Becoming an Entrepreneur…!
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs…what comes to your mind when you think of these formidable names? Successful businessmen? Tech geniuses? Richest men on earth? Perhaps, great entrepreneurs describe them best. Their names are synonymous with unique ideas and the uncanny ability to develop them into products of universal utility.
Growing up in the technology era, we have all admired them and wished to emulate them. What attributes of these entrepreneurs have impressed us most? Probably their technical soundness, oratorical skills, confidence and people skills? These are, undoubtedly, essential qualities you need when you dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Along with these, here are some other indispensable qualities of an entrepreneur.
Distinct Qualities of an Entrepreneur
1. Passion and The Courage to Dream Big
For a dream to come true, it must be in existence to start with. So you must first find something you love doing – your passion. This special something makes getting up every day and staying awake every night worth it. That is where the journey begins – the first step for how to become an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are not afraid to chase their dreams, becoming trailblazers on their path. They don’t mind treading where there are no other footprints. In fact, the novelty and adventure are what spur them to greater heights.
You get in life what you have the courage to ask for
~Oprah Winfrey, talk show host
2. Perseverance: Never Giving Up
J K Rowling, the author of the widely popular Harry Potter series, was able to work through poverty, loneliness, and obscurity on the strength of her idea. The conviction she had in her creation helped her overcome her formidable obstacles. This took her from rags to riches.
Becoming an entrepreneur is about knowing how to soldier on despite the mounting odds. Successful entrepreneurs have an indomitable spirit and an ability to rise above whatever life throws at them. They are not afraid to leave their comfort zone and face reality, harsh as it may be.
3. Dedication: Ability to Stay Focused
Entrepreneurial skills may necessitate that you wear horse-blinkers so that you don’t get distracted from your objective. As an entrepreneur, you may come up with more than one idea at a time and the temptation to fly with each one will be strong.
At such moments, your sense of focus will be tested.
It is important to give flight to only relevant and related ideas that will forward your main goal. After all, single-minded dedication to one idea will lend more profit than fluttering in all ways and flying in none.
4. Positivity: Ability to Convert Adversity into Opportunity
If people throw lemons at you, make lemonade!
There once was a farmer who left a donkey that had outlived its useful period, in a dumpster. The donkey was very upset at this ill-treatment, after years of back-breaking work, but he could not get out of it. What was even more mortifying was that people started to throw garbage at him. To avoid being buried in it, he began to stand on it. He soon realized that the mounting garbage took him closer to the mouth of the bin. One fine day, he found his way out – by using the very same garbage that people threw on him.
In life, you cannot predict or even anticipate what people will throw at you.
The only thing in your control is your actions and reaction to other people’s actions. Criticism, inevitably, follows almost every action. To learn how to be an entrepreneur, recognize that criticism is, after all, another learning platform that can catapult you to greater heights.
Try and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. Those successful entrepreneurs went one step further – they converted adversity into opportunity!
5. Foresight: Ability to Envision the End Product
There is no point in just coming up with an idea – an intangible castle in the air. It is an entrepreneurial skill that converts the brainwave into something tangible, practical, and usable. It is in that form that the majority of the populace can appreciate its qualities.
After all, it is of no use to have gold in your hand if you don’t know how to design or trade with it. Left to itself, it is just a pretty piece of stone. The entrepreneur not only ideates and innovates but also knows what to do with the gold mine in his hand. He knows how to take it to its logical conclusion.
6. Perceptiveness and creativity: Ability to Recognize and Encourage Talent
An entrepreneur is not an island. He comes up with ideas and develops them, but it is tough to be a one-man show. So, he should be able to sense and evoke the creativity latent in his co-workers. It is an essential quality of an entrepreneur – knowing how to light the spark and flame the fire of imagination in your fellow workers.
Every business idea comes with an expiry date. If you try to do everything yourself, you might find yourself coming up short and late. That is why it is so important for entrepreneurs to responsibly delegate – to know how to use the skill sets available to create value. After all, a smart entrepreneur does not create workers but one who creates leaders.
Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone
~Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway
planted a tree a long time ago.
7. Self-Motivation: Pushing your Limits
Self-motivation is such a central trait of entrepreneurs that without it, most of the products we use today would not exist. As an entrepreneur, you have to run on your own steam for a long time before you can get someone to believe in your dream. It may take even longer for them to put their money where their mouth is.
So, another crucial lesson on how to become an entrepreneur is knowing how to motivate yourself through the hard times. You will have to dig yourself out of innumerous tunnels. Moreover, the same force or story is, rarely, a standard motivator. Each time, you will have to find new ways to believe in yourself and push your limits. But then, that is how we have iPhones, Windows, Amazon, and Harry Potter in our midst!
8. Integrity: Staying True to Yourself
This is, perhaps, the most valuable quality required to learn how to be a successful entrepreneur. Work ethics is what differentiates the ones who last from the ones who are part of the past. This is because to sustain external development, you need to start from a pure place within. A successful entrepreneur knows that along with hard and smart work, he must add integrity to get a winning equation that stands the test of time.
Practices such as meditation and breathing exercises help you connect with your spirit; you feel energized and productive, operating on a level that is both natural and upright. This can help ensure that you stay in the entrepreneurial running for the long haul.
Based on inputs from Amol Wagle, Faculty, The Art of Living
