Well, there go my hairs as an entrepreneur, and many entrepreneurs with me, standing straight up. Now we can challenge the research method and point fingers in a Dutch way, but it is better to look at how we can positively change this.
Top Sports
What ingredients are needed to score well as an entrepreneur? There are quite a few: courage, vision, mission, organizational ability, leadership ability, good market orientation, financial skills, perseverance, and so on. A top entrepreneur can be compared to a top athlete. Why does one athlete reach the top while another remains stuck in mediocrity? Just look at the aforementioned ingredients and you will quickly get a clear picture.
Top athletes and top entrepreneurs have a goal for which they want to work incredibly hard. Of course, talent also plays a role, but it is mainly about falling, getting up, and going again. Learning by doing, but it also plays a role that entrepreneurship or sportsmanship is instilled early on with the spoon.
Grandpa and Grandma
When I look at my own entrepreneurship, I see the example of my grandparents. One of my grandfathers was a contractor and the other was a butcher. Both of my grandmothers were the managers, not only of the household but also of the financial side of the businesses. As a little kid, I was always drawn to the dynamics, energy, and unpredictability. A visit to my grandparents was never boring. They were hard workers, but also true life enjoyers. That also immediately reminds me of a good friend of mine, Arko van Brakel, a top entrepreneur and one of the first internet millionaires in the Netherlands. His motto is: work hard, play hard, and rest hard! So true and wonderful to apply every day.
Let's go for it!
But what if you want to be the first generation entrepreneur in the family? It would be wonderful if entrepreneurship were anchored in our education system. Learning by doing, and if all children in the Netherlands could easily get acquainted with entrepreneurship starting tomorrow, I am sure that in fifteen years, the Netherlands will become the European champion in Entrepreneurship with a 9 as a grade. It starts with setting goals; let's go for it!
About Jacqueline Zuidweg
Jacqueline Zuidweg (1965) is the founder and director of Zuidweg & Partners B.V., and Businesswoman of the Year 2012. When she, as a lawyer at a consultancy for SMEs, noticed that there was no good debt assistance for (ex-)entrepreneurs in the Netherlands, she started Zuidweg & Partners B.V. In 2012, she was named Businesswoman of the Year and since this year, Jacqueline has been a board member of the Jong Ondernemen Foundation to promote entrepreneurship in education. Her book 'Falling, getting up, and going again!' was published.