Why Inquisitiveness is an Inherent Trait of an Entrepreneur Curiosity is the heart of entrepreneurship and the driving force behind new business opportunities
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Curiosity kills the cat, goes the popular phrase. Well, not in the case of entrepreneurship. In the high-paced start-up environment, there's always something to learn from. The inherent inquisitiveness of an entrepreneur comes into play while building a business, where there's always the quest to achieve more.
It's the inquisitiveness which made people do great things and we have people like the Wright brothers who throughout their lives worked on the funds of various capitalists, theirs' was a true startup. Today we have aircrafts only because of the inquisitiveness they had. If people call them inventors they are partially correct. They had similar contracts with the investors what a start up of today has with a venture capitalist. Glider was a pure business venture. That's another story that people called them and the investors mad in those days but that happens to everyone who does something out of the league, so that means curiosity doesn't kill any cat, let us elaborate on this.
Entrepreneur India spoke to start-up founders about curiosity to learn more actually helps an entrepreneur grow his/her business.
Mother of All Progress
Entrepreneurship is about growth, succeeding in one's own endeavors with the confidence of bearing a risk, believes Vinay Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO, WittyFeed. Finding solutions to a tiny problem to making massive problems look tiny is how he keep curiosity levels high and thrives as an entrepreneur. "I prefer to call curiosity as the mother of all the progress, and so I always treat it as a sapling. The absence of curiosity leads to stagnation and presence of curiosity leads to infinite possibilities because then we're always finding the fundamental aspect "Why" behind everything," he said.
Crossing Unfamiliar Boundaries
As an entrepreneur, you are constantly pushing boundaries. There's no holding back when it comes to setting your foot in unfamiliar spaces. Instead, you have to count in the risk factor without letting it affect your growth. Pinky Daga, CEO of Thriive Art & Soul believes that there is magic and serendipity to be found once you tread out of your comfort zone. "Most entrepreneurs have been the kids who were always getting thrown out of class for exploring the unfamiliar. They are usually those who gain success or "thrive' before others, by finding innovative methods to market an existing product, or doing something as simple as changing price points or distribution channels," she said.
Daga believes that these are the people who grew up to become agile listeners and observers of any new idea even if there no obvious link to their existing product, service or businesses. "Entrepreneurs constantly feed their sense of curiosity by continuously questioning the 'best' way to solve the smallest problems, or looking at an old business model for a new market," she said.
Curiosity Can Bring Business Opportunities
When you are trying to move beyond the usual, you have to be open to learn more. Daga said that curiosity is the heart of entrepreneurship and the driving force behind new business opportunities. An aspiring or existing entrepreneur is always alert, awake and receptive to notice a customer problem – experienced by themselves or others.
"While these new ideas may seem unnecessary to lay people with unwavering beliefs, a compromise is unacceptable to the entrepreneur who will always go that extra mile to pry into whether an improvement can work on a status quo product/service. Walking on the road less travelled – away from compliance is a thrill for them," she said.
Singhal on the other hand said that when it comes to business, staying curious is the underlying fact of an entrepreneur's life. Whether it is an achievement or a failure, there's a take away in both the scenarios and it all depends on how a person perceives it. "A curious entrepreneur will always look at the brighter side, the one which offers opportunities because nothing is perfect and practice maketh a man perfect," he said.
