{"id":654,"date":"2015-09-16T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T10:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=654"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","slug":"do-you-have-the-right-stuff-to-be-a-successful-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/do-you-have-the-right-stuff-to-be-a-successful-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you have the \u201cright stuff\u201d to be a successful entrepreneur?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In our last posting entitled, \u201cEntrepreneurship by the numbers.\u00a0 How do you measure up?,\u201d we took a statistical look at entrepreneurship based on Inc. magazine\u2019s \u201cInc. 500\u201d (the 500 fastest growing private companies in America).\u00a0 So we talked about how old entrepreneurs tend to be when they start their first business, how long they wait before drawing a first paycheck, how many hold college degrees . . . that sort of thing. \u00a0Now we want to look at them more qualitatively, at their behavioral traits, their leadership styles, and at what they do (or don\u2019t do) that makes them successful.\u00a0 But as it turns out, putting entrepreneurs in a nice, neat box of common behaviors is tougher than I would have thought . . . as you\u2019ll see if you continue reading below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Do you have the \u201cright stuff\u201d to be a successful entrepreneur?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Below we discuss some of the behaviors that successful entrepreneurs <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">tend<\/span><\/em> to have, but they are not absolutes.\u00a0 That is, for each of the below behaviors, there are exceptions . . . entrepreneurs who don\u2019t exhibit that behavior at all, or may even exhibit the opposite behavior, yet are still successful.\u00a0 Nor are the behaviors below intended to be a definitive list.\u00a0 I\u2019ve included those that I believe are the most impactful, but clearly not all of them.\u00a0 That said, let\u2019s look at these behaviors and see which of them you can see in yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are visionary leaders.\u00a0 They have a clear vision for where they want to take their company, and they are able to communicate that vision in a compelling way that makes people want to follow.\u00a0 As we said above, an entrepreneur doesn\u2019t need to have all these traits, but this one would be difficult to do without.\u00a0 Good people won\u2019t join you and sources of financing won\u2019t lend you money if you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going.<\/li>\n<li>They are endlessly curious.\u00a0 As they approach a market with a new idea, they are interested in insights, not in validation.\u00a0 That is, they search out candid thoughts, opinions, and concerns, even when they don\u2019t support the entrepreneur\u2019s own thinking.<\/li>\n<li>They are determined to achieve their goals.\u00a0 They will go around, underneath, over the top, or just bust straight through obstacles, but they will not be stopped.<\/li>\n<li>They are clear about their company\u2019s mission (how the company intends to serve its market).\u00a0 They are committed to it and surround themselves with people who are likewise committed to it.<\/li>\n<li>They have a higher-than-average tolerance for risk.\u00a0 Strangely, many entrepreneurs over the years have told me that they are risk averse . . . even though they\u2019ve got their home and everything else they own tied up in their business.<\/li>\n<li>By definition, they are creative.\u00a0 They have to be.\u00a0 After all, they\u2019re trying to create something new in the market . . . at least they better be.\u00a0 If they\u2019re going to market with a \u201cme too\u201d product or service, they\u2019re going to have a problem right off the bat.<\/li>\n<li>They have \u201cpersonal mastery.\u201d\u00a0 That is, they know their strengths and how to leverage them, but they also know their weaknesses and how to work around them.<\/li>\n<li>They have a deep understanding of their industry, but are always seeking more.\u00a0 They want to be the first to spot something that will disrupt the industry and be in a position to take advantage of it.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be at every relevant trade show and are often active in their industry trade association.<\/li>\n<li>They are often their company\u2019s best sales person . . . not necessarily because they have the best sales skills, but because they know their company\u2019s value proposition, its market position, and its customer base better than anyone else.<\/li>\n<li>Entrepreneurs are notorious for playing things very close to the vest, preferring to keep the important activities and decisions to themselves.\u00a0 But the successful ones know how to delegate important work and how to empower people to do it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As I have said, there are other behaviors . . . no doubt lots of them . . . that help entrepreneurs become successful.\u00a0 But if you\u2019ve got those listed above in hand (or are working on \u2018em), you should expect your business to have a very good, long, prosperous run.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Next time we\u2019ll talk about when the founding entrepreneur should exit the business and the factors that will drive that decision.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our last posting entitled, \u201cEntrepreneurship by the numbers.\u00a0 How do you measure up?,\u201d we took a statistical look at entrepreneurship based on Inc. magazine\u2019s \u201cInc. 500\u201d (the 500 fastest growing private companies in America).\u00a0 So we talked about how old entrepreneurs tend to be when they start their first business, how long they wait<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/do-you-have-the-right-stuff-to-be-a-successful-entrepreneur\/\">Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[33,26],"tags":[100,98,99],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":660,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions\/660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}