Do you Know the Fundamental Characteristics of an Entrepreneur?. An entrepreneur is a person who is ready to take the risk of a new venture if there is a chance for making a profit and progressing towards his or her dreams of becoming self-employed and get the satisfaction, fulfillment, and the pleasure that comes from one’s accomplishments and contributions.
Successful en¬trepreneurs come in various ages, gender, income levels, and even race. They vary in experience and education. Research has shown that many successful entrepreneurs share certain personal attributes, such as: creativity, dedication, leadership, flexibility, determination, passion as well as self-confidence.
We will look at 12 Fundamental characteristics of an Entrepreneur that all successful entrepreneurs have and without which most people will fall short of what it takes to succeed in an entrepreneurial world.
Fundamental Characteristics of an Entrepreneur
1. Confidence
If you want to be an entrepreneur you should be confident. Confidence is one of the main characteristics of an entrepreneur. Not all people are born with confidence but it can be nurtured. One can also gain confidence by seeing the results and achievements of others.
2. Sense of Ownership
Sense of Ownership is whereby one takes responsibility for getting things done. The entrepreneur sees a problem as his/her own rather than someone else’s. He looks a solution and leaves things better than they were.
3. Good Communicator
Entrepreneurs recognize that communication is the key to successful relationships with people. In any business, there have to be human resources, whether in the form of employees, clients, or strategic partners. The entrepreneurs will always work to sharpen their communication skills, either spoken, written or non-verbal messages.
4. Team Player
For one to succeed in big businesses one should be a team player. If one does the entire work by themselves, they shoulder the entire burden by themselves and end up using the old ways of doing things. But when venturing into new businesses, new ways of doing things is a prerequisite; team players understand this better, one stick can easily be broken, but when many are put together it becomes difficult. The same applies to business, and successful entrepreneurs use teamwork to get work done and proceed to the next level in a very short period of time.
5. Passionate about Learning
Entrepreneurs are always learning, what they know they have not gotten it from the formal classrooms, but on their own, through seeking out information, personal reading, research, and asking out questions. They learn from their mistakes and are likely not to repeat them.
6. Dedicated
Many startups usually fail because they lose focus. Entrepreneurs dedicate themselves to the fulfillment of their plans, dreams, visions, and this generates electricity throughout the whole company.
7. Rely on System Oriented Solutions
Good systems allow us to reproduce great results every time and with little use of energy. Entrepreneurs know this very well, they search for systems before they rely upon people, and they look for system-based solutions before searching for human resource solutions.
If an employee falls sick or leaves, the work becomes threatened, in the other hand a system is built to get the work done; any employee in the team can step in and follow the blueprint to get the desired result.
8. Grateful
Entrepreneurs understand the power of being grateful. They do not take things for granted. They respect what they have been given and nurture it to their benefit instead of letting it dwindle. For what we have gives way for us to get more, and those who are thankful appreciate what they are given. Entrepreneurs have learnt not to take anything for granted. In the end they have learnt everything is about satisfaction, fulfillment and the pleasure that comes from one’s accomplishments and contributions.
9. A Leader
Entrepreneurs are not only subject to leading themselves but they are also good leaders, they lead others in the right path. They understand the importance of teamwork and need to appreciate the others, reward them and support them accordingly.
10. Risk Takers
Entrepreneurs are risk-takers and are not afraid to fail or take a risk. Many people could be successful if they only took risks.
In the other hand many people could be more successful but they take chances, become successful and retreat back to their comfort zone.
11. Sociable
Entrepreneurs are sociable human beings. Business is all about people, they get thrilled when they share products, ideas, and services which spread through the other people around them.
12. Optimistic
An entrepreneur is usually optimistic; they look on the bright side of life. They do not allow past experiences haunt them. When a business is down or failed, they try to look for a solution and solve it.
How To Become An Entrepreneur
How To Become An Entrepreneur. The global economy is changing rapidly; many people are finding themselves jobless after working for many years or after spending many years in furthering their education. Some industries are being shut down as the products being produced are no longer needed or the technology has changed and the service of many people is no longer needed.
In order to avoid certain situations, or find yourself jobless after finishing your education, indeed you will have to develop entrepreneurial skills to thrive in the coming years.
There is a certain procedure, or thought of process you need to follow when dealing with the uncertainty we now face.
Developing an entrepreneurial way of thinking is the solution to successfully managing one’s career. Many people are not made to be entrepreneurs, in that they are unable to run their own business. Anyone can run a business.
Sometimes a question is asked, how can this be done, how can one develop an entrepreneurial mindset? The answer is simple. The only way to develop it is by doing. Get yourself running it at first hand. If you sit down and don’t take that first step action, you will never get anywhere. After the action you will learn from the mistakes you have made, and build it with what is right.
Everyone in this world is or is an expert in something, or one can make things or have an idea of providing a certain service that can be beneficial to other people. The major question usually arises, is the expertise or service valuable to other people. Are they willing to pay for the service or product to be offered? If they are willing to pay, the next step is how do you start, and how do you find the people who need the service or product and how to offer it at a cost.
