What’s Your Entrepreneurial Profile? B2B? Or B2C? Find Out:

B2B and B2C startups don’t attract the same kind of entrepreneurial profiles. A B2B entrepreneur is generally more pragmatic and process-driven. B2B entrepreneurs appreciate predictability and are usually more risk-averse than their B2C counterparts.

B2C founders generally seek high-impact ventures. They want to build products they would love to use. Their businesses typically require a lot of users to scale and are high-risk, high-reward opportunities.

Although B2B is often less sexy, founders can achieve the level of success of their choosing. There can be several small, medium, and large businesses serving the same market need. B2B is not “winner takes all”.

A B2B startup can solve a problem for a niche market and, if it fails, may be able to sell the technology it developed because it addresses a real problem. The same cannot always be said for B2C startups.

The B2B Entrepreneur Quiz

So, is B2B for you? Take the quiz below. Do you prefer?

1. A. Building relationships with hundreds of users.
   B. Acquiring millions of users.
2. A. Solving a customer’s pain.
   B. Creating a market need.
3. A. Selling big.
   B. Selling fast.
4. A. Improving your product with feedback from a small group of users.
   B. Improving your product with feedback from a large pool of users.
5. A. Becoming a thought leader in your clients’ industry.
   B. Letting your clients be the experts.
6. A. Hiring salespeople.
   B. Hiring marketing staff.
7. A. Investing in demos, data sheets, case studies, whitepapers, lunches, conferences, etc.
   B. Investing in your website, search engine optimization, and search engine marketing.
8. A. Working on the return on investment of your product.
   B. Working on the user experience of your product.

Obviously, answers are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but if you chose “A” five or more times, chances are, B2B is for you. The closer your score is to choosing “A” eight times, the more likely you are to have an entrepreneurial profile that favors B2B.

More on the Entrepreneurial Profile

• Risk Identification: How Much Risk Are You Really Taking on With Your Startup?
• Why the Problem Lean Startups Choose to Solve Can Make or Break their Business
• How to Find and Evaluate Business Ideas in B2B