If you are or have been into running a business, you must have definitely heard the term “entrepreneur”. An entrepreneur is a person who comes up with a product/service idea, starts a business to commercialize it, bears all the risks that come along, and aims to make profits once the business takes off. The qualities of an entrepreneur are unique.
Entrepreneurs are typically innovators. They are the source of introducing new ideas into the world, and they give birth to business processes and marketing strategies. A successful entrepreneur is one who is able to implement his business idea and plan in a way that he is able to build a sustainable and profitable stream of income out of it. The image below shows a screenshot from an entrepreneur’s website who successfully converted his business idea into an online business.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Successful entrepreneurs are different from ordinary people. There are certain traits in their personality that distinguish their fate from others. Most successful entrepreneurs are the kind of people who are thought of as “lucky” by others and form a very minor proportion of society. The way they think, the way they deal with situations, and the way they act upon their instincts is unique from others. People normally do not understand the minds of successful entrepreneurs.
If you want to become like successful entrepreneurs, keep reading! We’ll be discussing how to become a successful entrepreneur, and the entrepreneurial traits that you must possess if you want to be and live like successful entrepreneurs.
The Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur
Here are the 10 most common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.
1. They Take Their Actions Seriously
Entrepreneurs are deeply aware that their actions and behavior have a great impact on their business’s success. When they start up a business, whether it’s an online business or is run through brick-and-mortar outlets, they work on it ambitiously to make sure it can properly be kicked off the ground. In other words, they are fully vested in their business initiative. All successful entrepreneurs do the work seriously.
2. They Focus on the Customer
Successful entrepreneurs know that the success of a business relies on its customers. They are able to put themselves into the shoes of their target customers so that they can offer the exact solutions that their customers need. They create a marketing plan that has an influence on the target market in an undeniable way. They listen to their customers to get honest and thorough feedback about their products or services. They put in the time and effort to make amendments to their products/services according to the taste of their customers.
3. They Take Major Decisions Carefully
Successful entrepreneurs know how to keep a balance between taking risks and playing safe. In other words, they are good at risk management. Before starting a business, they do their homework and learn everything they need to know about an enterprise. They are wise in taking big decisions and do not make rash choices. They study the market carefully and follow the trends to avoid any hiccups in their sales. They are aware that any decisions that they take at the beginning of their business can have long-term effects on their revenues.
4. They Make Use of Technology
Most successful entrepreneurs are well adapted to the latest technologies at hand. They make good use of technology and keep themselves updated with the technological breakthroughs happening in the relevant industry. They know that technology is changing constantly, and are ready to adapt to it well before others. For example, a successful entrepreneur would be well aware of the live chat feature that they can readily make available on their website. By adapting to this technology earlier than the majority, and learning how to add live chat to the website, they can get a competitive edge over others by offering awesome customer service through their site.
Image taken from Strikingly
5. They Like to Invest in Themselves
This might sound strange but it’s true that most successful entrepreneurs like to invest in themselves. This investment could be in the form of getting further education, taking up professional training programs or online courses, hiring a mentor to guide them in their business startup, going on a well-earned vacation, or something else of the like. Successful entrepreneurs believe that if they make their own lives better, they will be able to do the same for their customers, which would lead to more sales and more revenue that could be recycled back into their business.
6. They Constantly Keep Learning
Knowledge is never enough for successful entrepreneurs. They believe in constant learning and constant improvement. They keep themselves updated about consumer trends, market demand, trending products, and new opportunities. They are not afraid of coming across some information that would make them take a step back and re-analyze the situation. They are mentally prepared to cope with the market demands and keep gathering information on a daily basis.
7. They Like Taking Risks
Successful entrepreneurs know that you cannot become rich out of saving money. They also believe that you cannot make a breakthrough without taking any risks. They are willing to go with the flow and take risks as they come along their way. They listen to their intuition and do what they want, even if they see challenges on their path. They are not scared of risks and losses and acknowledge that these are a part of life. They take on the trial-and-error method whenever required, which exposes them to threats and risks. They are even willing to go through failure if that’s what it takes to eventually get success.
8. They Like to Build Networks
Networking is one of the most common entrepreneurial traits. Successful entrepreneurs simply love to build networks. They know that networking is the best form of marketing and can benefit their business in many different ways. They are always looking forward to meeting new people, exchanging contacts, being the bridge between their contacts, and extending their professional network. They like joining business networking websites and social media platforms, where they can constantly interact with people with similar interests as theirs. They enjoy teamwork and are open to receiving ideas from others. This is the most enjoyable among all the qualities of an entrepreneur.
9. They Have a Sense of Curiosity
Curiosity is one of the key entrepreneurial traits. Successful entrepreneurs are always curious about the market. They are curious about the changing trends, curious about their competition, curious about their gross profit calculations, and curious about any opportunities that they can spot. It is their curiosity that makes them work so hard to ensure the success of their business. They are not willing to settle for anything less than their dreams. Their curiosity takes them high in ambition and pushes them to be vigilant in achieving their goals. They have the guts to challenge the status quo and ask questions to get answers and make new discoveries.
Factors to Consider to Build a Successful Business
Besides being a successful entrepreneur or possessing the qualities of an entrepreneur, there are certainly other factors that you need to consider if you want to build a successful business.
1. Have a Passion for Your Product
Before you market your product to anyone else, you need to fall in love with it yourself. If you are not passionate about what you’re selling, you won’t be able to remain persistent in your efforts. So for instance, if you want to open up a restaurant business, you need to be really passionate about cooking, food and cuisine. The image below is a screenshot from the website of an entrepreneur who loves cooking and opened up a successful restaurant.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
2. Maintain a Backup Savings Account or Source of Income
Many people think that if they plan to start a business of their own, the first thing they need to do is quit their nine to five jobs. This is far from the truth. When you are starting a business initiative, it is important to maintain a secondary source of income, whether it’s in the form of a job or some other passive income means. You never know how long it takes for your sales to pick up. Until you break even in your new business, you will need to rely and live on your initial savings or source of income.
3. Build an Online Presence for Your Brand
A very crucial thing for any new business these days is to have an online presence. When anyone hears about your brand, the first thing they would do is search about it on the internet. That’s why it is of utmost importance for you to build a website for your business, even before you start marketing your products.
Luckily for you, it is very easy and cost-effective for a new businessman to build a website these days. Instead of hiring a web developer and paying him hefty amounts, you can sign up for a free account at Strikingly, and get your site up and running in just a couple of hours.
Image taken from Strikingly
At Strikingly, we believe in helping entrepreneurs jumpstart their business by making it super easy for them to build an online presence of their brand. After you create an account with us, you can choose your website design from a variety of our ready-made website templates. Then simply use our drag and drop feature to insert elements (text, images etc.) into your web pages.
And there you go! You are all set to start running your marketing campaigns.
