What’s the secret of being a successful entrepreneur? A lot of it has to do with the right upbringing

An age-old question was posed to me recently by a journalist: “Are entrepreneurs born, or bred,”, he asked. Luckily I had some backup as I was being interviewed along with two professors of entrepreneurship who happened to have performed a good deal of research on this topic.

In spite of this, we didn’t reach a conclusion as it’s still a much-debated question and, like many issues, depends on ones’ point of view. For instance, I believe that entrepreneurs are largely developed through one’s environment and by a set of conditions that could greatly influence one’s propensity to be entrepreneurial.

My personal experience includes growing up in an entrepreneurial family. Through generations of entrepreneurship, the sacrifices, rewards, and frustrations that are directly related to this path were familiar and inherent in our family environment.

And in later years, choosing this very path by running my own business for a period of two years, I quickly learned that no amount of preparation can fully prepare one for the uncertainties of being a business owner. This was after many years of education, and after working in my father’s business both part time and full time.

I can now say that I didn’t appreciate the full extent of risk, reward, and sacrifice, until I lived the experience myself: the endless 18-hour days, the multitasking and constant pressure, the real risks and rewards, and the thrill of working for myself. And, inevitably, the darker days that crept up on me when I soon realized the magnitude of what I had gotten myself into!

But let’s go back to the interview. Part of the debate centered on the characteristics and attributes associated with entrepreneurs and whether there is a need for formal training and education in the areas of business skills to translate to financial viability. Overall, the agreement we came to was that there are many characteristics and attitudes inherent in the entrepreneur that will go a long way towards success, and other essential skills can be taught—managerial skills, financial management, managing cash flow, and marketing, to name a few.

The ability to take risks, capitalize on opportunities, demonstrate creativity and innovative thinking, and be a savvy negotiator, were some of the skills and abilities not so easily taught through the curricula of business schools and management programs.

On the subject of teaching entrepreneurship, I was fascinated at the perspective relayed by one of my colleagues during the interview. He challenged our education system and its current ability to nurture and develop entrepreneurial attitudes within youth. I hadn’t considered the ability to foster entrepreneurial thinking in the early years through the influence of our education system. How does the system encourage and promote behaviours that allow kids to be creative, take risks, challenge the status quo, and demonstrate their own unique talents and abilities as individuals? Does our system encourage exploration of entrepreneurial attitudes and career paths as viable options for young people?

As I mentioned, my perspective can be summed up in my own life experience. Life experience in our family taught me a strong work ethic, a sense of resiliency needed to get by in tough times, the height of real commitment, and that success—and failure—is truly only limited to one’s ability to dream or imagine. For this I thank my mother, father, grandparents, and all who came before.

Kathy Murphy is the president of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development (www.ceed.info), and has been exposed to entrepreneurship since childhood. Kathy would love to connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/yourfuturehere.