I couldn't sell a stove to an Innuit. I work hard but I am not very entrepreneurial. I admire people like Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. They set up and grew their own profitable companies when they were very young. It got me wondering whether entrepreneurs are born with the skills they need or if men and women can be trained to earn money after spotting and exploring opportunities in the marketplace.

 

For UK business consultant¹ Peter Ryding, genes² have a great deal to do with it. He says that an individual's talent for business is 70% born, 10% nurture³, and 20% trainable.

 

Another expert, Brian Morgan, professor of entrepreneurship at Cardiff Metropolitan⁴ University, places more importance on acquired knowledge. He says business skills can be learned "through college courses or by working with a large company in a sector⁵ that the budding entrepreneur is keen to enter."

 

"This experience might help the candidate to develop some of the fundamental business and networking skills," adds Mr Morgan.

 

The owner of a chain of restaurants in the UK, Luke Johnson, says that "taking charge of your working life can actually be a better choice to control your own destiny."

 

A friend of mine did exactly that. She put a counter in a crowded shopping centre and sold coconut⁶ macaroons. She prepared a business plan, got a bank loan and organised some advertising⁷.

 

Her start-up was successful in the beginning. She was proud of her coconut macaroons. Well, maybe too proud - as she offered free samples to everybody. She'd give away bags of her cakes.

 

Profits started to go down but her entrepreneurship did help her to control her own destiny. The owner of a big department store in the shopping centre was impressed by the caring way she dealt with her customers. They ended up getting married. My friend is a born entrepreneur. She now has coconut macaroon counters all over town.

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