What does it take to be an entrepreneur?
Is it being born a genius or having a Type-A personality?
Is it being an overzealous extrovert who spends all their time dabbling around on projects?
While some entrepreneurs do possess these traits, they seldom define the characteristics of many successful entrepreneurs. Not everyone is born with an intellect that would transform the world. Some opine that, that student who couldn’t make it through college, like Bill Gates or Richard Branson, is more likely to succeed as an entrepreneur than the lifelong overachiever.
So, if you’re not a born prodigy or overachiever, what are the personality traits which would indicate that you can be an entrepreneur? Here are the five common personality traits that the entrepreneurs usually possess.
1. Passion
Most entrepreneurs are not in it for the money. While there have been many icons who have made more money than most of us we’ll dream of, think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, the truth is that most entrepreneurs usually work an insane amount of hours for little or nothing.
Why would they put themselves through all this? Because they are impelled by the desire to either solve a problem or make easier.
How passionate are entrepreneurs? Experts say that most entrepreneurs are fuelled “by an unshakable sense of purpose.”
Throughout all the trials and tribulations they come across, entrepreneurs give themselves a pat on the back as they realize that they’re on a mission for the greater good. No matter how bad it gets, it’s their passion that motivates and drives them through between the paydays and during all those times when everyone else tells them to quit.
2. Resilience
Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” It’s an unfortunate fact that as an entrepreneur, you’re going to fail numerous times in the beginning. While for most people, something that drastic would be too much to handle, an entrepreneur has the astounding ability to get up, dust themselves off and move ahead. Instead of giving up, an entrepreneur would learn from their failures. What went wrong? How can I learn from my mistakes? How can I succeed the next time? These are the type of questions an entrepreneur would ask themselves. An entrepreneur doesn’t stay put in face of rough tides. They’re resilient, thrive off of the negativity and bounce back with more vigour.
If you need any proof on the resilience of entrepreneurs, just go through the stories of successful entrepreneurs like Walt Disney, Donald Trump, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Henry Ford or Thomas Edison. They all experienced major setbacks at some point in their careers only to come out to be some of the most successful and well-known entrepreneurs in the history.
3. Strong Sense of Self
Any entrepreneur can tell you that there are numerous problems one has to overcome. May it be not being able to secure enough funding, proving the naysayers wrong or facing the competition head on, being an entrepreneur is no walk in the park. And, being passionate and resilient can only take you so far. This is why entrepreneurs must also possess an extremely strong sense of self.
Being self-confident and self-motivated are also the key traits for most entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs don’t think that their idea might be good. They know that it’s good. And, they are motivated enough to illustrate to others that it’s worth the time and money to go forward with it. While they understand that they cannot do everything on their own, they also realize that they are the only ones with the ability to make their idea a reality.
Dhirubhai Ambani once said, “If you don't build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs."
According to a study conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on behalf of LegalZoom, “91% of the entrepreneurs are confident that their businesses will be more profitable in the next 12 months.”
4. Flexibility
Ability to adapt to changes and challenges is crucial for any venture. In fact, most entrepreneurs would tell you that their idea or business plan was drastically different than when it began. An idea may be brilliant, but in reality it isn’t effective if the details aren’t right. Entrepreneurs must be flexible enough to make the necessary adjustments to make that idea feasible. Furthermore, entrepreneurs must be prepared and willing to tweak their plan with the arrival of new information.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon says “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”
Bezos also warns: “The thing about inventing is you have to be both stubborn and flexible, more or less simultaneously. The hard part is figuring out when to be which!”
5. Vision
Entrepreneurs have an eye for the opportunities that nobody else can see. They are always on the lookout for fresh ideas or ways to improve an existing product or service. And, chances are that’s the first & foremost reason as to why they chose to become an entrepreneur in the first place. At some point in their lives they must have noticed something that could have been better than its existing self. But, for entrepreneurs, just saying that something could be better isn’t enough. They actually put the wheels in motion. In other words, entrepreneurs bear the uncanny ability to see the future before it happens. So, to be an entrepreneur, one must have the vision that nobody else does and also, the vision to see it through.
