What is Entrepreneurship?
You want to start for yourself. Start your own business. But what does entrepreneurship actually mean? What is an Entrepreneur? The definition of an entrepreneur according to Wikipedia is a person who engages in economic activities for a profit. With the caveat that you use your own – or borrowed – capital. In short: you are an entrepreneur if you have your own company. And with your business you earn money by selling products or services. So entrepreneurship is creating value with your own company.
Requirements of the Tax and Customs Administration for entrepreneurship
In fact, you can call yourself an entrepreneur if you have registered your company with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK). Whether the Tax and Customs Administration also sees you as an entrepreneur is another story. In order to be seen as a full-fledged entrepreneur, you must meet various requirements.
For example, you must make sufficient profit with your company, carry out your work independently and meet the hours criterion. This means that you invest at least 1,225 hours per calendar year in your company, which equates to approximately 24 hours per week.
But then you’re not there yet. The Tax and Customs Administration also looks at the following matters:
- Do you run entrepreneurial risk?
- Do you have enough capital to start a business?
- Do you have different clients?
- Do you promote your business?
- Are you liable for your company’s debts?
Can you answer ‘yes’ to the above questions without a doubt? Then you don’t have to worry much. The Tax and Customs Administration undoubtedly sees you as an entrepreneur. And that’s good news, because you can make use of attractive deductions that ultimately mean you pay less tax.
How do you become an entrepreneur?
You don’t need any special education or degree to become an entrepreneur. We already described that to be an entrepreneur, you need to register with the Chamber of Commerce and make enough profit so that the Tax and Customs Administration also sees you as an entrepreneur. Those are the two basic requirements, but in addition there is much more to real entrepreneurship.
For example, you have to arrange everything yourself: your administration, time registration, tax return for VAT and income tax and finding assignments or customers. After all, without clients you have no income and your company costs money. Then you better call it a hobby.
What do you need to become an entrepreneur? A healthy dose of perseverance and perspective, creativity to discover new opportunities time after time, discipline and a network. Put your plans on paper and write a business plan. That doesn’t have to be complicated, you can read more about it in this article .
Step-by-step entrepreneurship plan
With our step-by -step plan Read also Successful start in 5 step sari you sure that you are not forgetting anything in your preparation for successful entrepreneurship.
- Orientation: you research your idea, your target group and your chances of success.
- Make a plan: you put your ideas on paper in a business plan. You also make a financial plan.
- Arranging: you set up your administration and arrange the correct registrations, a business account, insurance and payment methods or invoicing.
- Entering the market: you introduce your product to the market in the right way
- Testing and adjusting: you check your plan to make adjustments, to make even more profit or to grow.
The benefits of entrepreneurship
Working as an employee has advantages. You receive a fixed salary every month, including holiday pay. And if you are sick or take vacation days, you will still receive your wages. So why do many people still want to start their own business? These are the benefits of doing business.
- As an entrepreneur you are your own boss. So you decide how many hours you work and which assignments you take on.
- You determine your own working hours. Are you not a morning person? Then you can get up later without feeling guilty and, for example, pick up work in the evening if that suits you better.
- You can work at home, rent a flex desk or work with your laptop in a beach bar. As an entrepreneur, you decide where and how you work.
- There is no limit to your income, you decide how much you earn.
- Entrepreneurship is challenging and varied, precisely because you have to arrange everything yourself. And that also gives more satisfaction.
Characteristics of successful entrepreneurship
The ambition to become an entrepreneur is a great goal. But how does your business become successful? What are the secrets of successful entrepreneurs? If you want to stimulate entrepreneurship, it is certainly useful to better develop certain character traits. For example, consider the following tips:
- Keep your eyes open for new opportunities and developments.
- Research the market and your own talents. Can you find a gap in the market and use your talents to fill that gap? Then you have a good match!
- Invest in your network and your networking skills.
- Learn from your mistakes and try to do it differently next time.
- Manage your time, think carefully about where you want to invest your precious time. As an entrepreneur you do not have to do everything yourself, you can also outsource certain matters such as your accounting.
- Dare to take risks and try new projects every now and then. It can just grow into a success.
