Recessionary times weed out the weak and the strong prosper. In business terms that means they can gain market share. Another perk about these poor economic times is that you can negotiate a better deal for your company and the various forms of advertising since you know that everyone else is cutting or that they are completely stopping to advertise.

Our economy and the global economy is in a pickle. There is waning consumer confidence. Everyone seems broke. Spending has tightened. The mortgage crisis is still taking victims. Just look at the mammoth of a company that it has brought  

When you think of a successful entrepreneur your immediately think of personality traits or values that define who they are. Richard Branson is associated with fun. Anita Roddick was an environmentalist. Steve Jobs lived by simplicity. Each one of these evokes an emotional connection with what they were good at (Richard still is).

So what is an entrepreneur? What is entrepreneurship? There are many definitions, but the one that rings true to me is that of Peter Drucker

“This defines entrepreneur and entrepreneurship – the entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

Does  

As a 21-year old college student at Wharton, the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, I embraced the ideals of entrepreneurship so whole-heartedly I started my own company. My classmates and I managed the company for two and a half years and it became our full time job after graduation. We wrote a business plan and believed we had a unique concept, a strong management team, and a viable “business model.”

Unfortunately, despite some initial success, my business eventually shut down. Our fate isn’t surprising when you consider the challenges faced by entrepreneurs starting new companies. Like many entrepreneurs,  

One thing defines an entrepreneur – constructive action.

Typically, they’re the salesman – doing *everything* to get people to buy their stuff. We all have the image in our heads; the “wheeler-dealer”, picking any opportunity to try and exploit (and other people) for profit.

Indeed, the term “entrepreneur” seems to have drifted around the present lexicon – from “something you did” (typically to improve people’s lives) into a blend of “money mad hustler” and “someone who doesn’t ‘follow the rules'”.

The reality is the modern meaning could not be further from the truth.

Entrepreneurship isn’t a vocation or job. It’s