In the previous post we discussed 5 personality traits small business owners must have to succeed in small business. To recap, they are – risk taker, decision maker, organized, delegator and responsible. Those who do not have these qualities should think long and hard about getting into small business or at least find a way to mitigate them.
We think there are 5 additional qualities small business owners need to become successful. In the following we describe what those qualities are and why they are important.
Motivator
This quality goes hand-in-hand with the delegation. Once you master the skill of delegating tasks to your employees the next challenge is to make sure they get done. You have to accept the fact that your employees will not have as much motivation as you would. After all, it is your business, not theirs. However, there are ways to improve the motivation of your employees and make business successful. You have to think win-win for both yourself and employees. Look at some of the low-cost ways by which you can motivate your employees we explained earlier.
Self -starter
Small business owners are inherently self-starters. That is the reason they get into small business in the first place. They do not like to wait for someone else to take charge and direct them to the finish line. These are the people who are always thinking of the next thing. If you are one of those who needs directions for everything, small business may not be the place for you.
Perseverant
While it is good for small business owners to keep thinking about the next big thing you also need to make sure that you finish tasks on hand and not jump from project to project all the time. It takes time for a new business to establish and provide return. By our estimate you need to give at least 2-3 years to a new business before you can decide whether it is not worth pushing forward.
Disciplined
Sure, you can shoot the target once in a while when you are shooting from hips, but that approach may not work to make small business successful. You have to have both short-term and long-term plans and execute them with discipline. If you commit yourself to achieving a target in 3 months or a year, be sure to put detailed plan in place and carry it out methodically. If you do not have this type of discipline small business may not work out for you.
Honest (with yourself)
Finally, you have to be honest with yourself when assessing your skills and limitations. Not everyone can and will have all the traits needed to be successful at small business. However, you have to know where you are deficient and hire or partner with people who can complement you. If you are not honest with yourself you will not be able to build a balanced team required to reach the target.
Have we covered all the skills need to be successful? What other traits would you consider important for small business owners?
