposure to competition at an early age can be a catalyst 
  • the taste of early success &/or failure is essential and character building
  • early role models (good & bad) will shape you, including early jobs and bosses

Murray Strachan
Murray works with executives, funders and shareholders to recover & create value!  You can contact Murray via his website www.murraystrachan.co.uk or follow him on twitter @murraystrachan

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