Can You Make the Transition from Entrepreneur to Operating Manager?

The dictionary defines an entrepreneur as "an
individual who organizes, operates and assumes the risk
of a business venture." There’s little doubt that this
definition describes the small-business operator, a
vital role in the American economy. According to the
Small Business Administration, small businesses
comprise more than 99 percent of employers, employ 51
percent of all private-sector workers and provide about
75 percent of new jobs. Regardless of definitions,
however, the entrepreneur’s role as seen in today’s
business world goes beyond small-business operation.
Today’s entrepreneur is creator, innovator and dreamer.

by Charles R. McConnell

The entrepreneur usually believes in something enough
to risk almost anything in pursuit of success. Although
we probably can’t say with certainty what makes an
entrepreneur, we can say there’s a flair to the
entrepreneur’s behavior that suggests a talent. It’s
something than can perhaps be brought out and developed
through the right kind of education, but it’s likely
that the spark of entrepreneurship has to be there to
begin with. That spark is some critical combination of
talent and desire.

There are vast differences between the entrepreneurial
environment and the operating environment, and the
individual who flourishes in one may not survive in the
other. The entrepreneur is generally
innovation-focused, risk-taking, imaginative and strong
in creating ideas, while the successful operating
manager is people- and output-focused and steady and
strong in implementation. Creating and launching a new
enterprise requires considerably different capabilities
than operating a business day-to-day, and these two
critical sets of abilities may not reside in the same
individual.

The entrepreneur may dream big, but contrary to some
perceptions, this individual isn’t a gambler. The
entrepreneur usually knows the inner workings of a
specific business in great detail and can see new
opportunities that may not be visible to others. The
entrepreneur is capable of balancing risk with
responsibility and can get out and sell ideas as well
as products or services.

But when a business expands and grows there is more to
be done, an ever-expanding battery of tasks necessary
to keep producing and continue to meet growing customer
demands. The nuts-and-bolts aspects of running a
business take time and attention away from what the
entrepreneur is passionate about. Drive, intensity and
singleness of purpose fuel initial entrepreneurial
success, but these can also result in blind spots that
cause problems. Entrepreneurs do not often look back to
ask whether they have created a replicable process or
system or left clear a trail of methods and procedures.

As they grow, most companies tend to become more
conservative and more averse to risk. While starting a
business requires the passion, drive and innovation of
the entrepreneur, it takes the steady hand of stable,
knowledgeable operating management to run the
business in a way that ensures its continued existence
and success.

To complement the entrepreneur’s natural
tendencies and compensate for potential shortcomings,
is important to hire people with different strengths from the
entrepreneur. Any new business needs a solid team of
managers to build and operate the company, but the
entrepreneur is the cornerstone and remains such for
some time to come. As associated as he or she may be
with the company in the eyes of the public and the
business world, until the venture takes its place as a
relatively stable member of its industry, the
entrepreneur will likely remain the major attractor of
investors.

Concerning the title question, "Can You Make the
Transition from Entrepreneur to Operating Manager?,"you
first need to ask, "Would I want to make this
transition?" Many successful entrepreneurs will answer
this latter question with a resounding "No!" Many an
entrepreneur has gotten a new enterprise up and running
only to sell out and move on to the next appealing
idea. Some have done so several times, each time
leaving a business in the hands of operating management
while pursuing the next entrepreneurial challenge.

Making the transition from entrepreneur to operating
management means:

* Much of the passion that drove the entrepreneur’s
creativity must be supplanted by an equally strong
desire to guide the enterprise to long-run success.

* The dream of creation or innovation must likewise
give way to the reality of organizational survival and
success.

* The challenge of invention or innovation must bow to
the challenge of running the business.

The entrepreneur who is unwilling-or perhaps by nature
even unable-to make the transition to operating
management might better chase the next dream while
those of different temperament run the business.

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