The qualities that every Entrepreneur has in common are numerous and I have chosen what I know to be the Top 10 qualities and characteristics that are present in all entrepreneurs.
Think about some entrepreneurs you know, people who have gone on to achieve great success in their lives and consider what it is that makes them go on and do so well. Many of them have done this against all odds and for many their desire to succeed has been borne out of necessity and desperation. I believe when someone is truly desperate, they will do anything to make things better and the strength of this determination blows any limiting factors or limiting beliefs out of the window.
The Qualities Every Entrepreneur has, 1 through to 10:
1. A Vision
They know what they want, they visualise themselves doing it. So they have the ‘What’ and they have to strive to make the ‘How’ happen. They do this by networking furiously; it is rare that a true entrepreneur will have a conversation with anyone without a purpose. They may not even be aware they are doing this, their natural curiosity to learn about people and that way learn what people want, is just inherent within every entrepreneur. So next time you feel like you’re being interrogated at a social gathering, just think to yourself “is this person just being nosey, or are they an entrepreneur thinking of their next venture?”
2. A Belief
All entrepreneurs have a strong belief in their ability although many successful people have said they quite often had no idea what they were doing from one day to the next. Their inner belief is what drove them on to success, they knew that whatever hurdle they came across, they would not stop at it. Subconsciously they know that obstacles is what drives them and figuring out how to, and eventually getting around or over these is their main motivator. Their belief, conscious or otherwise is what drives them forward all the time.
3. Courage – they confront fears and just do it
All entrepreneurs have courage although they may not admit this to themselves or anyone else but they have this in abundance. They may present as confident but deep inside they are quaking with nerves and anticipation but at least they take action. That is what sets an entrepreneur above everyone else, they are always taking action. No long periods spent studying for them, they learn as much as they need to enable them to take the right action and they just go for it.
4. Ambition & Determination
Every successful entrepreneur has ambition and determination although I would have to say that determination is the leading factor of the two here. Whilst they have ambition and lots of it and they know they want better for themselves and their families, just knowing is not enough. The determination, that steely drive they have that propels them to consistently make things happen is what separates an entrepreneur from your regular business person.
5. Patience & Perseverance
Every entrepreneur has patience and perseverance although entrepreneurs may have these in fewer quantities than other regular people. This is because their vision, coupled with their belief and determination is pushing them forward to their next goal all of the time. All entrepreneurs know however, that success is not overnight, they know it requires effort and they know they will make mistakes in the process. What they never do though is lie down and play victim when something doesn’t go according to plan. They seize that obstacle as a learning process for next time and use the learning from that to spur them on to their next challenge.
6. Creativity and Innovative
Entrepreneurs are by nature creative and innovative. You can even see this quality in young children. Some children receive financial rewards for doing chores at home, some children receive financial support from their parents for doing nothing and some children go and find ways of earning their own money. These are the entrepreneurs of the future. Obviously this group is much smaller than the first two mentioned there, but that is down to how their parents were raise. Their parents were probably raised by the philosophy that is ‘someone tells you to do something and they pay you for it.’ The entrepreneurial child sees money making opportunities all the time and acts upon them. They make the decision and don’t wait on someone else making the decisions for them.
7. Persistence
Entrepreneurs are nothing if not persistent. They know their idea is a good one and it may just be that the timing is not quite right, the location is not quite right, their marketing approach is not quite right but they WILL find a way to make things happen.
8. Results Oriented
Most entrepreneurs will not take no for an answer. When they are confronted with this response, they may well ask the question “do you know someone who may be interested, who would you suggest I speak with?” etc. They never allow a door to be closed without another even being slightly open. If they can’t immediately find that ‘person who does’ they will find the ‘person who knows one that does.’ They are driven not always by dollar signs, but just that great sense of achievement that comes with a successful result. They will always surround themselves with like-minded people as well, other action takers and have little time for those that ‘talk the talk’. Demonstrate don’t declare should be their motto!
9. Integrity
Entrepreneurs must have integrity and to not have this quality would be a slight contradiction in the actual definition of entrepreneur. Yes they can be quite ruthless but this will not be intentionally to step over people but mainly because they are so driven. Because they are so interested in people and learning about them, they treat them with respect because entrepreneurs know that without the backing of the people, i.e. their potential customers, their planned venture will never materialise. That is why you see many of the most successful people on this earth are described as unassuming, humble, a good listener, kind, caring and always willing to put out a hand to help others. You cannot buy those qualities, they are inherent and the true entrepreneurs have them in abundance.
10. Customer Focus
Every entrepreneur knows that without their customers they are nothing. Many regular business owners know this as well so what separates the entrepreneur in their approach with customers. The main thing is that an entrepreneur truly values and appreciates every customer; they know the power of ‘word of mouth’ marketing over any other paid means and this is what they strive for. They want their product or service to be the ‘people’s choice of product or service’ for what it does for them, for the value it brings them over anything else. They constantly evaluate their competitors and bring something better, less costly but not lesser value and is exactly what their customers want and need at that time. Low budget airline owners are prime examples of ‘putting and keeping your customer first.’ Certainly the ones in the UK and Ireland refuse to bow down to Governmental or elitist pressure, they put their customers above everything else.
The qualities of an entrepreneur are endless but I chose what I know to be the 10 most obvious ones and the 10 that I know separate an entrepreneur from a regular business person.
