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The Entrepreneurial Right Stuff
(and Assessment Tools)
Everyone wants to be a successful entrepreneur, which
is why the management and self-help sections of bookshops are full books
with titles like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".
But the term entrepreneur is a vague one, which can mean different
things around the world.
In the US, it might refer to flamboyant property developers like Donald
Trump, in England to an eccentric inventor trying to make a better
mousetrap, while in Australia the term has been completely discredited
and taken to mean anyone who steals from investors and employees alike
in a desperate grab to make as much as money as possible in as short a
time as possible.
Perhaps the most useful and practical definition is someone who wants to
set up a thriving small to medium-sized enterprise (SME). Someone with
no desire to be a media mogul or a shipping magnate, just a person who
wants to work hard, reap the rewards of their hard work and build a
thriving business for their family's security and prosperity.
An examination of the common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
can help those considering setting up their own business decide whether
they have what it takes or not.
If not, they can then either develop those traits, hire others with them
or decide against going into business for themselves.
Many academics and researchers have attempted to determine what makes a
successful entrepreneur.
One of the most vital personality traits is that they are a "visionary".
Although successful business people must also be strategists and
technicians - i.e. know the best way to achieve an outcome and know how
to do what needs to be done to make it happen - without the original
goal or vision there will be no business.
Strongly coupled with this vision must be a strong belief in themselves.
This belief or self-assurance is necessary to overcome all those who
throw up obstacles and say that the vision cannot be achieved.
Paradoxically, this self-belief must also be coupled with an awareness
of limitations, so that it is possible to ensure that talented people
are hired to help attain the vision.
Also very important is mental toughness. Not only must an entrepreneur
be able to cope with huge amounts of uncertainty throughout the venture,
especially in the start-up phase, there are a lot of lows before the
highs, without money or time to alleviate them. The saying "when the
going gets tough the tough gets going" might be a corny cliché but for
the entrepreneur it is true. Most can't take a holiday in the first
years of a business - in fact, many are lucky if they can take weekends
off.
Self-belief and mental toughness combine to produce a personality that
is happy to, maybe even craves taking risks. And being an entrepreneur
does involve in many cases huge risks. It is not uncommon for the family
home to be used to provide start-up capital.
Hand in hand with mental toughness goes physical stamina. The hours are
long and the business doesn't stop because the principal gets sick.
Allied to this hard work is the characteristic that the successful
entrepreneur doesn't view business as being work because they are so
driven and usually enjoy what they are doing,
No matter how many hours are invested in building up the enterprise by
its founder, the amount of time available is finite. Other resources are
also scarce, the most important being cash.
In order to make the best and most productive use of these resources the
successful entrepreneur must be very well organized.
Although everyone's dream is to build a thriving business, sometimes
this is not possible. The successful entrepreneur must therefore retain
the ability to be objective, to make rational decisions at all times,
and make a timely exit before money and health reserves are completely
exhausted.
Strangely enough, one of the abilities that is not needed in an
entrepreneur is the desire to make huge amounts of money. That many do
is undisputed, but this is often a side effect of their drive to
succeed, and if it is valued at all, it's for its use a measurement of
success.
For every successful self-made businessman who enjoys flaunting his
wealth, there are many more who prefer to live relatively frugally and
simply. Many are notoriously mean, such as Paul Getty, the founder of
Getty Oil, who installed payphones in his English mansion for the use of
his guests.
Even if a self-made businessman or woman does feel the need to spend
money, this needs to be controlled, as it should be reinvested in the
business. Many entrepreneurs, especially in the US, take no salary for
the first year then pay themselves less than they could earn on the open
market.
If someone has all the above characteristics, plus the ability to take
risks, they may well succeed. But important though all the above
characteristics are, every successful entrepreneur also needs luck.
Although many strongly believe that the harder they work the luckier
they get.
Entrepreneur.com
US magazine devoted to entrepreneurs
An Entrepreneurial Personality Test
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