Being your own boss is an exciting prospect. However, owning a business isn’t for sissies. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must have or need to develop certain personality traits. Here are some characteristics an entrepreneur should ideally possess to start and run their own business.
Drive
Entrepreneurs are enthusiastic, optimistic and goal-oriented. They believe they’ll be successful and are willing to take risks, and have huge levels or energy. And often impatient (just warning you!). Are you self-motivated and can remain so? And do you have ‘bounce-back-ability’?
As an entrepreneur, you are in the driver’s seat, so you must be proactive in your approaches to everything. Are you a doer — someone willing to take the reins — or would you rather someone else do things for you?
Creativity and persuasiveness
Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to recognise and pursue opportunities, and this entails being a little creative. Entrepreneurs possess strong sales skills and are persuasive and persistent. You need the energy to promote your business tirelessly and look for new ways to get the word out.
Versatility
Employees of an organisation usually rely on team members to provide support. As an entrepreneur, you’ll typically start out alone.
You may not have the luxury of hiring straight away, so you’ll wear several hats. Ask: am I mentally prepared to take on all of these tasks from the onset?
Business acumen
Successful entrepreneurs rely on their business skills, know-how and contacts. Evaluate your current talents, skills, network, and experience – are they readily transferable to the business you want to pursue?
Vision
One of your responsibilities as founder and leader of your company is deciding where your business will go. For that you need vision, without a vision, you will lose direction and become lost.
Flexibility and open-mindedness
While entrepreneurs need a strong vision and direction, there are many unknowns. Go with the flow, tweak plans and strategies as needed. Always, be open-minded and flexible even as an established entrepreneur.
Decisiveness
As an entrepreneur, you won’t have time to procrastinate and hold up progress. Be decisive and seize the moment.