This post analyzes the success of repeat entrepreneurs.

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Repeat entrepreneurs have given advice to the novice entrepreneur for many decades. Repeat entrepreneurs are more commonly called serial entrepreneurs in the business environment, and their success speaks for itself. However, it is unclear based on a preliminary standpoint as to if research would support the fact that repeat entrepreneurs search for entrepreneurial opportunities differently than novice entrepreneurs. It is clear that various types of entrepreneurs have different points of focus, and this is a main determining factor in the success of the opportunities that they seek.

There are a percentage of entrepreneurs that seek to open and operate one company, with the sole intention of waiting several years before they seek out another opportunity. Other entrepreneurs are the serial entrepreneurs, which seek out the opportunities that they deem worthy of investment. It can be reasonably assumed that serial entrepreneurs use various forms of advanced analysis and different forms of research to determine how an opportunity is weighted, which would then base the decision to pursue the opportunity or to walk away. In this regard, entrepreneurs would not differ greatly from other occupations.

There are inherent differences that must be taken into consideration when analyzing any possible differences between novice and repeat entrepreneurs when starting a company. These differences would be the differences that are typical in any capacity between someone that is experienced compared with someone who is new to the industry. A comparable situation would exist if we were trying to determine if individuals wanting to invest their money into high performing financial assets seek out opportunities for new investments differently than the novice investor who has never held any financial asset before the transaction under consideration.

Hundreds of book, reports, and websites have been filled with advice from repeat entrepreneurs to novice entrepreneurs with suggestions on the skills, abilities, and knowledge needed for choosing their opportunities and ventures wisely. The repeat entrepreneur has the distinct advantage of being able to speak from a pattern of success. The main points of advice given to novice entrepreneurs is generally focused on between ten and twelve steps that one-time entrepreneurs should be aware of, and this begins to form a solid foundation for passing on the skills of the trade.

The successful repeat entrepreneur of a company called "Be Success Entrepreneurs" cautions entrepreneurs that have found only one company to be aware of their actions. Owner and successful entrepreneur Herry Prilianto has found that "often a novice entrepreneur acts as if they are impatient to 'take' all the business opportunities that exist. In fact, as it is known, opportunities always appear like a wolf in sheep's clothing; uncertain" (SHBCO, 2012). He further advises that he looks at opportunities from the standpoint of a repeat entrepreneur by taking into consideration several factors that often sets him apart from the novice entrepreneur.

The main factor he stresses is that one-time entrepreneurs should look to what they love, and investigate opportunities in the activities that they enjoy being engaged in on a regular basis. Prillianto is clear to point out that many first-time entrepreneurs take advantage of an opportunity because it sounds attractive, and it may even present itself with attractive profit potential after an analysis is conducted by the novice entrepreneur. However, if the novice entrepreneur is taking advantage of the opportunity based on the sole reason that it will turn a quick profit, they are more likely to fail and to drain the resources that they have available in the process, which could have been better invested in an activity that they actually enjoy, but that may have not been as attractive as the quick-profit turning opportunity.

An in-depth research study conducted by Paul Borgese and Sherrie Madia found insights through extensive quantitative analysis studies that were later published into a book titled "S.E.R.I.A.L. Preneurship: The Secrets of Reputable Business Success. The researchers used a previous study conducted by Uslay, Teach, and Schwartz (2002) as a basis for their study. In the 2002 study, sixty-six subjects underwent comprehensive interviews by the researchers. The subject pool was comprised of fifty-five entrepreneurs and eleven repeat entrepreneurs. The information gathered from the interview focused on several main points. The responses of each subject were analyzed to determine common threads regarding family history data, any business involvement in each subject's childhood, and the birth order of the subject. Additional areas analyzed included work activities that each subject was involved with and specific management styles that each subject favored.

The goal of the study was to determine the commonalties between repeat entrepreneurs and first-time entrepreneurs. The study revealed that "content analyses did not reveal significant attitudinal differences between one-time, serial, male and female entrepreneurs. Success to most entrepreneurs appeared to mean self-actualization, i.e. ...