Top 10 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

Successful entrepreneurs all share a variety of characteristics that lead them walking down the path to success instead of floundering in failure.

Not just anyone can take an idea and actually cultivate it into thriving fruition; in fact, many tries, fail and then give up. The late Steve Jobs once said, “Half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

So what do you need to do to set yourself apart from those who are ineffective and to be a successful entrepreneur?

1. You have to be motivated to succeed

Success doesn’t just happen; it is the result of a string of carefully executed, calculated moves. You have to be willing to meet a hurdle head-on, assess it, and then find a way to leap over it.

Most people will be successful to a point and then when faced with a big dilemma will ultimately give up; it is the entrepreneurs that keep fighting that will prevail.

2. You have to be passionate

You have to love what you do. You can’t just approach a new goal or venture with a half-heartedness towards the end product. There has to be a fire that drives the desire to excel at the business. You can’t just be working to reach the end of the shift; you have to be willing to put in whatever it takes.

3. You have to be a born leader

There are leaders and there are followers. You have to have the ability to compel people to accomplish certain tasks through strong communication and quick decision-making skills. If you are indecisive and unsure of yourself you probably won’t succeed.

4. You have to have thick skin

People are going to tell you no. They’re going to shoot down your ideas and shut the door in your face. They’re going to tell you that it will never work.

But look at major companies like Apple and Google, which started out as nothing more than a small start-up and managed to create an empire, and ask yourself if you think they let every negative comment or turned down offer defeat them. The answer is an obvious and resounding no.

5. You have to have a natural sales ability

You have to be able to read people and determine what approach will work best with them. It takes a knack for being able to tune into people’s emotions and determine what drives them to make a decision, and then tap into that and harness it to your benefit.

6. You have to be flexible

With entrepreneurial ventures, something can start out as one thing and then slowly morph into something completely different over time.

What sets apart those who excel is the ability to be able to roll with change as it comes and embrace it so that it becomes a part of their business and ultimately of their success.

7. You have to be proactive

No one got anywhere waiting around for life to hand them things, instead life just passed them by. You have to actively seek out business opportunities. You will get nowhere waiting for someone else to do something; instead, you have to take the initiative and make it happen.

8. You have to be able to embrace failure

Failure will happen and when it does you have to be able to embrace it and then learn from it. Our mistakes are what help us figure out what will work well and be successful.

It is when you welcome failure, ascertain what went wrong and why it happened, learn to fix it, and then continue powering forward that success happens.

9. You have to know when help is necessary

Trying to do everything all on your own is a big task to try to undertake and probably won’t work out in the long term.

Not everyone excels at everything, and you have to be able to discern when someone else will do something better and be humble enough to ask for help. Being able to do this will pave the path to success.

10. You have to plan ahead

You can’t just come up with an idea and only look at the short term benefits of it – you have to want your business to last and be able to define the steps that need to be taken to ensure this.

There is no formula to get rich quick; there is only hard work and dedication to work over a period of time toward your goals.

Hundreds of thousands of people will try their hand at being entrepreneurs and fail because they don’t possess the right characteristics and qualities and they don’t understand the mechanics behind making a start-up business successful.

Success isn’t born overnight; it is something that people work towards with dedication and drive. As Mark Kay, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, said, “When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have a choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.”