One does not need to start big; you can start small, and build the business systematically to a big empire. The important thing is to act or start, build the idea, and learn from what you are doing then, replicate it on other sectors.
You can start by a small business that is easy to start and wind up, see if it can generate profit per week, run it for at least three to six months. After the months you will know if you can form a company and make it run.
This is a test if you can be an entrepreneur, then you can identify that profitable business you would like to start and go for it. Your first business can fail, that does not mean it’s the end of the world. Many successful entrepreneurs have failed on the many businesses they have started on their way to success.
Below are some of the highlights:
• One needs to identify his or her desire, what are you passionate about. Do not get into business just because your friend is doing it. The challenges that are attached to it might be very different from what you think. Do some soul searching for your desire
• Take action. Find a means on how to capitalize on your desire, how to make people know your service or product and purchase.
• Learn from the steps taken.
• Build on the learning steps, and learn from them
• Replicate them on all sectors or business you are venturing
Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs
Most successful entrepreneurs tend to share similar characteristics. You can counter check if you have some of these characteristics. If you do not possess most of them don’t be afraid. Most can be cultured with practice and by having a captivating attitude
To succeed in business there are certain musts that are required to be successful in a particular field. For instance to succeed in athletics or any sports, one has to train and practice; to drive a vehicle or motorcycle one has to learn, train and practice. Thus if you are getting into business and want to succeed in your field, the formula is not different.
There are countless business musts; we will just highlight some of the most important points that are needed to start, operate and grow a business.
1. Do what satisfies you.
If you do what you enjoy most it will be reflected on your business. When one engages in a business or activity that he or she does not enjoy, chances are it will not succeed. One can get financial gain, stability, personal satisfaction and enjoyment from business.
2. Be serious on what you do.
To be more successful and effective one needs to be serious on what he is doing. Believe in yourself. Know the product or service being provided. Be motivated and do not get out of tract from the distracters around you.
3. Have a plan.
Have a plan or blue print on where you need to take your business. The plan will also assist you measure how successful the business is.
The plan should be implemented and maintained to the latter. Business planning is important as it allows you to analyze the business situation, research and make decisions based on the data obtained.
4. Manage your finance wisely.
To make sure there is cash flowing in the business you need to manage your finances wisely. You need to know what is needed to pay for pay for services, purchase of products, pay rent and incomes, marketing and what is ploughed back to the business. Therefore you need to keep track of your income and expenses.
5. Sale the product or Services.
The product or service will be meaningful and worth if you ask people to buy. Advertising, marketing, or promotional activities will be worthless if you do not ask people to purchase.
6. Keep your customers in mind
The business is not all bout the products and services being sold but about the customer. Everything you do you must focus on the customer. These includes the payment options, policies, operating hours, warranties, advertising, presentations, and promotional campaigns and the design website; easy to maneuver. The customer is the one who will decide if your business will flourish or go down.
7. Become a self promoter.
Most people assume that when they start a business, automatically people will know about it and business start flowing. This cannot happen if no one knows who you are, what you sell and why they should purchase from you? To ensure that your products and services are known you must become a self promoter. Let people know your products and services.
8. Know your customers.
Know your customers and offer them personalized attention. As much as you are trying to get new customers most of the customers are regular or repeat. Tailor the services accordingly to each customer. Remember their names, and other details that will enable you be close to the clients. This can be achieved by having a data base.
9. Embrace technology.
The technology is changing very fast; you should not be caught unaware. Embrace technology that will enable your business grow.
10. Build a committed team.
One cannot build a successful business alone; you will need a team that is as committed as you. Look for a team that will assist you grow and be where you want to be.
11. Become an expert.
Become an expert in your line of field. When you have a problem for instance your computer has broken down you look for an expert to have a look at it. Be an expert in what you do and let people look for your services or products. This is another way of prospecting for new business
12. Create a competitive advantage
Have a unique selling point that has a competitive advantage than your competitors. Why would customers want to purchase from you. Is it that you offer better service, After sales service, have a longer warranty, longer business hours, flexible mode of payment, have a lower price or any other policy.
13. You should Invest in yourself
Top entrepreneurs purchase and read marketing and business books, newsletters, magazines, journals, reports, websites and industry publications. These resources improve their understanding of business and marketing functions and skills. As much as they know their work, they will still attend workshops, seminars as well as training courses.
14. Build a good reputation
Good reputation is not purchases, but earned by honoring your promises. When you promise a customer that you will deliver some products or services by a certain date, do exactly that and you will be building your reputation
15. Get involved with the community.
Get involved with the local community that supports your work, this can be through local charities, organizing community events and in return people will do more business with you.
16. Follow up.
Making a follow up to a customer is very important as these increases the sales.
17. Be a good Negotiator
Be a good negotiator to ensure there is a win-win situation to both the customer and you
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