There are no degree or diploma courses that can certify a person as an entrepreneur. No university or college can boast of producing batches of entrepreneurs. No country or community owns all the entrepreneurs. And there’s no set formula for succeeding as an entrepreneur. This is because no one can make someone else an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are self-made!
To be successful, entrepreneurs need to be passionate about their business, have a clear vision, be driven to succeed, and be resilient. They also need to be creative, good problem solvers, and make effective decisions. Additionally, entrepreneurs need to be good communicators and leaders, and be able to work effectively with others.
The persons whom we see with respect as entrepreneurs come from different financial, educational, geographical and religious backgrounds. They are all born and brought up under varying circumstances. They are entirely different from one another. But there are some common personality traits in every entrepreneur and these traits make them different from others.
Though every entrepreneur has their different success stories but some traits are common among all of them. No one can give a recipe for success as an entrepreneur, but we can surely do some analysis and pick the common habits or qualities of those who succeeded as entrepreneurs. Here we have compiled a list of seven amazing traits that are common to the successful entrepreneurs all over the world.
Have a look at these traits and analyse yourself to know what are your strong points as an entrepreneur and where do you lack.
Vision
Why Successful Startups Develop a Vivid Vision of their Future
Entrepreneurs cannot rely on just eyesight; they need vision. A positive vision is the most striking feature that distinguishes an entrepreneur from the general crowd. Where everybody sees obstacles and hindrances, the entrepreneur sees opportunity. Entrepreneurs have the ability to see beyond time; they can visualise the future before it happens. They have the power to dream with open eyes and visualise the way to achieve that dream regardless of their present circumstances.
Entrepreneurs live in the same society and environment as others, but they can see things beyond others’ imagination. They see and identify the value of things overlooked by others and exploit the opportunity to innovate something new. They are intellectually creative people who have the vision to change or transform the society and the world as a whole.
Self-belief
6 Simple Ways You Can Build Self-Confidence and Succeed
After vision, the most important trait of an entrepreneur is self-belief. Due to their potentiality to peep in the future, entrepreneurs always come across naysayers and even get ridiculed. People don’t accept anything before they see it actually happening, so entrepreneurs need to believe in their vision and potentiality to execute it into reality.
If a person has the vision to see the opportunity being overlooked by everybody else but needs others approval, then he cannot succeed as an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur believes in himself and is determined to make others believe in him too. Self-belief is a trait that cannot be compromised upon, as the entrepreneur needs to walk alone with a belief in himself before being followed by the crowd. If one cannot believe in himself and his dreams he can never make others believe in himself.
Passion
As Steve Jobs Once Said, ‘People With Passion Can Change The World’
Along with the quality to believe oneself, an entrepreneur also needs to be passionate about his dreams. Having a vision and belief is not enough for an entrepreneur. Doing or creating something new is never an easy task. An entrepreneur chooses to walk on a path never taken by anyone else, so he is destined to have unknown problems at every step. A person can never stand against such odds unless he is passionate to turn his imagination into reality.
There had been many successful entrepreneurs who failed miserably in their attempts, but they gathered themselves up and started their journey once again. These entrepreneurs were able to start from scratch again and again because they were passionate about their dream. It is worth noting that a person who is passionate about the end result i.e. money or fame cannot walk long on the entrepreneurial path. A person needs to love the work he does more than the goal then only he would be able to walk the tough paths. If a person does not enjoy his work, the want of money or fame cannot keep his motivation fuelled for long.
Management
The 17 Skills Required to Succeed as an Entrepreneur
All the above-mentioned traits make a person an entrepreneur but what actually turns this entrepreneur into a successful entrepreneur is – Management.
A person may have vision and self-belief in addition to passion, but he can expect to succeed only when he knows the art of management. The term management for an entrepreneur includes life-management, time management, money-management, business-management and all other fragments of management. For being successful, a person needs to manage all aspects of his life well. Name any successful entrepreneur in the world; you’ll not find a single entrepreneur who does not lead a disciplined life. They all know the value of time and money and are well-aware how to manage them to get benefit to the maximum level.
Ability to take calculated risks
5 Ways Entrepreneurs Learn to Manage Risk
Risk taking is one of the most sought after traits in an entrepreneur. Any business runs on the principle of no risk no gain. But taking the risk without calculating all the possibilities is mere stupidity, but successful entrepreneurs are not stupid, so, they take smart risks. No doubt a person can take risk only when he has confidence in himself and his dreams.
The decision to be an entrepreneur is a risk in itself. There’s no guarantee of success, but entrepreneurs plan to take the risk sometimes without a plan-B because they have confidence in their dream.
Entrepreneurs succeed because they take risks and keep their team in confidence that things might not work sometimes but risks are worth taking. All risks might not give the expected success of the entrepreneur, but each of them teaches a lesson as a reward.
Leadership
22 Qualities That Make a Great Leader
Entrepreneurs are the rule-breakers of the society; they make their own rules rather than following the conventional norms. They make their own despite being discouraged by the society. No entrepreneur can grow and develop an enterprise single-handedly because no business works in isolation. They know how to transform a crowd of average human-beings into their support system.
Without having good communication skills and leadership qualities, an entrepreneur cannot make others believe in his dream and make them work hard to achieve his goal. Entrepreneurs are the real leaders of the society who guides it through his vision. They do not take charge of their life only; they take charge of their community, society and the world as a whole.
Flexibility
Why Your Business Needs to Be More Flexible Than Ever
Successful entrepreneurs have a vision, they make their own rules, but they are never rigid. They take life as a lesson and learn from their experiences. Entrepreneurs are flexible enough to analyse and accept their mistakes when they fail. They are not shy to take some steps back to reflect on their shortcomings and target their goal once again.
Entrepreneurs are also flexible as a manager or leader of their team. They are curious and always ready to hear what others have to say. Plans of entrepreneurs are never rigid. They keep on making changes at appropriate places whenever required. No business can always run smoothly, ups and downs are inevitable. Flexibility helps entrepreneurs to sustain these jolts of the market.
Do you think you possess all these traits of a successful entrepreneur? Even if you lack on any of these fronts don’t get disheartened because most of these traits can be learned through practice. Some people may have been born with these entrepreneurial skills in their DNA, but the majority of the entrepreneurs learn these over a period of time.
No one but you can develop and sharpen these entrepreneurial traits in yourself. For other help like graphic designing for your business’s social media marketing Designhill is always with you. You can also benefit your entrepreneurial venture with the free business tools available at DesignHill.