You may be reading this because you want a change of pace in your career. Or maybe you have a business idea, and you’re wondering if you have what it takes to become a revered entrepreneur.

What exactly is an entrepreneur? I’d like to show you why entrepreneurism is something you’re not just “born with,” how anyone can become one, and why we as a society need you to read this article.

Entrepreneur Defined

When I researched the definition of entrepreneur, I must say, I was a bit disappointed with the results I found. I was hoping for a definition that truly encompassed the risks, struggles, benefits, and traits that were generally associated with being an entrepreneur. One definition I found online was:

“A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” – Merriam-Webster

While the Merriam-Webster definition is unarguably true in many ways, I don’t think this definition gives entrepreneurs the credit they deserve. I’d like to cut and dice this definition to better illustrate the life and journey of a true entrepreneur and then get into what specific qualities true entrepreneurs must learn.

Here’s my version:

“A visionary businessperson who organizes and spearheads a movement in the marketplace and works diligently to ensure success of the initiative.”

I took out Merriam-Webster’s “taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so,” because while it is true that entrepreneurs must be financial risk takers, I believe that entrepreneurs take on more than just financial risks to pursue their initiatives, and I believe “works diligently to ensure success” better encompasses the idea that entrepreneurs will do just about anything and wear multiple hats to achieve their goals.

There are many different types of entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur doesn’t have to be the next Steve Jobs, change the way cars are built, or even start a revolution, but they do have to share a special set of qualities and characteristics that are essential all for entrepreneurs in charge small or large businesses.

5 Must-Have Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur

If you don’t consider yourself an entrepreneur now, you can become one. Contrary to popular belief, people are not born entrepreneurs. People are born with certain qualities that they can capitalize on, and then they are presented with events in their life that create opportunities to display these qualities and build something great. The good news is that you can cultivate the qualities you weren’t inherently born with, but it takes effort. Here are five areas that you must honestly judge yourself in if you want to be an entrepreneur.

Maintained Vision
Every successful business endeavor starts with a vision. Every step you take in business should move you closer to your vision. You may refine your vision as you go, but you must always work towards this outcome that you have imagined.

Inner Drive
As an entrepreneur, you must have a burning drive to do something with the vision you’ve created. There’s not much you can do with an idea unless you have the inner passion to initiate a response to take action.

Self Discipline
Entrepreneurs typically don’t have a boss. Therefore, you must be able to manage yourself. You must know where your weaknesses lie and be able to crack down on them. For example, if you can’t finish projects without deadlines, YOU have to set the deadline. Some people need a boss. That’s what makes the world go around. Be your own boss if you want to be an entrepreneur.

Resourcefulness
Don’t let obstacles stop you from moving forward. Search for the thing that you need until you’ve found it. Network to find the right people who can help you. Don’t take no for an answer. If you’ve hit an obstacle, it just means you need something. That “something” you need is somewhere, so go find it and don’t give up until you find it.

Perseverance
Entrepreneurs must be able to pick themselves up when they fall. Don’t get discouraged by the occasional doubts you may face. In fact, the doubts you face are the perfect opportunity to prove to yourself that the vision you’ve created can become a reality. Why can’t it? If you backslide in your initiatives, get back on the wagon. Focus on your vision and what steps you need to take to move forward. You created it, so take charge of it.

Why We Need You To Be An Entrepreneur

We need leaders! We need someone with revolutionary ideas to set these “norms” for us. Entrepreneurs will continue to shape and build our business society, create jobs, present new ways of doing things, and define the way businesses should be run.
You’ve got something to contribute to this world, and your ideas could be the next big thing. Even in small businesses, you as an entrepreneur can set the standard of how business is conducted in your industry, and you can reap the rewards of being a true entrepreneur.

About the Author: Sara Schoonover is Vice President of of TicketKick, a California company that helps drivers to reduce speeding fines and/or get speeding tickets, and other traffic tickets dismissed by helping drivers through the trial by written declaration process. The company, which formally launched in 2010 after providing similar services since 2006, is the leading company in this space and growing rapidly.

Last December, I joined a great online community of young Generation Y professionals at Brazen Careerist. Since joining the community, I have met new people, discovered new blogs, and read and/or participated in interesting discussions on practically every career-related topic imaginable. I’ve also had over ten of my blog posts featured on the front page of Brazen Careerist, which has helped my blog gain more exposure. Starting today, that’s all going to change … for the better of course.

Brazen Careerist is taking the next step in becoming the career management tool for Generation Y by getting rid of its blog-driven homepage and putting the focus entirely on you. What you see when you first log on is now entirely controlled by you. Your personal Fan Feed gives you real-time updates of the ideas that your favorite members are sharing with the community.

In addition to the Fan Feed update, the user profile feature has also been updated. There is a new résumé section where you can show where you’ve been, and a personal Ideas Feed that showcases your knowledge, opinions, and thoughts (a.k.a. your potential).

