What are the key qualities of an entrepreneur? Each one is different, and often we find ourselves endlessly measuring “success”. Are there definable traits? I’d say so. Let’s explore.
Entrepreneurship
What is entrepreneurship exactly? Is it being
your own boss? Holding a CEO title? Or are you just an innovator, developer, or
freelancer?
Here’s a straight-forward definition that will help you.
Entrepreneur: A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture.
Entrepreneurship: the activity of organizing, managing, and assuming the risks of a business enterprise.
One seems to define the other, no? Let’s go
deeper and peek at the fundamental personal traits of an entrepreneur.
What do We Mean by Entrepreneurial
Traits?
Fuzzy logic and rags to riches stories seem to
imply traits, but what are they really? How are we defining this?
Now that we have defined what an entrepreneur is, let’s define a trait.
Trait: A distinguishing feature, as of a
person’s character.
If that’s not clear enough for you, maybe this can help:
Transcript:
from Elon Musk to Mark Cuban Tim Ferriss
Arianna Huffington Gary Vaynerchuk Bill
Gates if you know any of these names
congratulations you’re an entrepreneur
at heart it’s been said that success
leaves Clues so what are those top
entrepreneurs all have in common so we
can learn from them we’re going over the
six traits all top entrepreneurs have
now and you don’t want to miss any one
of these especially the last ones
because they’re super important trait
number one the past does not equal the
future now let me tell you a story see
one day Evan Williams got the great idea
to make a podcasting platform when it
was all said and done oh do was live so
you can imagine Evan was pretty crushed
when literally months after Apple
announced they had a new podcasting
section of iTunes and his company OTO
was crushed
now maybe know the name Evan Williams or
maybe not but you definitely know that
he hit it big when he founded Twitter
see what Evan Williams knew that just
because his past had failure didn’t mean
his future couldn’t hold success just
because one app failed didn’t mean
another one couldn’t succeed before
launching the Huffington Post her second
book was rejected by over 36 publishers
that’s the story of Arianna Huffington
similarly Tim Ferriss had a similar
story with the 4-hour workweek have you
heard of this book maybe even read it
Tim had the belief that the past does
not equal the future Tim got rejected by
over 25 publishers before the 26
actually accepted his book now to put
that in perspective how many of you
would approach 26 people and ask them on
a date after hearing no for 25 times
would we even make it past 10
but it’s that tenacity to keep going and
not listen to the past because all top
entrepreneurs know that the past does
not equal the future the second trait
all successful entrepreneurs have this
is that it’s never too late you see one
major trap people fall into is thinking
I’m too old I see it time and time again
on the YouTube comments people thinking
that ship has sailed it’s too late it’ll
never happen for me yadda yadda yadda
well listen to this at age 24 Stephen
King
was working as a janitor and living in a
trailer at age 28 JK rowling was
depressed and a single mom living on
welfare Morgan Freeman didn’t get his
first major movie role until age 52
Samuel Jackson at 46 you see it’s never
too late to start there’s no telling
when you’re going to be successful it
might happen tomorrow it might happen a
year from now it might happen at age 52
but the only sure way that you’re gonna
fail is if you quit trait number three
all successful entrepreneurs have they
use what Brian Tracy calls zero based
thinking now this is the concept that
says one question it’s a powerful one
that you can ask whenever you’re feeling
stuck that is if I started over today
how would I do blank if everything
stopped today and you had to reset how
would you approach it how would you
approach your business if you had to
start over today how would you approach
your relationship if you had to start
over today your health your finances
this is how you avoid past failures
holding you back at age 37 Vincent van
Gogh failed as a missionary and he
decided to go to art school can you
imagine that
van Gogh the famous painter see his
paintings everywhere it getting sold for
tens of millions of dollars he uses euro
based thinking he feel that one thing he
said okay this isn’t working what would
I start over today let me go to art
school and it was a success when you do
this you avoid the thing called sunk
cost that psychological principle that
is the feeling that because you invested
so much time or energy or money you
can’t walk away that’s a trap
that’s a psychological trap that keeps
us stuck how would that work in gambling
I already put too much in you know I
can’t get it back I just got to go
all-in not very well and it doesn’t work
well with entrepreneurs all
entrepreneurs use some form of zero
based thinking and you and I should too
the fourth trait all successful
entrepreneurs do they build on their
past failures no it’s not truly zero
based thinking since we learn from all
the previous lessons right I love the
story of Reed Hoffman he started an
online dating social network sites
social nets
ultimately failed so hoffman though what
did he do he used all the experiences he
gained building that social net dating
site and he put it into a new platform
that you probably heard of called linked
in it eventually sold to Microsoft for
26.2 billion with a B dollars okay
imagine dr. evil coming out with the
pinky 26 over 26 billion dollars okay
and I can’t live on that but that’s a
good starter hey so great entrepreneurs
