What's Your Path?

What’s Your Path?

Susan Littlefield

What’s Your Path?

OMM 614

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

First Week Written Assignment

March 5, 2012

Abstract

“An entrepreneur is an individual who owns a firm, business, or venture, and is responsible for its development. Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting a new business or reviving an existing business, in order to capitalize on new found opportunities,” (Shukla, 2009). People who start their own businesses tend to feel safer than if they worked for someone else because some people are really tough to work for and in an economy that is experiencing a slow growth sometimes being an entrepreneur is done for survival along with the excitement of being a boss and not having to report to one.

What’s Your Path?

“Entrepreneurs are a different set of people. They often see things that others fail to notice. They endeavor to bring about change and foster growth. They believe in themselves. Entrepreneurship propels them to strive and move forward, to get to where they want to be” (Shukla, 2009). Pranav Bhasin writes about how cycling is just like entrepreneurship, it is interesting to note that before he wrote this article he always would compare how the two were very much alike and then he decided it was time to share his thoughts.  When riding a bike all sorts of great thoughts can pop into your head and especially if writing is a hobby then finding a pen and paper is almost necessary after a great ride. I have actually worked out on one of the machines at the gym while a retired teacher was helping me to come up with that all important first sentences for a big paper I was writing. I was lucky that the gym had their logo on pens and so I was able to jot down a few notes while working out on the elliptical. So inspiration can come in at unexpected moments and Pranav has made up a great list that will help any cyclist want to become an entrepreneur or any entrepreneur who wants to get into cycling. 

Starting Out

            When starting out for a ride and it is a beautiful day the main goal for any cyclist to get out there and see the sights without having to be in a car because cyclists can easily get in and out of places that cars will be hard pressed to go into. So the goal starts out as wake up, get out of bed put the cycling jersey on and go to your favorite path and get started on having a great day. People who are entrepreneurs wake up with that same feeling because they are in charge of their own destiny or on a smaller scale their day and then the one after that and so on. Pranav feels that, “One fine day, you hear an inner voice calling and you leave everything else and get started. And yes, cyclists and entrepreneurs are eternal optimists and you need all the positive energy you can amass just to get started,” (Bhasin, 2010). So like cycling a feeling on a sunny day when being outside is a must and almost a necessity that will not go away calls one to take on the path to entrepreneurship and that is the feeling that Pranav speaks to “diving in” because others can be influenced to cycle or branch out on their own business journey “but both of these activities require you to overcome a lot of inertia” before getting started (Bhasin, 2010).

Tough at First

“For the first few kilometers of your ride, you enjoy the breeze and the freedom, but soon you start getting tired and you are wondering if you made the right decision,” (Bhasin, 2010). This is the same feeling entrepreneurs get after not getting a pay check after making the big decision to take another path, so like the trails or new riding spots that one may find there is the same feeling for both. People who start off on bike rides with an expected goal or distance know that some of the way will have hills and that waking the bike up them is always an option but taking the slow and steady path will allow one to not have to do that. I really liked this article because he compares the fact that every cyclist should learn how to be independent say if a flat or something unexpected comes flying off your bike (any number of things could happen) just like when one is the entrepreneur they are also the marketer, the owner and the janitor (Bhasin, 2010).

Things May Seem Hard

“I did not ever think that the primary purpose of gears could be to help you save energy, rather than go fast. When you are out for a long ride, your goal is not to get there fast, but to finish the ride,” (Bhasin, 2010). I can tell that Pranav is a cyclist that is just like me and I go out to have a great time and most of the time I ride by myself but I do see speedsters zoom past me and that is O.K. Spending energy while cycling is just like spending money “You need to be very miserly in spending the cash because that is your biggest asset. If you burn your cash too fast, your startup may not live long enough to complete the journey you set it for,” (Bhasin, 2010).

Follow Your Path

So if the path to happiness is down a dirt trail with many slopes, inclines and bridges or if the side of the road on the bike path is the best and the only option than that is up to the rider, and if the path leads to a job that is not 9-5, but one that may become an extension of oneself never ending with one final destination. “All the hard work, all the effort that went into it was properly channeled towards achieving a goal and finally you achieved it. You had to go through numerous hurdles, at several points you were tempted to turn back, but your will power made you go on and on to achieve it,” (Bhasin, 2010). This article was just what I needed to help me write this paper because I spent a long time looking for sources that I could connect and relate to and it took fellow cyclists to get me well on my way and what a great source of inspiration.

References

Bhasin, P. (2010, June 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.pranavbhasin.com/

Shukla, A. (2009, June 30). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.paggu.com/entrepreneurship/what-is-entrepreneurship/