In all truthfulness, it might be a bit of everything. Nevertheless, today we’re looking into certain common traits that successful entrepreneurs seem to exhibit.
Visionary
When you think successful entrepreneurs, who first comes to mind? Someone like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, surely? If so, then you’ve definitely heard those names being mentioned in the same sentence with – or even equaled to – visionaries, in one context or another.
Naturally, in order to succeed, entrepreneurs need to think ahead, be innovative and see opportunity in everything – even when others don’t. Combine that ever-burning curiosity with a well devised plan that’ll be put into motion and – voila! – your name might just be as famous as those three up there.
Risk-taker
That leads us to another highly important trait that an entrepreneur has to possess – proneness to taking risks. How many times have you heard something along the lines of: “Now’s not the time to…” or “The market’s not ready yet for…”? And then comes along a guy or a girl who does exactly that when everyone else claims they shouldn’t. In short – they risk it all, against all odds.
Even though you’ve surely heard myriads of similar stories with an unhappy ending, there are always those rare ones that are still going strong. Take AskGamblers for example, a casino affiliate website that earned its reputation as a successful project, but wanted to take it up a notch, risking a huge failure. Still, the risk was taken and the entire website got revamped. No one could’ve guaranteed if it would work out. Fast forward a few months and – what do you know – AskGamblers is one of the most successful websites in its niche today!
Resilient
Hеre’s another truth we all know: an entrepreneur cannot give up the first time they hit a wall. Or the second. Or the fiftieth. Resilience is key. Plus, not only will a future successful businessman get up and continue on their way, but they’ll also learn from their mistakes and make sure they do something differently the next time they give their plan a shot. Surely you’ve heard before that mistakes are merely opportunities in disguise, haven’t you?
Passionate
This one goes without saying. Namely, if an entrepreneur isn’t passionate about what they’re doing, why bother? In fact, in one research conducted by Tony Tjan, a venture capitalist, it was stated that 65% of company founders were identified as driven by heart. Call it however you like – heart or passion – but it’s certain that that very unwavering force is what guides them from start to finish – even when they’re told it’s time to stop.
Flexible
Surely, there are other traits that define successful entrepreneurs, but we’d like to focus on flexibility as our last pick. Being resilient and passionate is one thing; being able to accept changes is another.
Just because you have a set goal, it doesn’t mean you needn’t budge from time to time. Challenges will arise and it is important you understand them, undertake them and, ultimately, be able to adapt to the unanticipated situation. Modifying your idea is not a bad thing – especially as it may lead to unexpected results. Just ask Hyungsoo Kim and his original plan to develop a braille wristwatch. As soon as he learned that people didn’t want additional attention directed to their disability, he revised his original plan and created a watch that could be worn by both blind and people with sight.
Ultimately, there is no one definite answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article. Businesses fail and succeed, but what’s definitely true is that some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this world have shown these traits at one point or another. Dreaming of becoming the next big visionary turned successful businessman? Check how many of the traits you possess – who knows, you might truly be next!
