Ask me about businesses.

[Matilda777]

Hello! How do you write about starting a business if the characters are not entirely human? Thanks. As I understand it, entrepreneur characteristics are defined as:
Motivation
Passion
Vision
Confidence
Decision-making
Innovation
Risk-taking
Curiosity
Persistence
Leadership

Yes, there is a need for shelter, food, water, clothing, etc no matter what world you are in. But how do I get the readers to care that the protagonist has started a business? Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[pmmg]

I am not sure how not being human would make much difference, other than, maybe there is some racial preferences or biases going on.

My Wife watches the hallmark channel, and in it, almost always the woman is running a business, and as you watch the show, anyone with a business mind would know its really ought to fail. But....miraculously, it succeeds. Even though the business would not make sense on paper, the illusion is there that it does and it all works out. And it does have the trappings, fixup a workshop, make an unusual product, take some risks, get in good with the community....blah blah blah.... The point is, you dont have to accurately show the inner workings of a business to create the illusion that there is one and its working.

I would just like to believe it plausible.

Trying to list out the good traits of entrepreneurs (wow, spelled it right on the first effort ) is nebulous, cause no two are alike. All of those things may seem like the needed traits, but it could be those were not ingrained, but developed over time, or some have high marks an one and low marks in another. Who can know the magic combination. And some are just lucky, and some have a silver spoon.... the business owners I know have a motto.... what the easiest way to earn a million dollars? Start off with ten million dollars... Who can do that?

I think those traits are more illusionary. They may fit some business leaders, but not others. For me, I think the trait I lack to be a good business leader, is I am too thoughtful and less reactionary. If someone screws up, I tend not to blow up at it, but see all the reasons why. My brother....he would blow up and possibly fire you. He's a better boss than me, but I would not want to be him.

If you want to show a character that is a good business person, and emulate some of those traits, maybe look at someone successful in business as your model.

 

[Mad Swede]

OK, I'll start by putting my answer in human terms. Businesses start because someone identifies a need for something, be that food, clothes, weapons or whatever. Then the business gorws and other businesses may start. The needs to be met vary depending on technology, where and how the people are living and so on. Success is partly about motivation and partly about handling money and credit. Credit is about trust, about the ability to judge whether someone else will be able to may in future. There are legal aspects too - there may be some form of contract law which regulates what happens if there is a business disagreement or someone is accused of being a cheat. It may be possible to create a need by producing something completely new, but this in turn requires that society is settles enough that people can spend money on non-essential items (ie luxuries).

So with that written, you need to think your setting through. How civilised is it? What are the needs of these non-humans and how are they met (or not)? How does their society regard business and trade? Is it respectable? How does the legal system work? None of this needs to be very detailed nor does it need to be entirely realistic. But you do need to think it through, because it is the wider setting and what happens there which starts the character off in trade and which creates the interest needed for the readers to buy into the character and follow them through the story.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I think your list of Entrepreneurial traits is optimistic and overestimating entrepreneurs. The only common traits entrepreneurs have is that they want to start a business. Other than that, they are as different as all other human beings.

The two main things to ask yourself are what kind of business are they starting, and how common is it to start a business in your setting. Trying to start a local bakery is very different from starting a business that creates and sells software to lawyers which is again very different from a company that creates cardboard boxes.

The bakery is more likely to be a passion project, while the software one might be more someone identifying a need in the market and acting on it. One of them will be a lot bigger than the other, involve more or fewer people. And they'll all have very different dynamics.

And in some places in the world or in some professions, starting a business is a lot more common than in others. If you studied to become a plumber, then it's fairly common that you'll start your own business, and plenty of the people you meet professionally have done so. If you studied finance, you're probably more likely to end up at a bank or as financial controller of a large company than starting your own business.

Similarly, if you live in a world before the industrial revolution, then most companies would be very small. They'd be local workshops or small farms employing a handful of people. In such a setting it's completely normal to start your own thing. This dynamic changed during the different industrial revolutions. Simple reason is that it's a lot more expensive to start an oil drilling company than it is to start a cobbler. The rise of software and IT companies has changed this dynamic again. But it is something to consider.

With that in said, I agree with the others that it doesn't matter that the person woldn't be completely human. Doesn't really change much

 

[skip.knox]

Much depends on what time period you're talking about here. And what culture. I'm going to answer in pre-modern terms because that's the world I understand best.

"Starting a business" is a modern phrase, or at least early modern. Even the word "busi-ness" is rather modern. It's rather a silly word, really. Busy ness. We are all busy, at times. So what are we actually talking about here? Getting clear about that is a first step.

As a first exercise, I'd throw out everything I think I know about what a business is. OK, now, if I'm a dwarf or an elf, what are we talking here? Buying things and selling them again? Making things and then selling them? Selling stuff on the side, but living mainly off my farm? Magicking things and just living off that? Is it selling or is it just trading?

You have lots of room to play, so go to it! But, of course, only as it relates to your story!