Successful entrepreneurs are not born, they are made. No matter what line of business they do, successful entrepreneurs share certain common traits that predict their successes.
If you aspire to be a successful entrepreneur, you will achieve your aspirations faster if you possess these traits. Often, the hindrance to entrepreneurial success does not lie with the outside forces but with what the entrepreneur has inside of them. Do you have what it takes?
In this article, you will learn about the key traits that make a business owner into a successful entrepreneur. You do not have to possess all of them in the beginning, but it will give you something to strive for as you and your business begin to grow.
What Are the Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs?
What is a trait anyway? It is an attribute of your character that makes you who you are. It determines how you will react in certain situations. All traits are learned but it is by practice that we internalize them.
Having the traits of a successful entrepreneur benefits other areas of your life too. A successful entrepreneur is not just business savvy but also a success in other areas of their lives because they apply the same traits here. It is a pattern that, once recognized, can be seen everywhere and in everything that you put your hand to.
Setting goals
Goals are the benchmarks we use to judge our success or failure. An entrepreneur will have a history of goal setting and achievements. In school, you met challenges both physical and mental. To accomplish them, you learned how to break them down into manageable pieces called goals. Every milestone reached made you more confident and fueled your efforts for the next step.
Setting goals keeps you from quitting. It is easy to become overwhelmed with a large goal. The goal is more manageable when it is taken in steps.
How do you set goals? For starters, you must write your goals down.
Start with the main goal of your business. What is your vision statement? In other words, what do you hope to accomplish with this business? From that first statement, you can then list what needs to be done as general categories and break down each category into smaller goals to be accomplished over time. Set the timeline for each item.
Avoid unrealistic goals. This happens when you expect too much in too short a time. Successful entrepreneurs are not above revising their goals to avoid biting off more than they can chew and stalling the project.
Self-evaluation
Shakespeare said it best in Hamlet: “To thine own self be true.” Self-evaluation is a tool of the successful entrepreneur. You must know your strengths and weaknesses. You build on your strength and you work on your weakness.
One way of working on your weakness is to partner with another person with strength in that area.
Another way is to learn or to hire a coach. A successful entrepreneur has no illusions about themselves. They strive for clarity. They see weakness as opportunities to be exploited. They do not throw their hands up in the air and quit. They are always eager to take on the challenge and learn new things. With knowledge comes power to do what you want with your business and your life.
Attention to customer service
Genuine customer appreciation is perhaps, the most important trait of successful entrepreneurs. Afterall, customers are the lifeblood of your business. These are the people that have taken a chance on your business and put their trust in your product or service. Ignore or treat them badly, you will not be in business for long.
All too often, a business rates customer service at the bottom of the list of important business strategies. But successful entrepreneurs know that keeping their customers happy is the name of the game. How do you do that? First, ask yourself what would a business have to do to keep you loyal to their brand? That list of things is what you must accomplish to keep your customers.
The number one customers’ complaint is lack of communication when they have a problem. Successful entrepreneurs put measures in place to handle customer service questions efficiently. It could be as simple as a FAQs page on their website for initial inquiries and an answering service. Some use autoresponder messages for different categories of inquiries, so the customer gets a prompt response while you tend to the problem.
Beyond that, businesses can reward their customers with referral programs, free coupons, discounts on new products, and prize giveaways. Giving away items and rewarding customers will always pay off in the end. Treating people like they are special earns their trust and a good name for you.
More importantly, successful entrepreneurs pay attention to the needs of their customers and strive to provide solutions to those needs.
Know your trade
How can you conduct a business successfully when you do not know anything about it? Potential customers often ask business owners what their business is all about. If you must think hard to find an answer, you are doing something wrong.
A successful entrepreneur knows the ins and outs of their trade. They have researched each nook and cranny of their business. Often, the business venture that you choose to pursue is one that you are familiar with and passionate about. To that end, you will know all about the product, the market, and any new advances in the area. It is hard to convey your passion and excitement if you don’t know what you are talking about.
Part of knowing all about the business requires knowing all about the competition. Successful entrepreneurs study the competition to see what they are doing right and what can be improved upon. It is not industrial espionage to evaluate their processes and learn how to make them better for your products. Only a foolhardy person ignores the opportunity they have by evaluating the others in direct competition with them.
Creativity
Creativity is an essential trait of successful entrepreneurs. If you are the same thing everyone else is doing, how can you differentiate yourself from everyone else?
You must think outside the box if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. You have to come up with new ideas; better ways of doing things. You must be innovative. You have to be ahead of the pack. You must strive for excellence. Successful entrepreneurs do not settle for mediocrity.
Along those same lines, leverage the creativity of others around you: your business partner, employees, or even freelancers. Surround yourself with people who have the creative spark. Expand your network; join mastermind groups. Solicit customer suggestions to enhance your business. Growing a business is a collaborative effort and successful entrepreneurs welcome creativity in themselves and others.
Seize opportunities
It’s nice to think that success will just walk up and hit you in the head but that rarely if ever happens. To find opportunities you have to be in the right place at the right time with the proper attitude. What is that attitude, you asked? Keep an open mind and step out of your comfort zone.
Doing something you have never done before can be scary. Fear has kept a lot of budding entrepreneurs from realizing their dreams. Fear can be debilitating if you let it. Instead, face it and do what you need to do. Constantly facing your fear makes it disappear.
Successful entrepreneurs realize that even setbacks can be growth opportunities. Now you know what did not work for you. Instead of wasting time brooding, you move on to the next thing.
Flexibility
The business market is ever-changing. New marketing techniques enhance business and make some others obsolete. Customers change their tastes at the drop of a hat. What is popular this year may not be in style next year. And competitions emerge every day. A successful entrepreneur knows how to adapt.
Flexibility begins with not holding on to any idea too rigidly. While you are working on promoting one product, you still entertain ideas that can be useful down the line when you are ready for them. As times change, you will have an arsenal of other ways to adapt and continue to grow your business. Solicit opinions and be receptive to constructive criticism. Be willing to change as the need and time call for it.
Final Thoughts
How long will you stick with a business if you don’t love what you do? Every setback will be like a knife in your side and every long day turns into a headache. This is not so for the successful entrepreneur. He or she has chosen a niche of business that coincides with their interests. For them, the new business is like getting paid to have fun.
As a rule, it is important to love what you have decided to devote your life to. Entrepreneurship is a choice and to be a wise choice, it needs to integrate well into your life. That means governing your business venture with the same principles and convictions that you use for all other areas of your life.
So, how many of these traits do you exhibit? A successful entrepreneur is willing to learn the skills that they lack and come to master them. Entrepreneurial opportunities are endless as long as you possess determination, focus, flexibility, an open mind, and commitment to your customers.
