You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Entrepreneurs Aren't Risk-Seekers -- They Just Handle Risk Better Managing risk is in entrepreneurs' DNA.

By John Suh

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

aluxum | Getty Images

Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur as "one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise." Dictionary.com states that an entrepreneur is "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk." There are more than 25 million of them in the U.S. alone.

You may notice that the word "risk" comes up in both. Entrepreneurs have long been associated with being big risk-takers -- throwing caution to the wind in pursuit of wealth, or rolling the dice against the odds. The truth is that most entrepreneurs are more comfortable with risk than most people, but that doesn't make them risk-seekers. They're optimists and realists who are willing to face risk and mitigate it. It's what they do.

Small business owners and startup founders often find themselves running on fumes, living on the brink of insolvency as they try to provide for their families. The SBA says only roughly 20 percent of new businesses survive past their first year of operation. But, if they make it past that, the chances for survival start rising. And they get there by mitigating risk. So get comfortable with it. Here are four tips that can help give you perspective:

Know that it's always there.

Risk is an inherent part of entrepreneurship -- from the personal capital you invest, to the daily business decisions you have to make. The more you accept that, the easier it is to live with.

Don't start after you stop.

Many entrepreneurs will finally pull the trigger on starting their business -- the biggest risk they've ever taken -- and then want to play it safe. That's how many businesses stagnate. To grow your business you have to go chase opportunities, and every opportunity comes with a level of risk.

Not every chance you take is going to work out.

Occasionally, even your most calculated risks will fail. But, then again, some of those ambiguous or completely unknown risks may pay off wildly. Just because the opportunity you took that seemed like a sure thing tanked, that shouldn't deter you from taking similar risks in the future.

The risks you take are what define you.

Risks are the biggest differentiator in business. Large or small, highly calculated or potential business breakers, the risks you take are what move you in uncharted directions to find the space to build something truly great and unique.

There are lots of real risks out in the world that carry permanent consequences. The risks we take every day as entrepreneurs are not as dangerous in comparison. I spent a lot of time in different countries and cultures at a young age and it gave me a perspective I hold on to today. If you have your health and the people you love around you, and you're smart and talented, then nothing else really matters. There's not a lot of real risk sitting out there for you. If you create a business and it fails, you can always start another one. You're likely not facing harm to the degree of jail or death. You will still have the most important things in life to pick you up and help you rebuild.

John Suh

CEO at LegalZoom

John Suh has served as LegalZoom’s CEO since 2007 and as a member of the board since 2005. A serial entrepreneur, he has taken multiple businesses from startup to more than $20 million and helped some existing companies grow to over $100 million in revenues.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

'Wildly Inappropriate': Woman Says She Was Denied a Job Because She Didn't Wear Makeup During the Interview

Melissa Weaver was applying for a VP of HR job at a tech company via video.

Business News

From Tom Brady to Kevin O'Leary – See Who Lost Big in the Wake of the FTX Crypto Collapse

The crash exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts, leaving investors and customers scrambling to recoup their funds.

Business News

Kevin O'Leary Says 'Do Not' Merge Finances, Bank Accounts With Your Spouse: 'I Forbid It in My Own Family'

The "Shark Tank" star stressed the importance of keeping your "own financial identity" in a relationship.

Business News

This Highly-Debated Piece of Cinematic History Just Sold For Over $700,000 at Auction

The wood panel from "Titanic" is often mistaken as a door. Either way, he couldn't have fit. (Sorry.)