When asked what they would like to do with their lives, many people respond today with “I want to be an entrepreneur.”
And why not? The global economic environment has become the nurturing hand helping budding entrepreneurs revolutionize how business is done today. With the amount of small business funding being undertaken by venture capitalists, it certainly is the perfect time to be an ‘entrepreneur.’
Entrepreneurship, though, is not everybody’s cup of tea. It’s more like a painstakingly complicated cocktail that is a blend of several kinds of spirits in different proportions – making it tedious and difficult to perfect. Several people are trying to start their own businesses, but sustaining them is another ball game altogether. While not everyone is born with Steve Jobs’ creative genius or Bill Gates’ iron will, here are a few traits that distinguish successful entrepreneurs from the herd:
- Risk Taking
Taking risks is perhaps at the core of every entrepreneur’s business decision. Entrepreneurship and risk-taking are almost inseparable. But this doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs rush in with reckless abandon—they take calculated, rational risks based on facts. It’s almost like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute; you know all the possible outcomes, but if things don’t go your way, you have something that cushions your fall.
- Vision
A successful entrepreneur is always able to anticipate changes in the future. Entrepreneurs spot possibilities before they become apparent. Like an oracle with a crystal ball, entrepreneurs can spot opportunities in the future that others might have overlooked.
- Flexibility
The start-up environment can be a jungle, things might come at you when you least expect them, and the worst part is that you don’t even have a roadmap. All successful entrepreneurs, though, have the ability to adapt to changing habitats quickly. They react quickly to unforeseen changes and problems while remaining laser-focused.
- Knowing Your Worth
A good entrepreneur always keeps track of the value of their business. Knowing the value of one’s business plays a pivotal role in making financial decisions and business planning, especially when it comes to the eventual sale of your business, for litigation purposes, or determining tax obligations.
- Resilience
As an entrepreneur, things might not always go as planned. The risks you take might not always translate into success. When failure is staring you straight in the face, being persistent and tenacious is vital. Like a marathon, you might face many obstacles, but you just have to put your head down and see it through.
- Self-belief
Successful entrepreneurs always trust their ideas, however crazy they might sound at that point in time. But the key here is having faith in them, trusting them, and letting them be the beacons that guide you to success. Take the internet, for example. The news reported it as a crazy idea and claimed that the buzz would die out in a few days, but look where we are now. Every successful entrepreneur who built a great enterprise started with a crazy idea.
- Rule-breaking
Entrepreneurs wouldn’t be entrepreneurs if they didn’t defy conventional norms. They play the game differently and often revolutionize how it is played. Not adhering to existing conventions captures the essence of why entrepreneurs came to be in the first place. If rules hadn’t been broken, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
These are only a handful of traits generally seen in successful entrepreneurs. However, there aren’t any specific combinations of features that an entrepreneur requires in order to be successful. After all, if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that there are no rules in this game!
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