Many of us have the inclination and desire to start our own endeavor and become an entrepreneur. But not everyone will achieve success — so what are some traits of successful entrepreneurs?
There are a number of misconceptions about what this entails. It’s not preordained or baked into ones DNA. You can develop the traits you need to become successful. Even if your personality is the exact opposite of a typical entrepreneur.
Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur — It’s not in the genes…
Many people have the incorrect belief that those who become successful entrepreneurs are simply born with something they’re not. That their drive, ambition or creativity is somehow baked in from birth and that only people with these gifts can become successful entrepreneurs.
But truth be told, successful entrepreneurs come in all shapes, sizes, colors, religions, ages and educational backgrounds. They come from poor families, rich families, bad schools, good schools and some have had no schooling whatsoever.
There are dynamic personas, friendly personas, boring personas, annoying personas, quiet or shy personas and every one in between.
Fact is, ANYONE can develop the traits of a successful entrepreneur.
Traits to Develop to Maximize Your Chances of Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur
If it’s not determined by genetics, or connections, or even which school you go to or who you know, then what personality traits or skills are worth mastering to help ensure my success?
Successful entrepreneurs often have the following traits baked into their psyche. You might want to consider adding these traits to your arsenal.
TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS
#1 – TENACITY
Whatever business you’re in, or idea you’re developing, there will be someone out there willing to shit all over it. The worst part is, that these opinions will come from those who are closest to you. They could be a parent, spouse, friend, a buyer, an investor or even a customer — the list is endless.
Whether this comes out of jealousy, fear, envy or just plain ignorance, there will be someone who doesn’t get what you’re doing. They’ll think it’s a dumb idea, or doesn’t believe in you enough to accomplish the task at hand.
Truth be told, in many cases they might actually be right. But, it’s important for you to decide that for yourself and to have the tenacity to see your idea, venture, project or business all the way through.
People have the right to hold any opinion that they so choose, but it’s your choice whether or not to be affected by such opinions. Even if you think there’s validity in what they’re saying, take what works for you and learn to look past the rest. No one knows your business better than you. And most likely, no one will believe in your business more than you.
“Stick-to-it-iveness”
There will also be a number of distractions along the way. You have to develop the habit of “stick-to-it-iveness.” That no matter what comes up, your belief in what you’re trying to accomplish will never waver. Whatever obstacles you encounter, you need to have the ability to think through a potential solution and take the steps necessary to achieve forward momentum each and every day.
Don’t get distracted or put off course.
Building a business is like a very long road trip. It’s often the same scenery day after day and every now and then the car will have a flat or break down. It’s what you do in these moments when you’re up against a wall facing true adversity that your true self will appear.
Your business might be facing financial challenges, or human resource challenges, or product shortages or any number of other issues. Develop your tenacity and you’ll be able to weather these storms in a much more effective giving you a better chance of long term success.
#2 – PATIENCE
As mentioned above, building a business takes time. Success doesn’t come overnight. And even if it does, there will still be those moments where you’ll need to exercise patience to help you get through the lulls.
It can sometimes be an excruciating process waiting for the right moment to forge ahead with your idea. Or waiting for the right window to open, or for the right investor to come along, or even for your first customer.
We’ve all heard that patience is a virtue, but when it comes to becoming a successful entrepreneur, patience is a necessity. In fact, it is probably the single most important trait of a successful entrepreneur.
There will be a thousand things you’ll need to deal with as a business owner, so the easiest way to exercise patience is to allow yourself to focus on other tasks. Especially while whatever you’re waiting on eventually comes to fruition.
Businesses take years and sometimes decades to really find their stride. The trick is not to drop out too early. It might often seem like you’re not making any progress, so you have to find a way to stay motivated and know that you’re on the right path.
Now, on the opposite end of this spectrum, there’s being almost TOO patient and waiting too long. This trait will be finessed as your business continues to grow. But you’ll need to develop the insight to know when it’s time to pounce on an opportunity or abandon a particular strategy.
Learning to exercise patience is a test and it can work for us when mastered properly helping to make you an even more successful entrepreneur.
#3 – PASSION
You’ve probably heard that a business needs to start from a place of passion. Successful entrepreneurs know this and thus try to find business opportunities that they can feel truly excited about.
Getting up every day and working long hours to get your business off the ground is initially driven by your passion and drive. Without it, your business remains an idea — or just a pipe dream. It’s a sense of passion that pushes you each and every day to make the sacrifices you need to make. To put in the hours and effort to face the challenges, successes and failures that every entrepreneur deals with.
Developing Your Passion Will Make You a More Successful Entrepreneur
Your passion should be infectious. Your team will feed off that passion and soon make it their own. It’s the way an employee becomes a true member of the team.
But this is so much more than wearing the company logo as a cheerleader outfit. You need be able to communicate your passion to others and get them excited about the concept at hand. As we’ve said numerous times already, starting a business is very difficult and your team members want to know that the time and effort they’re putting in is part of a shared vision. That their work has VALUE.
Passion drives results. Passion comes from a clearly defined vision for what your business should become. Those around you want to be a part of it, otherwise their work becomes menial. Instead of creating a vision, it becomes a job. And let’s face it, no one loves a ‘job’, they love a mission.
So be sure to check in with where you are on the passion scale. Make sure you’re communicating that passion down the line to every member of your team. Let them see it in your work ethic, your mission, your vision and your drive.
