As an entrepreneur, you likely already understand one thing: the success of your business rests squarely upon your shoulders. You struck it out on your own because you wanted to find your success and financial security on your own terms. Because you’re the most essential ingredient in your business, it’s important that you possess the vital traits that you need. Let’s take a look at the 11 most important:
1. Money Conscious: Especially when you’re starting out, you’re going to need to keep a tight grasp on your business finances. It all boils down to knowing what money is going out and what money is coming in.
2. Positivity: Whether you’re selling products and services to customers and clients or asking for investment, you need to be as positive as you hope others will be about your business.
3. Confidence: Following off the back of positivity, you have to have full confidence in yourself and your business, otherwise there’s simply no way that you can expect anyone else to have confidence.
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4. Clarity: You need to understand exactly what your goals are, as well as all of the steps you’ll need to take to achieve them.
5. Ambition: Speaking of goals, exactly how much do you expect from yourself and your business? While with clients you may want to under-promise and over-deliver, you cannot afford yourself such a luxury.
6. Solution Finder: You are going to encounter problems; make no mistake about that. The difference between successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful ones is this: The successful ones find solutions; the unsuccessful ones complain.
7. Organization: As your business grows, it will only become more and more complex. Therefore, it’s important that you stay organized from the beginning, as it will be that much harder to get organized later.
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8. Healthy: As you’re getting your business off the ground, you’re going to be working long, long hours. Therefore, you need to do everything possible to make sure you’re healthy: this means eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising when possible.
9. Delegation: Once you get some wind behind your business’ sails, you’re going to bring on staff. You may find it hard to cede control when you do this, so remember that, ultimately, you can’t (nor should you) do everything.
10. Knowing Limits: The enemy of every entrepreneur is burnout. The hours, the tasks and responsibilities are all going to take their toll. Have the self-awareness to know when it’s time to take a break and to clear your head.
11. Perseverance: Of course, all of these traits are well and good, and possessing them will help greatly in finding success for your business. But, there’s one that you absolutely cannot be without and that’s perseverance. Building and growing a business is always a process of successes and setbacks. You’ve got to have the long-term mindset to endure that process, no matter what the world may throw at you. If you can do that, then there’s virtually no limit to what you can accomplish.
