It’s sad, but not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Going out and taking risks that might not pay off isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who are cut out for it, the life of an entrepreneur, where you get to be creative, have more freedom and make your own money on your own terms, can be fantastic.
If you’re thinking of starting a business, but you don’t know whether it’ll work out for you, check out these tell-tale signs that you were made to be an entrepreneur. Here they are:
- You Act
If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t hesitate to act, there is a good chance that you’d be a successful entrepreneur. In business, you can’t always sit around waiting for the right moment, or until you have every piece of data conceivable to make a decision, especially when you’re starting out. If you’re too cautious, you’ll never get off the starting blocks, which is sad, but very true.
- You are Little Insecure
You might think that insecurity is the worst quality an entrepreneur looking to create a successful business could have, but that’s not the case. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs are underneath all of their bravado, very insecure. The key is that their insecurities drive them to prove themselves wrong and succeed against all odds. If you have insecurity and you use it this way, the odds of you creating and sustaining a successful new business are good.
- You are a Great Leader
Business and leadership go hand in hand. If you aren’t a good leader, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to sufficiently motivate a team of employees to do their best work and drive your business forward. This might not be such a problem if you’re just starting out, working from a room in your home, but once things get more serious, you will need to take the reins and lead. If you can’t do that, it doesn’t look good.
- You are Resourceful
If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you really do need to be resourceful. You need to be able to turn your meagre resources into thousands of dollars and this will not be easy if you aren’t creative, good at solving problems or smart enough to see connections and opportunities where other people don’t.
- You Hate the Status Quo
If you’re okay with the status quo, and you’re happy just to plod along doing what you’re doing, you won’t get anywhere in business where innovation and ideas are the names of the game. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to live and breathe change, and you need to be able to notice opportunities to make change and do things better when they arise.
- You Have No Fear
Okay, so having a little bit of fear might be a good thing; it’ll prevent you from doing something really stupid and getting yourself killed, but if you want to grow a successful empire, you need to be, for the most part, fearless. You need to be fearless because, sometimes in business, you need to make scary decisions. You might have to mortgage your house to invest in a new venture or take out a huge loan to keep things ticking over, and if you’re scared, you won’t do this, even if you believe it will pay off big time for you in the future.
- You Have Bags of Energy
When you’re an entrepreneur, at least when you’re starting out, you will need to burn the candles at both ends. You will need to work harder and longer than the big boys who are firmly established in your industry, and if you aren’t the energetic type, you will find this extremely difficult, if not impossible to do.
- You are Into Self-Improvement
As a self-starter, it’s important that you’re able to take criticism and use that criticism to improve yourself. If you’re the sensitive type who thinks you’re fine as you are and anyone who questions you is a jerk, you will fail. If, however, you know that nobody is perfect and we should all be working to improve ourselves and our businesses, you will listen to that criticism and turn it into something great.
- You Love Challenges
If you’re the kind of person who relishes a challenge because it gives you a chance to push yourself to the limits and show the world what you’re capable of, you’re a perfect candidate for entrepreneurship. If, on the other hand, you crumble at the mere mention of anything difficult, that you aren’t used to or which you know won’t be easy for you, best change or stick to the day job.
- You Bounce Back
Entrepreneurs almost universally experience setback after setback before they hit on the right combination of circumstances, products and connections that allow them to succeed. If you are able to bounce back from these setbacks quickly and with a positive attitude, you will get where you want to be eventually.
- You are Innovative
You’re not going to be the next Coca-Cola or Google by doing exactly what they do. They already do what they do better than anyone else on the planet. So, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be innovative. You need to be good at looking at people’s problems and finding ways of solving them. You need to be a fixer, and you need to love the challenge that problems present you with.
- You are Passionate
Telling people to follow their passion to earn a living is quick becoming a cliché, but you know what, it’s good advice for entrepreneurs, because if you’re going to work as hard as you need to in order to succeed, you need to have something driving you on and passion is probably the best motivating factor there is. If you love getting up and getting to work every day because you’re doing something you truly love, you’re less likely to quit at the first hurdle and extremely likely to be a successful entrepreneur one day.
- You Seek Second Opinions
If you’re someone who knows that your way of doing things might not always be the optimum way, and if you’re more than happy to bring other people along with you to offer suggestions, iron out the kinks and support you in your endeavours, you’ll do a lot better in business than someone who tries to do everything alone. No man is an island, and no entrepreneur can see success without the help and advice of others along the way.
- You are a People Person
Networking is a big part of building a business. Often who you know is more important than what you know if you want to get ahead. So, if you’re the gregarious type – the kind of person who enjoys the company of others’ and knows how to hold a conversation – you could well be the next great entrepreneur. All you need is one good idea to get you there.
- You are Good with Money
If you spend money without tracking it and you don’t even know how much cash you have in your account right now, you might want to work on your financial literacy before you become an entrepreneur. If on the other hand, you can account for every penny and you actually enjoy tracking your finances, you’re on the road to successful entrepreneurship.
Are you a successful entrepreneur? What qualities do you think it is most important to have if you want to succeed in the dog eat dog business world?
