What is the Serial Entrepreneur Made of?

A serial entrepreneur is defined as an entrepreneur who starts a new business after having already started and exited a previous business venture. In contrast with an entrepreneur who starts a single company and operates it as a career, a serial entrepreneur may treat entrepreneurship as a profession.

Typical entrepreneurial characteristics are magnified in the serial entrepreneur.

In the Wall Street Journal article, “The Secrets of Serial Success,” Wayne Stewart, Clemson University management professor, says of serial entrepreneurs, "Some people are kind of entrepreneurial adrenaline freaks.  They really get their kicks by starting businesses."

In 2000, Mr. Stewart, and two other researchers, published a study on the common traits among serial entrepreneurs, identified as having owned and operated three or more businesses.  The entrepreneurs in the study who fit this definition scored higher in all three categories examined:

1. They had a higher propensity for risk, innovation and achievement.

2. They were less scared of failure.

3. They were more able to recover when they did fail.

Despite these seemingly inherent characteristics of serial entrepreneurs, their continued success is also dependent upon the knowledge and experience they have gained along the way.

Stephanie Clifford, of Inc. Magazine, lists the success strategies learned by serial entrepreneurs through their multiple ventures:

• From the first company: when and how to leave…

• From owning more than one company: don’t fall in love with the products…

• By the third company: how to leverage your resources creatively…

• By the fourth or fifth company: it’s okay to fail…

• By the sixth or seventh company: don’t hire people like yourself…

• What you finally learn: it does get easier…

• What you never learn: when to stop…

Whether you are looking to start your first or fifteenth business, just like the serial entrepreneur, take what you learn from your failures and successes and use it to reach your business goals.