Beware the fake entrepreneur – Frentrepreneur
Beware the fake entrepreneur – Frentepreneur™
As an entrepreneur and a small business owner, you are going to be interacting with other business professionals. Some of those professionals may be in the areas of legal, financial or regulatory and should be considered an essential cost of doing business.
Mirriam Webster’s definition of an entrepreneur:
entrepreneur
: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise
Characteristics of an entrepreneur:
- Actively engages in network building
- Reasonably shares their knowledge to build partnerships
- Respects their internal and external stakeholders
- Conducts business with integrity
- Have a healthy skepticism for “get rich quick” schemes and practices
However, business owners and entrepreneurs are often the target of “FRenteprenuers”™.
FRentrepreneur™
fräⁿn-trə-p(r)ə-ˈn(y)u̇r
: one who pretends to organize, manage, and assume the risks of a business or enterprise – a fake entrepreur
Characteristics of a FRentrepreneur:
- preys on businesses by offering incorrect, misleading or just bogus advice
- fraudulently portraying themselves as subject matter experts
- uses frightening jumbles of buzzwords to convince you to buy a product or service you don’t need for an exorbitant amount of money
- has absolutely no interest in furthering the growth of the business community and its members
How to tell the difference between the two?
Just a few examples:
| FRentrepreneur | Entrepreneur | |
| FRentreprenuers get angry when you start asking questions. | Entrepreneurs are happy to answer questions and will talk endlessly about their products and their metrics. | |
| FRentrepreneurs can’t explain exactly what their product is and why it has value to your business. But they are adamant that you need to buy it! | Entrepreneurs know their products inside and out. They will even be honest enough to tell you if their product isn’t for you! | |
| Frentrepreneurs are hoping other small businesses are not successful – more for them. | Entrepreneurs encourage diversity and competition as best practice methods |
The best defense against a FRentrepreneur is knowledge and a belief in yourself and your business. Be your own subject matter expert. Surround yourself with like-minded people and businesses who are interested in partnerships and building coalitions. Learn to walk away from a bad deal.
Today’s favorite: http://www.grassrootsu.org/