I truly believe that networking is the most effective way to get where you want to be in your career. Networking was definitely a huge factor in how I landed my dream job. While Facebook can be a little too informal and LinkedIn a little too traditional, Brazen Careerist provides a nice blend of features from the two sites, and it really has the potential to become a great career management tool for Generation Y professionals.

Whether you’re looking to earn some extra spending money or you’re just trying to make ends meet, many of us have taken on more than one job at some point in our lives. When I was a broke college student, working two jobs was a popular choice within my circle of broke college friends. Back then, I was so eager to get work experience for my resume that you didn’t even have to pay me.

One summer I managed to land a full-time job as well as a part-time unpaid internship. As if juggling two schedules isn’t tricky enough on its own, I worked the graveyard shift for the full-time job. Fortunately, I only had to go in a couple times each week for the part-time gig, and since they weren’t paying me, they were flexible with the scheduling. Getting off at 7 AM from my full-time job turned out to be pretty convenient for making it to morning meetings for the internship.

Even though I’m done with college and grad school now, the broke student mentality has stuck around. I have an awesome full-time job with normal work hours, but I still do work on the side. I’m not struggling to make ends meet, and I don’t really need extra spending money. So why am I working two jobs? Because I enjoy it.

My second job is part-time independent contract work for a company that I worked for one summer during college. Since it’s not related to my full-time job, my second job gives me an opportunity to develop and improve my skills and knowledge in areas that I don’t use in my other job.

One could also argue that this blog is my third job. It’s yet another job, completely unrelated to the other two jobs I have, so I get to explore even more realms of knowledge. I think that’s why I like it so much.

The only downside I can think of to all of this is that there are only 24 hours in a day, so you have to give up some of the time you could have used to do other important things, such as spend time with your friends and family. Like most things in life, the challenge is finding balance.

Over the past two weeks, the members of the College Money Network have published a series of articles related to Graduating From College In A Recession. This year’s graduating class faces unique challenges due to the economic woes that have unfolded over the past year. These college graduates are taking their diplomas and walking straight into something that no graduating class has had to deal with since 2001 — a recession.

We tackled a wide range of topics that we felt would be helpful for new college graduates trying to take their first step into the real world. For most of us, it’s a time filled with more questions than answers and more uncertainty than we’ve ever experienced. Hopefully, our articles will help you find some answers to the questions floating around in your head, or at least let you know that you’re not alone.

• Are Employers Having More Trouble in the Recession Too? at Poorer Than You
• Is Grad School Right For You? at Spilling Buckets
• Leveraging Social Network Tools in Your Job Search at Poorer Than You
• Are Internships An Option? at Living Almost Large
• Start a Side Business While Looking for a Job at Green Panda Treehouse
• Should You Move For A Job? at Living Almost Large
• 6 Stupid Ways To Waste Money After College at Broke Grad Student

One of the most commonly covered topics in the personal finance world is bringing your lunch to work. By packing a frugal lunch, you can really save a lot of money over time. For one of my summer jobs in college, I brought my lunch four days out of the week, and it saved me hundreds of dollars over the course of the summer.

Now that I have a job in the real world, things are different. We all know that nothing comes for free, so does bringing your own lunch hurt you in other unexpected ways? Some people argue that your lunch is part of your nonverbal communication, and bringing your own lunch doesn’t exactly project an image of power and success. As absurd as it may sound, does bringing your lunch to work actually hurt your chances of moving up in your career?

My initial thought — that’s crazy. But now that I think about it, all but one of my supervisors at work eat out or buy their lunch everyday. My bosses at the summer job in college also ate out everyday. Practically every boss that I’ve had over the years ate out everyday.

In fact, now that I have a full time job, I never bring my lunch to work anymore. I’m nowhere near a supervisor or boss yet, but I’d like to become one someday. It’ll take a few more years to see if this lunch theory proves to be true, but in the meantime, here are a few reasons why I never bring my lunch to work.

1. Nobody else brings their lunch.
Based on my experience, this one varies greatly depending on the company. I’ve worked at a company where almost half of the employees brought their lunch on a regular basis, but at my current job, the majority of the employees never bring their lunches. Two words — peer pressure.

2. Buying lunch saves time.
Lunch packing zealots will argue that it only takes a few minutes to pack a lunch, and that’s mostly true. What they conveniently leave out is the time that goes into the planning and grocery shopping for the lunches that you make. Of course, you also have to wait when you go out to eat, but while you wait, you can spending time doing something productive, like socializing with your coworkers, supervisors, bosses, etc.

3. Bringing your lunch isolates you.
Even if you’re not one of those people that eat alone at your desk, bringing your lunch still isolates you from your coworkers. Whether it’s making your coworkers wait while you reheat you leftovers or saying “no” to impromptu lunch plans because you already reheated your meatloaf, bringing your lunch can hinder the growth and development of professional relationships that could help you advance your career.