As an entrepreneur, you are the one who creates and establishes a new business. In the initial phase you will be specialist, manager and entrepreneur all in one. This requires a lot of different skills from you. The more experience you already have, the better. To be a good entrepreneur you have to adapt to your shortcomings, so you can be the entrepreneur you want to be.
Potential investors or partners are not only interested – unlike in a job interview – in your resume, but rather what skills you bring to the table, which help you to successfully start and lead a company. These include technical and personal skills, entrepreneurial know-how, as well as your work and life experience.
By writing a business plan you have the chance to describe the leading role you want to fill from all angles. This may sound a bit complicated. Actually, you just have to write 2-3 paragraphs that show who you are, what you’re capable of, what you want to learn and why being an entrepreneur is exciting for you.
Show what makes you special, professionally, what you did so far and how all this is relevant to the industry you want to start your company in.
Do not be afraid to show your shortcomings as well and how you are going to eliminate them (e.g. Coaching or courses).
Here you list everything, which sets you apart as an entrepreneur. Do you have any commercial or economic know-how? Do you have any experience in leading a team? Are you familiar with marketing and sales? Do you have advisors by your side?
This is also the place to mention if your family supports your endeavour or not.
Your most essential skills should be documented in the attachment of your business plan. In addition to a classic curriculum vitae add relevant certificates. No one is interested in your school report or an internship certificate. For example, if you want to found a crafting startup, add your master craftsman certificate.
Some projects work better as a team. If you found with others, the chapter “entrepreneur” should not only contain the strengths and weaknesses of every founding member, but also how they complement each other: How does your skills, strengths and experiences supplement each other? How will you distribute responsibilities? Do you and your partners already worked as a group in the past? (E.g. As chef or restauranteur, as craftsman and office administrator)
Your CV is a good basis for your presentation as a founder and future entrepreneur. However, it is not necessary that you list all your professional activities. It should rather be a condensed version, which only contains information that is relevant to the company.
Lack of personal or professional competence is actually the most common reason for refusal by banks and investors – before even looking into the business plan. If you’re planning to open a restaurant without having any experience in the gastronomic field, but rather out of a passion for cooking, your business plan will most likely land in the trash, as hard as that sounds.
The chapter “Entrepreneur” is especially important for teams: You have to highlight the different strengths and corresponding responsibilities of the members. Teams are currently in high demand among investors and creditors because several entrepreneurs can compensate for the weaknesses of the others. But there are also good reasons not to found as a team. If you go at it by yourself, you have to make clear how you get the knowledge and impulses that make you stronger as an entrepreneur. For example, by contracting freelancers or other supporters. Lacking knowledge and deficiencies may be openly mentioned. Describe how you will compensate for them.
Interesting entrepreneurship stories- whether they are teams or individual founders – can be found on our examples page.