#4 – WILLINGNESS TO LEARN
I’ve always disliked the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Because it’s so not true. The phrase should read, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks if he is unwilling to learn.”
The fact is, that our minds crave new information. We strive to constantly better ourselves. But somewhere along the line, we get a bit tired, a bit uninspired and frankly, a bit lazy.
To become a truly successful entrepreneur, you need to have the mindset and willingness to learn new tasks along the way. You should understand the processes and procedures that your team members develop so that you have the full picture of where your business stands at any given moment.
One overlooked Trait of a Successful Entrepreneur — a Willingness to Learn New Skills
Learning new skills and techniques and having an openness to new ways of doing things will dramatically improve your chances for success.
Your team members will bring with them ways and approaches to particular tasks that perhaps never even crossed your mind. But when combined with your initial idea and passion, suddenly, you might find yourself leapfrogging your competitors because you were willing to learn a new way of thinking.
We also all have our strengths and weaknesses. I’m of the philosophy that you should hire those who can compensate for your personal drawbacks. But that doesn’t mean that you should ignore learning those tasks and tackle your weaknesses.
Take the initiative to learn new skills, be open to new ideas and know that just because you’re the boss, doesn’t mean that you don’t have a thing or two to learn yourself.
Consider taking classes or spending some time learning new skill sets to either improve upon the skills you already have. Some great resources can be found on Coursera, MasterClass, and even for free on YouTube.
#5 – TEAM BUILDING
One trait that is often overlooked when it comes to becoming a successful entrepreneur, is the ability to identify the right members of your team and to find ways to motivate them to achieve the results you seek.
A business is only as good as the people running it, so your ability to identify quality candidates who can truly tackle the tasks at hand is crucial.
But it’s two sided. You also need to know when a team member is NOT bringing their very best to the table and when it’s time to cut bait. It’s common, it happens, and you need to be prepared to do it.
But when building your initial team you really want to pay particular attention to making sure you start by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. What skills do you bring to the table versus those you hire on?
Your Skills vs. Their Skills
When money is tight (or non-existent), you want to do a self analysis to figure out where are you best suited? You might be the engineer, the business development person, the marketing person, the operations person. It’s less about what you end up doing and more about what skill sets you need to add to the team to be as effective as possible right out of the gate.
For me personally, accounting is hardly a strength of mine. So, I brought on someone who could not only build out a full financial model, but could handle some of the early bookkeeping tasks.
It’s important to also understand where your time is best focused. We all have the same number of hours in a day, so you want to be sure you flesh out your team with those who bring specialized skill sets. This will help to make sure you’re not only maximizing whatever dollars you might have access to, but allow you to scale quickly and take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
#6 – DELEGATION
Similar to choosing your team, the ability to appropriately delegate tasks will help you to focus on the things that are best completed by you.
When we’re starting out, we’re often tempted to dive into every single task. Either to save money, to avoid bringing on a team member, or just because ego sometimes doesn’t let you have someone else do the work.
As a leader, you have to delegate and TRUST those you bring on your team to get the work done. Assuming you’ve vetted your team and brought on members who have skills that either compliment or enhance your own, you should have a group of people you can delegate tasks to. They will be ready, willing and most importantly, able to accomplish whatever you bring their way.
All too often, when you’re starting a company, it’s easy to have your ego get in the way. It’s common to think it has to be done “your way” or “by you” otherwise, it won’t be done correctly.
The key here is for you to be able to let the reins go a bit. Additionally, you need to set the foundation for the results you’re hoping for. Communicate your vision, express your mission and explain the task in the right way, and your team members will complete whatever needs to get done.
#7 – POSITIVE ATTITUDE
This might initially sound a little flighty. After all, what exactly does it mean to have a “positive attitude?”
No one is expecting you to run around the office with a fake smile plastered on your face 24/7 yelling out positive affirmations to your team members every five seconds. After all, that would be insane. (Funny to watch, but insane nonetheless.)
But good things and bad things happen every day to entrepreneurs. Sometimes amazingly wonderful things and other times, horribly defeating things that crush your spirit.
But it’s less about what happens to you or your business throughout all of this and more about how you react to what’s happening around you.
Your team will reflect your reactions. They’ll want to know that the vision your creating is something worth believing in. That it’s worth sticking around for and making sacrifices in their personal lives to help you build the business of your dreams.
Speaking of dreams, once a team member comes on board, it’s no longer just YOUR dream. This is now a SHARED EXPERIENCE. They are as much an entrepreneur as you. Treat them as such.
Your attitude toward your business and the day to day that occurs around you is absolutely crucial for defining your company’s culture as you continue to scale.
If you’re a jerk/bitch/dick (enter whatever derogatory name here), your team members will pick up on that and most likely carry that on down the line. Show your team members respect, show them a positive attitude. Build them up when they fall and celebrate their successes.
#8 – STRATEGIC
Being strategic is a crucial trait for a successful entrepreneur.
That might seem like an obvious trait to have and an important one to develop, but it’s surprising how few entrepreneurs pay attention to developing a strategic approach to their business.
Being strategic is really about taking the time to think through your approach. You want to be sure you are thinking through your moves in a patient and thoughtful manner.
Explore your options thoroughly, consider your approach and then execute. Evaluate, assess and continue moving forward.
CONCLUSION
There’s no perfect formula for creating a successful entrepreneur. But to help maximize your own chances of success, take a beat and see which of these traits you have and which you can continue to improve. Wishing you the best of luck!
