What Are The Qualities Of A Successful Entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur means not only having professional knowledge and business practices, but also having certain skills, attitudes and personal characteristics.

There are several characteristics which are usually associated with individuals who successfully engage in entrepreneurship. Among them are critical and creative thinking, goal-setting and goal-orientation, resilience and risk tolerance, communication and teamwork, planning and organizing, as well as interpersonal and leadership skills.

In depth…

It is considered that in order to be successful, an entrepreneur should be able to:

• stay motivated and committed to their business;
• think creatively (“outside the box”);
• solve problems and handle stress;
• set goals, develop a plan to achieve them, and carry out the plan;
• collect and analyze information;
• take risks;
• make decisions and act upon them;
• identify opportunities and generate ideas suitable to the opportunities;
• recognize trends and take advantage of them;
• demonstrate leadership;
• work well in a team;
• listen to others;
• negotiate and persuade;
• motivate and encourage others;
• have high ethical standards based on respect, integrity, fairness, compassion, truth, and courage.

Before you start your business, you can think of what qualities and characteristics you already have, and which of them need improvement. There are many ways to improve your business skills and alter your characteristics. You can, for example:

• talk to people in business to learn from them;
• get training, enroll in a course to study specific areas you need to improve in;
• become an assistant/apprentice to a successful business person;
• read literature that will help you develop your business skills;
• read articles about businesses and think about their problems and methods;
• consider finding a partner who would complement your strengths and weaknesses, instead of going into business entirely on your own;
• try to develop the described skills and attitudes by applying them in your daily activities. For instance, you can practice discussing the advantages and disadvantages of any situation or idea, increase your motivation by making a plan for your future, develop the ability to assess problems and take risks, learn how to deal with crises situations better, become more open to new ideas and other people’s views and improve your ability to learn from mistakes.