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JIMINY SELF-HELP HANDBOOK 13

wear out their team members who don’t share the same work ethic, while most of the time they don’t
see the value of raising capital as opposed to just working harder.

 Imitators
These entrepreneurs prefer to play safe by copying a successful business idea or model and improving
upon them. For example, they iterate a certain feature or innovation to make a particular product
better or change a business model to make it more appealing and have a competitive edge over the
current market. In a way, “copycat entrepreneurs” are part innovators and part hustlers who don’t
stick to the terms set by other people and have a lot of self-confidence.
The greatest advantages of imitators are that they know the opportunities and shortcomings of the
business and they are risk takers but in a safer and usually less stressful way. In addition, they are great
researchers, they learn from other peoples’ mistakes and they have an ability to build upon an existing
idea choosing not to follow or do things on other people’s terms. The disadvantages of being an
imitator includes that their ideas are always compared to the original ones and that they always have
to “play catch-up”.

 Researchers
Researcher entrepreneurs usually believe in original viable ideas, that is why they prefer to start a
business that has high chances of succeeding. In order to choose the right foolproof business to start,
they spend a lot of time in gathering all the relevant information and they put in detailed work and
effort to understand all aspects. They are visionaries and perfectionists, effective problem solvers and
critical thinkers. Researchers usually take a lot of time to make decisions or to launch products because
they need to analyze every subject from all angles minimizing the possibility of a failure. These
entrepreneurs rely much more on data and facts than instincts and intuition.

The advantages of being a researcher entrepreneur include the following: plan for as many
contingencies as possible, detailed and well-thought-out business/financial plans, good knowledge of
the market and minimized chances of failing in the business. Of course, there are also disadvantages,
since researchers typically move slow and their tense to avoid risks can hamper progress in a new
venture. Another disadvantage is that they might fall into the habit of obsessing over the numbers and
focusing less on the running of the business.

 Buyers
These entrepreneurs have financial wealth/resources and a great network and are ready to invest in
any promising business. They might already have an experience in running a successful business and
look for more opportunities, for original and different ideas. They have a thirst for knowledge and they
act as a guide to new ventures. Buyer entrepreneurs will identify a business and assess its viability,
proceed to acquire it and find the most suitable person to run and grow it.

Being a buyer has many advantages such as less risk, since you buy an already established venture and
don’t have to worry so much about innovation. In addition, byers can focus on building on something
that has already gone through building a foundation and they already have a market for their products.
On the other hand, byer entrepreneurs usually pay a high price for good businesses and they face the
risk of buying businesses that have problems that they think they can turn around.