Entrepreneur Checklist

So you’ve finally decided to work from home — you’ll need to set up your own home office! It’s one of the best parts of working from home. For the first time in your life, you get to choose your desk and where it will go. You get to choose the equipment and the supplies. You get to choose the chairs and the lamps. This is going to be fun! Let’s explore the essentials of designing your home office… everything from finding the best space, to buying the right supplies. You’ll spend a lot of time in your office, so let’s make sure you design it right!

Find The Room
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right room in which to locate your home office. After all, when you moved into your house you probably didn’t know you’d end up working from home. Look for a room in your house that meets these criteria:

1. Separate from household members and distractions
2. Enough room for a desk, chair, equipment, office supplies, and space to think and move around
3. Enough electrical outlets and power for all your equipment
4. Phone line(s) available
5. Enough heating and cooling
6. Windows for sunlight and fresh air
7. Good ventilation

In an ideal situation, all of the above elements will be present.
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One in ten adults in the United States today is an entrepreneur. This phenomenon is by no means restricted to North America. The leading country for entrepreneurship is Brazil, where one in eight adults is an entrepreneur. Australia isn’t far behind the U.S., with one in twelve.

These countries - Brazil, the United States and Australia - lead the way. Contrast, for example, Germany (one in 25), the United Kingdom (one in 33), Finland and Sweden (one in 50) and Ireland and Japan (less than one in 100).
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000

Entrepreneurship Defined

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 1999 defined entrepreneurship as:

“any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business, by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business.”

Entrepreneurial Activity - An Historical Perspective

Entrepreneurship is a major contributing factor to the economic well-being of a country, both in terms of economic growth and job creation. Traditionally, entrepreneurial ability tended to be defined by the following four attributes:

• Initiative - the entrepreneur takes the initiative to bring together the economic resources of land, labor and capital to produce a commodity (whether a good or a service), with the hope that such production will create a profitable business venture.
• Decision-making - the entrepreneur makes the basic business policy decisions for the business, thereby setting the course of the enterprise.
• Innovation - the entrepreneur is an innovator who attempts to introduce new products and new ways of doing things.
• Risk-taker - the entrepreneur risks his or her time, effort, business reputation and invested funds in the entrepreneurial venture.

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