What is a Serial Entrepreneur and How to Become One

If you’ve heard the term “serial entrepreneur,” you might not be entirely sure what it means. Is it like a serial LLC? Is it a person who starts more than one business? This type of entrepreneur is quite rare, so it’s understandable if the term is relatively unfamiliar. 

Fortunately, this article explains the concept of serial entrepreneur – and how you might become one.

What Is a Serial Entrepreneur?

A serial entrepreneur is someone who repeatedly starts new businesses. Once one business is launched and running smoothly, a serial entrepreneur will often hand off management to someone else so they can start work on another venture. 

The serial entrepreneur might choose to sell the first business or keep it and start building a business empire. A lot of moguls like Steve Jobs might found two or three businesses in their career, but they aren’t quite serial entrepreneurs. 

A serial entrepreneur’s businesses are usually self-sufficient and require minimal operational input. As a result, the founder will often pass the CEO mantle on to someone else.

Serial Entrepreneurs

1. Sir Richard Branson

One of the more prolific serial entrepreneurs is Sir Richard Branson, the British billionaire who founded the Virgin Group and today controls more than 400 companies. Starting with a magazine at 16 years old, Branson has founded everything from music labels to spaceflight. It says a lot that his knight title is in honor of his “services to entrepreneurship”!

2. Elon Musk

Best known for his involvement in Tesla and Twitter, Elon Musk’s business portfolio includes Zip2, X.com, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and OpenAI. One of the most prominent serial entrepreneurs today, the world waits with bated breath for what Musk will do next.

3. Peter Jones

A sports-only serial entrepreneur, Peter Jones founded numerous athletic equipment and apparel companies, such as KPR Sports and GSI,and is currently the CEO of Fanatics Inc. Jones is a great example of mixing serial entrepreneurship with personal hobbies and interests.

How to Become A Serial Entrepreneur

Becoming a serial entrepreneur starts with becoming an entrepreneur. If you’re not sure how to start a business, Step By Step has plenty of business ideas to get you well on your way. Once your first business is off the ground, you could sell it or delegate its management to people you trust.

Then, all that’s left is to do it again and again! 

Traits of a Serial Entrepreneur

A serial entrepreneur is just like a normal entrepreneur, yet with more skill in a few key categories to consistently churn out new businesses. Here are the most important traits to develop to go from entrepreneur to serial entrepreneur:

1. Innovation

Be creative in terms of developing new business ideas. Be sure to pay close attention to consumer research and market trends to find new opportunities for your businesses.

2. Charisma

An important distinguisher between an entrepreneur and a serial entrepreneur is that a serial entrepreneur can’t manage everything by themself – they need other people to help them run their businesses. 

Persuading employees and investors to buy into your vision and help run your business often requires considerable charm and appeal. And if and when you choose to sell your company, you’ll likely need to be amazing at pitching to potential buyers.

3. Organizational Structuring

Normally, a budding small business owner starts out doing everything by themselves: taking orders, managing inventory, doing the accounting, and so on. But a serial entrepreneur will build a business structure that can function without their constant attention, freeing them up to develop other ideas. 

Each business you start will likely need its own organizational structure – a cookie company could operate with a centralized top-down structure, but a tech startup would likely operate best with a decentralized or matrix structure. As the founder, you’ll need to be adept at designing and implementing organizational structures that will allow each business to flourish without you.