Contrary to what many may say, becoming a successful entrepreneur and starting your own company takes a lot of very hard work and determination.
There are some key qualities that I believe you must possess if you are going to be successful on this very exciting but rewarding journey.
1. Vision – Every entrepreneur must have a vision on what they want to create and achieve. Your vision doesn’t have to be finite, as flexibility is important when starting your business, however you do need to have an understanding of what your end game will look like. Don’t forget to dream, get big!
2. Self belief – I think my most important quality is self belief. If you don’t believe in yourself or have confidence that you can achieve your goals, then this will resonate throughout your entire business and ultimately lead to failure.
3. Determination – Not many successful entrepreneurs have created businesses without a high level of determination. You really need to ‘want’ success and not just think that it will happen by itself.
4. Perseverance – You will face obstacles throughout your journey as an entrepreneur. The difference between being successful and not-successful is your ability to deal with obstacles as they arise, to get back up when you get knocked down and continue moving forward regardless of what others my say to you.
5. Hard working – There is no way around this quality if you want your business to be successful. You need to word hard, work longer hours and work on any day. If you think that you can work 8 to 5, Monday to Friday with 4 weeks annual leave in the first years of your new business, then you should consider whether or not starting your own business is for you.
6. Sacrifice – One of the most common faults I see with new entrepreneurs is not being willing to make sacrifices in the early stages. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a well capitalized company from day 1, which is most of us, then there is a good chance you will have to take on most of the work yourself without hiring key staff, you may need to reduce the salary you can take or perhaps not even take any salary as you build up your business, and you are going to have to sacrifice some of the luxuries you may of had when you worked a structured working week as an employee.
7. Risk Taking – This is a key quality in my mind. Successful entrepreneurs don’t grow successful business by sitting on the conservative fence. You need to take risks. This doesn’t mean committing commercial suicide – it means making calculated decisions and taking opportunities when they arise, even if they may put you outside your comfort zone.
8. Never Give Up Attitude – Well this one speaks for itself. I have never met any winners or champions who gave up at the first sign of trouble or threw in the towel when things got a little bit difficult. Never give up – Its your dream and you are the only one who can make it happen.
9. No Fear To Fail – This shouldn’t be confused with ‘Never Give Up’. They are completely different. Your dream to build your business will meet some failures from time to time but that should never deter you from taking risks and building your business. Always use failure as a positive, use it to refine your approach and make your business stronger than before.
10. A true leader – If you are not a leader then there is a good chance you haven’t even contemplated starting your own business. But one thing that is very evident with all successful entrepreneurs – they are all leaders. Sitting there waiting for it to happen or waiting for someone else to take the lead wont get you to stage 2 of your dream. Lead from the front and go and grab whats yours.
Remember, its your dream, its your business and its your future. Give it everything you have and you will be a successful entrepreneur.