5 Common Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur

Let's face it; almost everyone dreams of being their own boss, having financial freedom, and working with something that they are not only passionate about but something that they created from the ground up. All of these things are very appealing but, do you truly have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? I would like to point out five traits that I have found to be common amongst all successful entrepreneurs.

Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur

1. Be passionate about your product and not the success
Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that the money or success was never their top priority. That aspect is most certainly a perk but more than anything they were passionate about and really believed in the product they developed. I think Tony Hsieh is one of many perfect examples of this. Tony Hsieh is the CEO of the well-known shoe and clothing company Zappos amongst other things. Tony, even though he is worth somewhere around $400 Million, admits that he only owns one pair of dress shoes and still drives the same Mazda 6 that he purchased years ago. Obviously, Tony is not in it for the money or success.

2. Be Self-Motivated
A lot of people in today's workforce probably consider themselves driven and motivated; however, that is far from being self-motivated. Being self-motivated is the ability to do what needs to be done, without influence from other people or situations. So let's say, for example, your supervisor comes to you that they need a task completed by the end of the week; more than likely you will be motivated enough to complete the task without any oversight. An entrepreneur, however, should be able to recognize the need for this task as well as complete it without any guidance.

3. Capable of taking risk
As previously stated, becoming an entrepreneur is no easy task. There are some inherent risks that come with becoming an entrepreneur. Those risks include, but are not limited to, financial risks, market risks, and competitive risks. Any entrepreneurial endeavor will have associated risks. An entrepreneur should be capable of recognizing appropriate risks as well as taking steps to mitigate those risks.

4. Can do attitude/not easily discouraged
Successful entrepreneurs do not know the meaning of the word failure. An entrepreneur is capable of looking at a "failure" event as a learning experience. I mentioned stats related to initial business failures. You rarely hear about the companies that fail because, well they failed. Business failures happen all the time, the stats show that. What the stats don't show though is how many of those successful businesses are entrepreneurs that initially failed and tried again. Again, an entrepreneur understands how their failures can help them succeed.

5. Don't look for excuses/take responsibility
Lastly, an entrepreneur will not look for excuses when things are not going their way. Instead, they will look for ways to correct their issues. For example, if their sells are struggling, they will look for creative solutions instead of blaming the economy. If they are not seeing the influx of customers that they expected, they will look to their marketing plan and find areas that they can improve. The bottom line here is that a successful entrepreneur understands that outside forces will impact their business. However, they will continuously discover new ways to succeed.

This is not an all-encompassing list of traits although I do feel that they are some very common ones that you will find within all successful entrepreneurs. None of this is meant to discourage anyone from striking out on their own and starting a company. You should however know that it is not as simple as it may seem and there is always more to all successful entrepreneurs other than great ideas.

Referenced Articles:
"Self Motivation." BusinessDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 June 2013. - http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/self-motivation.html.
"Zappos CEO Loves Pickles, Is Not Really Into Shoes." AOL News. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 June 2013.-  http://www.aolnews.com/2010/06/19/zappos-ceo-loves-pickles-is-not-really-into-shoes/.

About the author

Kyland B. Freeman is an active duty member in the United States Air Force. Kyland commissioned in 2008 and is currently a Field Program Manager stationed at Cape Canaveral AFS, FL. Kyland is also currently enrolled in the Mater's of Entrepreneurship Degree Program at Western Carolina University. Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this article is in its entirety, author's information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2013 by Kyland Brett Freeman.

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