8 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

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So in the last post, Self-Employment: Do You Have What It Takes? I introduced the topic and discussed a bit about what it really takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

Now here are 8 traits that many of those who are successfully self-employed share in common… let’s see how you rank.  Make sure to leave your comments in the box below and subscribe to my RSS feed to keep up with new posts.

8 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs:

They are confident. Not just in themselves, but in everything they do.  They are confident in their ability to get the job done, they are confident the product or service they sell is the bomb diggity, they are confident if you give them a single chance they can wow you with their amazing talent, whatever that talent may be.

They have unshakeable and unwavering faith in themselves and their abilities and that translates to their customers and clients 10x over.  It’s how they succeed and become ‘in-demand’.  It’s what picks them up after a hard knock and keeps them going despite the bruising.  It’s what makes them stand out from the rest of the pack.

They are goal setters. The successfully self-employed understand the importance of goal setting and having an end in mind.  They understand that focus and action in the direction of their goals is what will propel them into real success, and that lacking goals means you lack direction.

If you have no direction you end up wandering around in hapless circles, ‘hoping’ success will find you.  Unfortunately success doesn’t find you… you find it.  And you do it by setting measurable, achievable goals for yourself and your business and then meeting and exceeding them, no matter what.

They enjoy the taste of risk. Let’s face it.  Working for yourself can be scary, especially when you have a family to support and mouths to feed.  If you don’t have a sense of adventure or a willingness to take on a bit of calculated risk, your star will not rise as high as you’d hoped.  It really is that simple.

You have to be willing to take a risk, put yourself out there, and cross your fingers and toes and pray to Jesus it’ll pay off.  Oh wait… maybe that last part is just me.  At any rate, you have to be willing to jump and hope like hell it pays off.  And of course if you are taking calculated risks and not crazy risks all willy nilly… it’s a good bet they probably will!  Just sayin’.

They have dogged determination and desire. Yep you really need that.  But to have that you really need to dig and figure out why you want to be self-employed.  What does it mean to you?  Because if it’s just about the money it will soon fall flat and become that four letter word called ‘work’.

But if you’re doing it because you have a passion for it, and a ‘do or die’ type of determination to make it work… then you’re on the right track.  And I say this because it’s hard sometimes to be self-employed and only have yourself to rely on… when you screw up it’s ALL on you.  How’s that for no pressure? J

They can see the bigger picture. More importantly they can see the bigger picture and get the ball rolling.  They take action and make that picture reality.  Sorry boys and girls, but if you can’t see the forest through the trees you may have a real struggle ahead of you.

You need to be able to visualize where your business is going and how you plan on getting it there.  Then you need to be able to put that vision into motion by applying the new ideas and concepts you will no doubt be constantly learning… because you can see the bigger picture.

They are selective. Yes it’s very easy when you start out to want to jump on every new project that comes your way, big or small.  It’s natural to want to sell every product under the sun in the hopes you’ll earn money faster.

But the successfully self-employed understand that business and branding is important.  They understand that they need to start as they mean to go on, and that reputation can make or break them.  They make sure they can stand behind their products or services 100% and get a good night’s sleep at the end of the day.

They are organized (mostly) and efficient. OK, so maybe that’s a little wishful thinking on my part.  I’m far from organized although I strive to be.  The point though is that they understand the importance of being organized and make every attempt to be so.

When you are self-employed everything falls on you to be carried out.  Whether that means doing something yourself or delegating it out, it’s your job to make it happen.  If you aren’t somewhat organized in your day to day then guess what?

You might end up calling the pizza guy when you were supposed to call that new client, or end up popping off a email meant for your best friend to your newest lead by accident.  Or maybe you’ll miss that important deadline because you forgot to write it down, or lose that potential JV partner because you couldn’t keep your sh** together.  And finally?

They are disciplined. OK so I know I said this one when I started this post but it’s vitally important so I thought I’d reiterate.  If you’re not disciplined enough to make yourself get up in the morning and accomplish those things that bring in your revenue then you can expect before long to have no revenue. It really is just that simple.

And just to be clear, having all of those traits does not mean you are meant to be self-employed.  It means that your shots of making a success of it might be higher than the guy standing next to you who doesn’t possess them.

But creating a successful business all on your own also relies on other factors like your market, what you’re selling, and how you’re going about selling it as well.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.   So I’d suggest sitting down with yourself and having a really honest heart-to-heart.

Really be blunt and assess whether or not you have what it takes to commit to self-employment and make a success of it.  And remember that with becoming an entrepreneur you lose a sense of security (at least for awhile).  So if you’re more comfortable with the security of a steady paycheck… don’t quit your day job.

If you liked this post, please don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed and share this with your friends using the links below.  It’s always appreciated.  And don’t forget, comments are welcome!

Warm regards,

Cori Padgett AKA k0zm0zs0ul

Tagged as: business owner and entrepreneur, Cori Padgett, ghostwriter, k0zm0zs0ul, write syntax