Merriam-Webster defines "entrepreneur" as "a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money."

Are you an entrepreneur or are you an entrepreneur wannabe?If you're not sure, ask yourself this; am I a risk taker or a risk avoider?Can I come up with ideas that are considered outside of the box thinking or do I feel safer by following the crowd?If you answer the latter part to each question, you might as well just go back to work for someone else because you are not a true entrepreneur.If you are not willing to take financial risks by creating a business that attempts to disrupt the status quo of an existing market, you are not a true entrepreneur.If on the other hand, you aspire to become someone who is courageous enough to challenge the status quo and take some real risks, then you my friend just may be a true entrepreneur.A true entrepreneur questions everything.Why does something work a certain way and how can I make it work better, what do people need and how can I fill that need.I watched an old movie the other day about Thomas Edison and how he tried over 9,000 times to invent the incandescent light bulb.Just think of it … 9,000 tries to get it to work. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work,"Edison said.He finally tried an idea that was totally outside of the box thinking. His employees didn't think it would work, but it did.That breakthrough was just one of many for Edison. In his 84 years, he acquired a record number of 1,093 patents (singly or jointly) and was the driving force behind such innovations as the phonograph and one of the earliest motion picture cameras.He also created the world's first industrial research laboratory.Don't be afraid to be creative; practice thinking outside of the box. Sometimes, the crazier an idea sounds, the better an idea it may turn out to be.The CCEDC will soon be announcing the next edition of Guppy Tank for entrepreneurs.If you have what it takes, watch for more details coming soon.And if you are ready to get started today, call Linda Rex at the CCEDC office at 610-379-5000 to schedule a free appointment with Wilkes University Small Business Development Center."Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."Thomas Edison.