An entrepreneur is a business person who not only conceives and organizes ventures but also frequently takes risks in doing so. Not all independent business people are true entrepreneurs, and not all entrepreneurs are created equal.
Different degrees or levels of entrepreneurial intensity and drive depend upon how much independence one exhibits, the level of leadership and innovation they demonstrate, how much responsibility they shoulder, and how creative they become in envisioning and executing their business plans.
Having learned new things every step of the way and evolved through various stages of entrepreneurial
accomplishment and insight, it is possible to reach the ultimate goal and realize one’s dreams in a really life-changing
way. The true entrepreneur experiences a paradigm shift that involves a four-step process of changed thinking:
#1: Idealization – Imagine gigantic, all-encompassing dreams for creating the ideal world.
#2: Visualization – Picture the ideal world as a reality and begin to clarify this vision on a daily basis, filing in more
details each day.
#3: Verbalization – Begin to put words to the dream and talk of it as if it was already happening. Talk about it to
others as if it were real and continue to have a personal dialog with the ideal to make it come true.
#4: Materialization – Because the effort and intention of designing and believing in the ideal and the dream, things
begin to fall into place and happen in a natural and automatic way. Th idea becomes a real and tangible fact that
materializes in the world and influences others while opening new doors to fresh opportunities and the birth of
more dreams.
The true entrepreneur is a dreamer whose dreams come true, and an income earner whose income is passive.
Money comes automatically from profitable ventures that feed success with more success but do not require
extraneous work. The money made does all the work for the entrepreneur to create more money with a snowballing
effect. These women and men profit in all situations and add to their wealth by acquiring more paper assets, more
profit centers, and more entrepreneurial power.
A Dozen Characteristics Essential for Entrepreneurs
By examining the five phases or levels of entrepreneurship we gain a better understanding of the fundamentals that
distinguish ordinary entrepreneurs from the extraordinary ones. And we begin to notice certain traits that are
common to all successful entrepreneurs.
While – quite naturally – individual entrepreneurs have many unique traits that are not common to other
entrepreneurs, all entrepreneurs do share a kindred spirit, a certain type of constitution and outlook, and a special
drive and willingness. Rather than elaborating on the many differences within this broadly diverse demographic,
it is more helpful to look at those aspects of similarity.
Here are 5 characteristics that are found within all successful entrepreneurs – and without which most people
will fall short of what it takes to succeed in an entrepreneurial enterprise.
#1) Confident
Confidence is a hallmark of the entrepreneur. Not all of us are born with confidence, but that does not mean we are
not capable of it. Many confident women and men gain their sense of self esteem and faith in their ability to greet
challenges by acting – even when they lack the confidence – and then gaining strength and belief in themselves by
seeing the results and gaining the praise and respect of others.
#2) Feels a Sense of Ownership
Taking responsibility for getting things done – and doing them with care and attention – means to act like an owner.
Rather than viewing a problem as someone else’s, the entrepreneur sees it as his or her own and takes pride in
fiding a solution, leaving things in better shape then they were before encountering them, and improving upon
situations rather than leaving them unattended. While a sense of ownership makes for a stellar employee, the
entrepreneur knows that the goal is not to be owned by the enslavement of too much responsibility. Rather than
controlling situations in an attempt to possess them, the entrepreneur teaches other people how to take charge. In
that way the clever entrepreneur uses individual accountability in the ultimate pursuit of profiability, teamwork,
and overall success.
#3) Able to Communicate
Entrepreneurs recognize that the most important part of any business is the human element. Human resources –
whether in the form of clients, employees, or strategic partners – are what makes or breaks a business, and
communication is the key to successful relationships with people. Th entrepreneur works to hone communication
skills, whether those are written, spoken, or non-verbal messages conveyed through body language. And to support
communication, he or she will take advantage of all available tools and resources. Thse might include foreign
language or public speaking classes, computer and telecom technology, search engine optimization or neurolinguistic programming as it relates to sales and marketing, or specialized writing such as that needed for grants,
business proposals, mission statements, or policy manuals. Above all, the entrepreneur develops a keen ability to
listen and hear what others are trying to say, because the best communicators got that way by fist being the best
listeners.
#4) Passionate about Learning
Entrepreneurs are often “auto didactic” learners, which means that much of what they know they learned not in a
formal classroom setting but instead on their own by seeking out information, asking questions, and doing personal
reading and research. Thy also are quick to learn from their own mistakes, which means they are less prone to keep
repeating them due to arrogance, ego, or a blindness to one’s own faults, shortcomings, or errors in judgement. To
teach is to learn. And to lead, train, and impart experience to others the entrepreneur is constantly striving to learn
more and get better educated. Because of the passion for education, true entrepreneurs surround themselves with
people who either know more than they do or know things that are different from what they know. Thy entertain
the views of others and perspectives that may be unlike their own, for instance, in order to be better students of human nature. In this way they continue to enrich themselves with knowledge while also making a concerted effort to
grow that knowledge by sharing it with others who are also front row students of life’s valuable and unlimited
lessons.
#5) Team Player
Those who go into business for themselves but do not utilize teamwork wind up without the team but still have all
the work to get done. Thy shoulder the whole burden for themselves, and wind up just trading their old job for a
new and more demanding one – in an attempt to be self-employed. But the new venture carries greater personal and
financial risks. On the other hand, team players know how to succeed by employing the physics of interpersonal
synergy and dynamic relationships. One twig can be easily snapped, but a bundle of those small twigs becomes
stronger than the sum of its individual parts and can be impossible to bend, much less break. Th same goes for
businesses, and successful entrepreneurs leverage teamwork to get the heavy lifting done without breaking stride.
#6) System-Oriented
Like mathematical formulas, good systems allow us to reproduce great results every time – with less and less exertion
of energy or resources. Entrepreneurs rely upon systems before they rely upon people, and they look for system-based solutions before searching for human resource solutions. If the person gets the job done but falls sick or leaves,
the job is threatened. But if a system is created to get the job done, anyone can step in and follow the blueprint to
get the desired result. Similarly, when troubleshooting and problem solving, the entrepreneur will fist examine and
study the system – because a flaw in the system will produce a flawed outcome each and every time. Designing,
implementing, and perfecting systems is one of the most useful and rewarding skills of an entrepreneur.
#7) Dedicated
Entrepreneurs dedicate themselves to the fulfillment of their plans, visions, and dreams, and that tenacity of purpose
generates electricity throughout the whole organization. One of the biggest reasons that companies fail is because
they lose focus. Target a goal, clarify the objective, refine the brand, and narrow the margin of error. Regardless of
what the effort might involve, an entrepreneur brings a single-minded dedication to the task by being committed to
a positive outcome and ready and willing to do the needful. No matter what that might mean in terms of rising to
meet a challenge or acting above and beyond the call of duty, the entrepreneur shows steadfast dedication.
