The words “Entrepreneurship” and “Entrepreneur” have become very popular in the age of digital technology. Entrepreneurship can be defined in several ways. You can define an entrepreneur in many different ways, so I decided to go with a Unique Business Dictionary Definition:
"An entrepreneur" is someone who exercises initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision-maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will be produced.
If you've researched some of the most dedicated entrepreneurs, they are multi-talented and diverse people who keep pushing the needle until a successful outcome. This includes bearing all the high risks and reaping the benefits of positive results.
To be a successful and dedicated entrepreneur, you’ll need to put on many different hats at the same time when starting out. Most entrepreneurs will become their startups:
PR manager
Salesman
Marketer
Event planner
Customer service manager
Project manager
Financial risk-taker
Business accountant
Human-resource manager
Supply-chain manager
Within the definition of entrepreneur, you’ll find important keywords, such as ‘exercising initiative’, ‘organize a venture’, ‘taking benefit of an opportunity’, and ‘decision-maker’ – all terms that aptly describe some of the qualities any successful entrepreneur will have.
The truth is that entrepreneurs need to have a certain set of qualities in order to be successful.
These include some of the ones mentioned above, such as someone who takes initiative, takes advantage of any opportunity, and is a good decision-maker in terms of moving the startup in the right direction.
They also need to have certain other qualities and characteristics as well. Are entrepreneurs different from their peers?
In most cases - yes. But sometimes we need to acknowledge that timing, luck and simply being in the right place at the right time can play a part in many successful businesses.
Personal experiences have taught me that successful entrepreneurs share these Ten qualities:
1. On-Going passion.
Today, almost anyone will advise you to follow your passion. They’ll say, do what you love and you will become successful only if you are passionate. Through my experience, you’ll need more than that.
Being an entrepreneur demands commitment and dedication more than most jobs do. If you’re ambivalent or mildly enthused about your product or service, that’s properly not going to sustain you through the highs and lows that will inevitably occur.
If you find something you love enough to want to share it with others, that love will fuel and give you purpose to keep going until you build a business.
2. Open-mindedness.
When you meet successful entrepreneurs, you can find one thing in common. Most successful entrepreneurs never forget how much they can learn from others. Entrepreneurs seek advice, they’re flexible.
They soak up the best practices around them like a sponge. Fear of failure is prevalent and can make it easy to hold on to your vision with a staunch mindset but this could be dangerous in the long run.
3. Being an expert.
Entrepreneurs work hard to enable their personal growth, no matter the challenge. If they didn’t they’d probably have chosen another line of work. But as exciting as it is to consider a new field, high-achieving entrepreneurs know the benefits of staying in the same industry for a while are immense. When you spend years in the same industry, you learn its history.
Researching and implementing what’s been done before can help you identify how it can and should move forward. In the meantime, you will build a network of relationships to support your business in the future especially when times are hard. Building and maintaining relationships as an entrepreneur are indispensable.
4. A forward-looking approach.
Successful entrepreneurs are great long term thinkers. They may not follow a straight line, but they have one in mind as the navigate through the drenches.
As an Entrepreneur, having a clearly established set of goals will keep you from getting stuck. Your goals may be constantly evolving, but if you don’t know where you want to go, chances are, you won’t get anywhere.
5. A constant flow of ideas.
Having one project that’s doing well is great. But the successful entrepreneurs I know do not rest on their successes. Instead, they are constantly figuring out new strategies to improve themselves.
Most understand that being a successful entrepreneur is a lifestyle chosen by them and will require fine-tuning to reach whatever goal or status they desire.
6. Successful entrepreneurs stay ambitious.
Being ambitious can’t be debatable, you have to be ambition in order to be a successful entrepreneur and stay on the prize.
This means that an entrepreneur actively seeks out problems, and has the ambition and skills to solve them. Constantly solving problems comes to entrepreneurs as a habit, not everyone is driven this way - being ambitious. This is one of the main qualities that define an entrepreneur.
7. Proactively find and seek-out opportunities.
One of the things that define an entrepreneur is the ability to research potential opportunities. Because that is what being an entrepreneur is all about:
Discovering potential problems and opportunities, and providing real, tangible solutions to solve these problems. Identifying or discovering an opportunity comes naturally to them, and it is actually a big part of being an entrepreneur in the first place.
8. Staying organized and disciplined
Entrepreneurs are one of the most focused, goal-oriented, disciplined, well-organized and meticulous individuals. Starting, running and generating revenue for a business isn’t easy, that’s why successful entrepreneurs are fascinating.
With all this amp about entrepreneurs failing In the first year or two is that they lose sight of their goals and thus the ambition.
The small percentage of startups that go on to survive the storm become big businesses, and hence only a small number of entrepreneurs really go on and make it big in their respective fields. Those who do have the discipline to follow their game-plan, and work on achieving their short-term and long-term goals and objectives. They are focused on ensuring that their businesses work.
9. Love and hard work
Successful entrepreneurs are hard workers who love what they do in order to keep going. Successful businessmen love what they do. Work is a way of life!
Successful entrepreneurs never look at it as their day-jobs their ‘9 to 5’s’ or ‘something that they do in the day’, their business is their life and they work extremely hard to accomplish their goals.
That doesn’t mean that they are workaholics or are married to their jobs – they set boundaries, and know how to work hard and work smart!
10. Risk is part of the game
Successful entrepreneurs are not scared of taking risks. They are determined risks takers and go in head-on, as risks are surplus every day when running a business. Taking risks doesn’t necessarily mean an entrepreneur is blind.
The most successful entrepreneurs take calculated risks. This means that they weigh the pros and cons, of every decision taking advantage and disadvantage into account, looking at all possible outcomes and make a calculated and informed decision taking everything into consideration.
Risk-taking is part of the game, but taking calculated risks after serious considerations, brings about a positive outcome most of the time. When it fails, they still lead by pivoting quickly.
Now….are you a natural-born leader?
Successful entrepreneurs are natural leaders and possess many leadership qualities that give them the ability to strive.
Most entrepreneurs are meticulous at managing all aspects of their professional and personal lives. They have the ability to make big decisions and the right or wrong decisions with full responsibility. This also involves providing guidance and good opinions to others. This all comes with good communication skills.
They connect well with people and can get a group of people to work towards the attainment of a common goal while getting the best out of them.
They are respected by their peers.
They are self-motivated. Successful entrepreneurs are competitive.
Want to be a successful entrepreneur, start by building yourself.
