How To Know If You Can Make A Successful Entrepreneur

Everyone is seeing the need to get into one form of business venture or the other. While I don’t think that some people are born entrepreneurs, I do think that there are certain traits that will make some persons more successful than others, if they eventually choose to become entrepreneurs.
 
There is so much sensitization going on all over the world on the need for people to get solo, set up their own businesses and become employers of labor but let me tell you that not everyone is cut out for business and so not everyone will succeed in it. Though everyone has some little traits of business in him/her, the propensity to succeed in the very competitive business world of today is higher in some persons than in others.
 

There are certain qualities that are common in every successful entrepreneur. Some of these qualities are natural while some others are developed. Here, I have tried to share with you on ten of the most outstanding qualities everyone who will succeed needs to check out for in him/herself, before going into business. They are:
 

1.    YOU HAVE A CREATIVE MIND

There are some people who have a great ability to think on their toes. Thinking is a huge part of their daily lives. They just love going into what I call the “world of one man”, and locking themselves up to think. 

The more interesting thing is that they don’t just think but each time they go into their “world of one man”, they come out with mind-blowing ideas that you wonder where they get them from. This is because they are always thinking about unmet needs in the market and how to meet them. When other people see problems, they see opportunities. They see needs that need to be met. They see solutions. They are what I call "IDEA MEN"
 
All the entrepreneurs who are celebrated today all over the world have this in common. This is the reason why they have made the world better by their inventions and creativity. Do you think out of the box and easily see opportunities where there are problems?
 

2.    YOU DON’T FEAR TO TAKE RISKS

I am sure you have heard before that an entrepreneur is a risk-taker. This is very true as business is very much about taking risks. This is because in most cases when you are entering into business, the picture of the future is very blur and only a risk-taker will be bold enough to delve into something whose future is not very sure. 

You cannot be a good entrepreneur if you are a skeptical or pessimistic person. Skeptical/ pessimistic persons always dwell on the negatives, feed their fears and see reasons why things will not work out as expected. Such persons never really amount to anything much in life. 

Entrepreneurs are the opposite. They are optimistic and positive, always seeing reason why something will work. They can build a bridge where there is no water.
 
If you don’t fear to take risks, you are more likely to be successful as an entrepreneur.
 

3.    YOU LOVE TO BE BUSY

The people with one of the busiest lifestyles that I know are entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs are not just busy people but they busy themselves over important things. No matter the level of achievement of an entrepreneur, their lives never stop getting busier. 

They are either traveling for business, or working on expansion, or testing a new market, or getting to meet new partners, or maybe reading and making findings on a new product, market or strategy. They are naturally busy and are used to this type of lifestyle. At some point, they have so many things that are running at the same time and at that point they see the need to bring in people to help them. 

If you love to lazy and idle about, you can never make a great entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is for those who are naturally hard working and don’t need any push in order to do their work. It doesn’t surprise me that they are the ones who make life easiest by the things they do to meet the needs of the population.
 

4.    YOU HARDLY GET COMFORTABLE ON A JOB

When you read the story of most successful entrepreneurs, you find out that many of them who attempted working for someone at one point or the other, ended up rebelling or under performing. And so they either were dismissed or they resigned. This is so because people who are naturally apt to become great entrepreneurs don’t know how to sit down on one thing and under some rules and regulations. 

They easily get bored on any routine job and sooner than later, others start complaining about their unstable attitude. For an entrepreneur to stay in a particular job for up to a year, then that job must be a very challenging one.
 
You will make a good entrepreneur if you are the kind of person who always wants to create something of your own that will reflect you and affect others.
 

5.    YOU CHALLENGE STATUS QUO

Status quo refers to the norms that have been set in a place to be followed. They are the format of doing things. There is status quo at all levels in life: country, state, system, company, institution, etc. Such things are usually followed properly in order to ensure peace, stability and growth. However, when norms are followed, positive change takes a long time to come. 

Entrepreneurs know this and since they always like to see things changing, they find it very difficult to go by the norms that have been set. They don’t play by the rules. They challenge the status quo and bring about change.
If you easily break rules because you are concerned about new ways of doing things better, you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
 

6.    YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH YOUR DREAMS
 

Obsessive people are people who get charged up by something to the point that they won’t let go of, easily. Many people have dreams but sometimes the difference between those who achieve their dreams and those who don’t is in the level of obsession the dreamer has. 

Obsessive people don’t easily give up about what they are working at. They are hard to distract from their pursuits. They go for days without food or sleep and it doesn’t bother them. Others get more worried about them more than they themselves. Sometimes they get lost in their thoughts of what they want to do. 

They work all day and even when it is time to rest, they lie down on their beds and start thinking again. Their obsession gets to a point where they begin to hate going to any place that doesn’t help them achieve their dreams. No doubt many entrepreneurs drop out from school very early.
 
Very often because I am obsessed about the things I write to inspire people, I go to bed and as I lie down to sleep, I start thinking of an idea I need to share. Then I wake, get my laptop and see myself typing again. When most people are relaxing and enjoying, I look for the slightest opportunity to go somewhere I can be alone so I can start working.
 
Are you an obsessive person? If you are, then you are likely to succeed as an entrepreneur.
 

7.    YOU ARE HARDLY SATISFIED

Satisfaction is hardly found in an entrepreneur’s vocabulary. They are usually striving to do things better. When others think that it is good, they think about how it could be better. When others think that something is great, entrepreneurs think it could be greater and so work must continue. 

Successful entrepreneurs are people who hardly get satisfied. They may be impressed but not easily satisfied. They are always looking for a better way of doing an old thing or a looking at doing a new thing entirely.
 
If you easily celebrate the slightest success you register and feel that it is time to rest, you are not likely to make a great entrepreneur if you become one.
 

8.    YOU ARE VERY GOAL-DRIVEN

People who easily make good entrepreneurs are people who are very goal-driven. They set goals for themselves and work towards achieving them. They are hardly interested in anything except that which is in line with their goals. 

When entrepreneurs walk and talk, they talk their goals; when they sleep and dream, they dream their goals. They are goal-driven and so they succeed.
If you are a person who sets goals and follow them till you achieve them, you will be a successful entrepreneur.
 

9.    YOU THRIVE UNDER PRESSURE

When many people burst up under pressure, entrepreneurs thrive under it. The heat does not make them melt, but rather solidifies them. When a true entrepreneur talks about his experiences in the light of meeting up with high demand, he speaks with much ease and excitement. He is not perturbed. You could even be more worried than him and he will give you assurance that all will go well.

When you are under pressure and you can still relax and smile, you have a skill of an entrepreneur.

10.    YOU KNOW HOW TO RELATE

Good entrepreneurship depends a lot on being able to create good relationships with your customers. Entrepreneurs know this and take intentional steps towards creating relationships and building them. You will hardly be good in business if you feel too superior or too inferior to relate with people. However, if you naturally get along with people and know how to build relationships and influence people, this may be your calling.


 
You could be a business owner and not be an entrepreneur. Business owners identify a need in the market and do something to meet it, in order to make money. They do so by seeking for the best way of meeting the need at the cheapest cost. 

Entrepreneurs on the other hand get interested in many things that they think can add value to lives. They get involved in as many things as possible and sometimes may just start up some of these things and hand over to others to manage them. The entrepreneur is more interested in providing a service that is so needed in order to make life better.
 
I hope that at this point, you can be able to evaluate yourself in line with these qualities, and see if you can make a successful entrepreneur if you get into business. 

Please make your comments below
 

by Temitope Dada Odukeye