Entrepreneurial Characteristics

The other day I was asked by a group of my students to identify 5 main characteristics and 5 key success factors of entrepreneurs.

Here’s my response to them;

1. An entrepreneur has a desire for social responsibility.

2. An entrepreneur takes risks.

3. An entrepreneur has confidence in the ability to succeed.

4. An entrepreneur has a high degree of commitment

5. An entrepreneur has the willpower to overcome obstacles.

I offered the following as key success factors for entrepreneurs;

1. Entrepreneurs with a strong consumer support always succeed.

2. Entrepreneurs with a strong cash flow always succeed.

3. Entrepreneurs with great products always succeed.

4. Entrepreneurs with skilled and dedicated employees always succeed.

5. Entrepreneurs with outstanding systems and effective administration always succeed.

As a bonus for asking such a brilliant question I offered  the following improvement tips for their businesses;

If things seem not to be working well in your business, change or add new product lines, and change your marketing strategy.

The full version of my tips can be accessed from my new book; Building Blocks Guide to Successful Business Marathon obtainable at: www.longlife4learning.com

Draw on your Strengths to Be, Have and Do anything you want

Most self help and motivational books advocate that we are unique as human beings because we have a set of innate abilities to change and become anything we want to become. They provide us with tools; strategies and techniques which they claim could change any situation and areas of weakness in our lives to our advantage. They say any person can learn almost any skill when the person applies the techniques provided in these books.
Contrary to what these books say, reality dictates otherwise. That is why we have rocket scientist presumably thought of as the most intelligent, hard working researcher and the average cashier. Regardless of IQ one can grow and become successful in life. If success was measured in terms of IQ, India which has the highest number of people with the highest IQ could be the World Super Power and the richest and successful country in the World. But that is not the case.
Most people work 12 to 18 hours a day and that’s hard working. But hard work alone does not guarantee success. May be before we proceed any further on this discussion let’s define what success mean in our context. Success in the context of this topic refers to the accomplishment of your goals. It means becoming what you set out to be, it means having all what you desire and doing what you like to do, when you want to do it, and wherever you want to do it.
If self help and motivation books are not correct, if IQ and hard work has nothing to do with success, what then makes other people successful and others just slaves of their jobs. Most books profess that success is a mix of a number of principles including the following; you are born to be successful, success is ingrained in your fibre, taking action, positive thinking, goal setting, persistence, perseverance, patience, determination, focus, commitment, passion, hard work and never giving in. Think and reflect for a while how these principles apply in your life. You may already be using some of these principles in your business and personal life. But can you point one that is making you successful? If you are like most people you should be using the combination of these principles in your life.
In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton put forward their argument, that people perform at their best when they’re playing to their strengths. They also dispute the fact that any person can learn almost any skill and that a person’s greatest room for growth lies in their areas of weakness. They say that everybody has a set of innate strengths and if they recognise and harness these they will enjoy greater success than if they expended their energy trying to improve their areas of weakness. They argue that most people focus on improving their weaknesses and fail to harness their strengths. How true.
You probably know something about yourself that you do naturally or something unique that other people always comment on about you. It may be a hobby, a skill that you know you possess but you are not utilising. You may be a talkative person who never stops talking even in places where you are not supposed to talk. You may be a data capturer and your work is always behind because you can’t help it, you just have to stop to talk to your peers. You may not have realized that your career path lay in other areas and not in being bog down to an office desk. Based on the above line of reasoning, I want to conclude by saying;
Recognising, drawing on your strengths and abilities will connect you with what will become your successful business idea or career.
Justice Mandhla is the author of Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.
See more at http://www.businesslearning4life.com