It seems like everyone these days wants to be an entrepreneur. They see all the positive benefits involved with owning your own business, but sometimes forget the sacrifices that are asked of you. Regardless of the sacrifices, there have been many people that have overcome a lot to be successful with their own business. Becoming an entrepreneur has several vital characteristics. Attaining these characteristics could mean the difference between success and failure.
Judgment
The first of these characteristics is having a good sense of judgment in common situations. This is important because proper judgment has the ability to help take complex problems and simplifying them, thus making it easier to find a solution. The best way to attain proper judgment is by taking past experiences and knowledge and attributing this to your daily life.
Knowledge is Power
The second vital characteristic is acquiring the proper knowledge.
Depending on the focus of your business, acquiring the appropriate knowledge could range from taking specialized classes, constantly reading up-to-date information, or even studying those who have preceded you in your business of interest and how they became successful. Never forget the knowledge that you have acquired from experience elsewhere will always come into play in some way, so no knowledge will ever prove to be useless.
Confidence
Believe in yourself. It may sound trite but having confidence and believing in your ability to be successful is half the battle. In order to achieve this confidence it is important to excel in the former two points. By feeling comfortable with the knowledge you have and having confidence in your judgment, believing in yourself should not be a difficult task to complete. If you can honestly tell yourself that you are fully capable to become an entrepreneur than there should be no reason to doubt yourself.
Task Oriented
Another key characteristic is being able to put an end to procrastination. You can say you’re ready and capable to start your business until you’re blue in the face but until you actually begin the process, these words are nothing but empty promises you’re making to yourself. Write down a list of steps for yourself and plan out when you will complete these. Setting deadlines for yourself and sticking to them will make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur more than just a dream.
Follow Through
Finish what you started. Do not be mistaken, this will not be easy. On the way to becoming an entrepreneur you will come across many roadblocks and will be tempted to quit. Do not give in to your fear of failure. Giving up is not going to make things easier, instead it will cause regret and generate questions of “what if” for years down the road. The success of your business will feel even more empowered after you’ve “paid your dues” and you truly know that you’ve earned this. You must remember that you are responsible for your own failures and successes.
Lead By Example
Leadership is another important aspect of becoming an entrepreneur. Once your business begins to grow you will need to acquire the ability to lead others and delegate to them exactly what you want and what your business needs. If you second-guess yourself, they will too. Your employees will see that you are unsure of yourself and in turn will be unsure of you as well. You must be firm and stand your ground while maintaining the relationships needed to make them feel valued. Know your plan before you tell it to them and sound certain and direct when sharing it with others.
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Also important is the ability to distinguish what’s personal and what is not personal, especially when tangled up in a situation where they interchange.
The ability to segregate professional situations and actions from personal ones is another trait that distinguishes leaders, and those who are able to keep a level head at all times.
Finish what you started.
That’s the gold egg. I have already a backlog of ideas and projects…
Good article Jane. I just want to add something to the leadership paragraph. DELEGATE. Learn it, live it, love it. Few daily tasks actually require the bosses’ attention, train your staff to handle them. You not only let them know they are important, you might even get a day off once in a while. My management experience could have been pretty unpleasant without good people around me.
That’s a great point. I’ve found that when you delegate and put the responsibility on your people’s plates, they take ownership of it.
If you’ve got great people, and you give them ownership of their work, you’ve got nothing to worry about!
One thing to remember when starting your own business and it is the most important part. You can go to all the seminars, work groups, books, anything you need to be successful. This one word in the equation that will make it all happen? That word? ACTION! Never look back, learn from the many mistakes you make. You can always make something better then it is. Never quit, just find a new idea to overcome what ever is slowing you down. It’s fun, exciting, and keeps you thinking all the time! Good Luck !
I think it is imortant to remember that there is a difference between just delegating responibilities and empowering people. When you just hand someone a task they do not take ownership unless they know that they have the power along with the responsibility.
The important piece of delegation is having everyone do the bottom half of the job of the person they report to. That keeps the upward motion going, fueling ambition.
One area where I’ve seen some entrepreneurs struggle is in pricing. It’s not about how much it costs you to create something or what you think your time is worth. It’s about what customers are willing to pay for your products or services.
I agree, I know a few people in custom part manufactering and they create things without considering market comparisons for what is currently being offered.
I think you might want to mention passion . . . . passion is as infectious as anything in a company . . . . it bonds the company during hard times and fires them up during the good times!
i guess the singapore girl is great.but i’ll like to know what exact courses one needs to study to be able to own an airline.it has always been my dream.
better still u can give me a little talk thru my mail.