Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to succeed in business as an entrepreneur? It’s exciting to read the success of other entrepreneurs on Forbes magazine and entrepreneur.com; but behind the glamorous stories is blood, sweat and tears. Although not everyone is cut out for that; some people underestimate their potential to succeed in business. You may have the qualities it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur without knowing. This post will show you 10 signs you have the qualities to succeed in business. You don’t have to observe all 10 signs; but the more the better.
Money, people, time, technology tools and raw materials are all resources you need to manage to create wealth. The most important of all resources you need to build a successful business is people; and most people fail at dealing with other people. In fact, most people are terrible with managing other people, money, time and material resources. People want to live above their means, spend time on unproductive activities and use the same tools that are enriching other people just for leisure.
Entrepreneurs need to be able to find and keep the right people to work with them. You need to find technology tools to increase productivity and work more efficiently. You need to manage scare capital for a high return on investment. And while managing people may not be within your control, how you manage your time is within your control. If you are good with managing resources, you have a high chance of succeeding as an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship takes choosing the path only a few people follow. You can’t be normal to succeed as an entrepreneur. It’s not surprising to hear stories of how successful entrepreneurs struggled to fit in while growing up. People around them often thought of them as weird, nerdy, socially awkward and all sorts of weird names, because they were not easily understood.
Maybe you are more thoughtful than most people. You listen and observe more than you speak. Your interests rarely agree with the majority. These qualities maybe your greatest gift if you learn to accept ‘who you are’. In a world of too many similarity and familiarity, your weirdness can be channelled to create something unique and refreshing.
What do I mean by that? It simply means that you stick to what you start until you finish it. We all had this quality as kids. As a toddler, you learned to sit, crawl, walk and run by yourself. Even when you fell and stumbled, you stuck with your goal as you moved through these stages of development. It’s in the human spirit to ‘never say die’. But somewhere along the line, most people got robbed of this quality. Society reprogrammed people into creatures of instant gratification or nothing.
It takes a level of stubbornness to growth through society and still retain that attitude to start what you want to do and finish it. If you have a tendency to doggedly pursue what you want until they’re accomplished, you have what it takes to succeed in business.
A verse from the bible says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be”. Who you follow on social media, says a lot about your values and aspirations. People who largely follow popular culture celebrities do so to relive their fantasies through them. If you are largely attracted to people who are building businesses, have an interest in investment and are generally inspirational, that’s a reflection of your innermost desire. You now need to match your desire with action.
In the book, ‘Built to Last’, the authors after studying businesses that have lives for at least 100 years, identified that the most enduring businesses thrived under unassuming introverted leaders.
Being an introvert doesn’t mean that you hate being around people; it just means that you recharge best when you’re alone. It also means that you’re more of an “ideas” person, enjoy working alone, are a great listener, and are great at fostering a team environment. This isn’t to say that extroverts can’t be successful as well, as many outwardly focused people use their innate connecting abilities to drive the growth of their startups, but there are entrepreneurial advantages that come from being an introvert. If you want to become an entrepreneur, being introverted shouldn’t be an excuse but an advantage.
You cannot fake this no matter how hard you try. You can’t fake having interest in people. Interestingly, it’s an important trait of successful businesses. We gravitate towards people that show interest in us. Unless your business is a monopoly, no business can survive without having and showing interest in the people they serve.
Having a genuine interest in people means that you find pleasure in helping them solve the problem your business solves. If you genuinely love to help people solve a particular problem of commercial value, you have the green light to give the business a go.
This may seem counterproductive, but behind many highly driven individuals are the desire to prove someone wrong. This could explain why many people who had a rough childhood, were considered weird or faced humiliation turn out hugely successful.
It might sound silly and immature but lots of entrepreneurs are driven to prove someone who doubted them, rejected them or ridiculed them wrong. It could be an ex, it could be a bully, it could be a parent or even a teacher. As Albert Einstein puts it, “I’m thankful to those who said no to me; it is because of them I did it myself”.
On the other hand, someone may even be ‘your own self’. Maybe you had a bad experience that made you believe you are not worthy of success. You’ve heard them say, “the only competition you have is with yourself”. You can rarely make a headway in life if you don’t constantly challenge yourself. If you have a voice from your past, that constantly reminds you why you cannot make a significant impact in life, you have someone to prove wrong; and that energy can propel you beyond what you consider your limits.
The most successful entrepreneurs are great salesmen and women. In fact, the life of an entrepreneur is seasoned with selling; from customers, investors, partners to employees. You have to sell your idea, vision, product and services; and you have to do this over and over. Having good sales skills doesn’t necessarily translate to entrepreneurship. You can build a successful career with your sales skill without needing to start your own business. Also if selling is not your strength, you can still succeed as an entrepreneur by partnering with someone who complements your weaknesses.
People who are curious make good entrepreneurs. Here at AfterSchoolAfrica, we have always encouraged you to keep exploring opportunities. Not knowing about a thing is not an excuse. There are many resources to learn about any subject that interest you. Yet many people are not taking advantage of this enormous opportunity. If you are naturally curious to learn, you can always update your knowledge. Even if you don’t have what it takes to build a successful business, your curiosity to seek out knowledge will enlighten you about entrepreneurship.
Successful entrepreneurs are people who bite more than they can chew. After making $165 million from his share of selling PayPal, one would expect Elon Musk to relax and enjoy his success. Instead, Musk shared and invested all his money into three ventures, Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity and started all over again; a rare quality to find even among entrepreneurs.
Having a restless spirit that’s never satisfied with “good enough” is one sign that you’d make a great entrepreneur. Being a business owner means continually improving on your success and never resting in your comfort zone. If you easily move on from your previous achievements to seek new ones, you might make a successful entrepreneur.
Succeeding as an entrepreneur takes a lot of hard and smart work and dedication. Behind the glamour are blood, sweat and tears. But with the right attitude, you will get addicted to the grind. One question for you; have you ever done something to prove someone wrong? Share your thoughts with us in the comment below.
This post was last modified on August 1, 2022 3:24 pm