they build and they compound past
failures they don’t get crushed by them
in your life I know you’ve had failures
they’re not truly failures if you take
the lessons from them the only real
failure is if you don’t learn from it
and you repeat it in the future that’s
how you get ahead the fifth trait all
successful entrepreneurs have it’s been
said that readers are leaders it’s also
been said that the more I learned the
more I earn famous quotes by some
successful entrepreneurs in fact Bill
Gates has reported to read over 50 full
books per year Warren Buffett reported
reading between 600 and a thousand pages
a day no matter who you look at time and
time again the top entrepreneurs know
that the more they learn the more
they’ll earn they feed their mind they
know that knowledge is the fuel for
their ideas their creativity and their
energy one of the biggest complaints
though most people make and you know
I’ve made it myself in the past and I
know you’ve probably made it too is what
I don’t have the time okay it’s not the
money because books are dirt cheap you
can get them on Amazon for 50 cents it’s
I don’t have the time sitting down in
one place is hard it’s hard to get
yourself with all this passion and
energy to really sit and you know do
nothing for hours and hours on end
that’s where this excuse falls short
because audible is one of the coolest
tools I’ve used the past couple years it
takes your audiobooks and it hands down
my favorite tool you can devour top
audiobooks while doing other things
literally learning as you’re working out
or cleaning the house or in the shower
something like that someone’s reading to
you you can put it at one point
five-speed easily find yourself
consuming one to two books a week
watch out Bill Gates coming for you
there today’s sponsor and if you’re into
this I’ll put a
link below and you get a free audiobook
with your trial of audible some of my
favorites if you’re in entrepreneurship
and you haven’t read any of these these
are phenomenal places to start I’d
recommend the 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People the 4-hour workweek or
unlimited power if you haven’t read any
of those don’t read them have someone
read it to you go down there click that
link it’s free the top entrepreneurs
they all feed their minds
knowing that knowledge is the fuel for
success the last point number six the
treat that all entrepreneurs have this
is the concept that they’re a purple cow
let’s just say we’re driving down a road
trip okay and we’re taking a long long
road trip down i-5 over here and we see
all these farms on the farms you see
cows there’s a brown cow there’s a black
cow there’s a white cow thousands and
thousands of cows brown white black
brown brown black black white brown
black purple black white book what which
one do we look at the purple cow which
one do we stop at the purple cow which
one do we make remarks about the purple
cat why because it’s contrasting its
different it stands out you see how that
works so I got a question for you when
you think of soap do you connect
emotionally does it make you feel good
about yourself if you’re like most you
couldn’t care less let’s talk about the
Purple Cow and soap now that’s where Dov
stepped in with their real beauty
campaign featuring non photoshopped
women being comfortable in their own
skin promoting natural self-acceptance
sales for their soap skyrocketed as a
results see it wasn’t because their soap
made people emotional it wasn’t because
their soap made people feel good it was
their purple cow positioning it was the
story behind it in this case the clean
purple cow this concept really made
their sales move it last one I promise
if you want to be successful all the
best companies have some way of being
that purple cow of not being forgotten
of standing out in the crowd when
everyone else
Ziggs you got a Zac stand out to succeed
don’t be lost in the crowd and own
your uniqueness those are the six traits
of all entrepreneurs have now I’m
curious which one was your favorite idea
today do you have anything to add post
it down in the comments below and please
share this if you have an entrepreneur
friend family member
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share this video so we can reach more
entrepreneurs and inspire them be sure
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thanks so much for being here
I’m Clark from refusing to settle and
until next time stop settling start
living see ya
5 Qualities of an Entrepreneur
So what are these big important qualities?
Here they are, and what they mean.
1. You Don’t Like to Work for Other People
I put this as number one because I think it is
the most defining trait. If you have none of the other traits, this alone is a
stable-enough foundation. Without any other traits, you may have a lot of
learning to do, but this is where it all starts.
2. You’re a Risk Taker
Contrary to popular belief, nothing in life is
every certain. Every decision is a risk. Whether that’s getting out of bed, or
a high-stakes investment, an entrepreneur understands that risky waters are
full of opportunity.
3. You Act First, and Figure it Out Later
Analysis-paralysis, fear, doubt, and coloring
inside the lines are powerfully limiting. An entrepreneur can be like a bull. When
in doubt, do it! You can figure it out along the way.
4. Uncertainty Doesn’t Stop You
One of the understated but defining traits of an entrepreneur, as well as their trajectory for success, is how he or she responds to uncertainty.
It’s a constant battle. The more you carve your own path, the more uncertain everything becomes. How do you respond? Do you run and hide behind a stable job you know won’t fulfill you? Do you reach out to other experts? Do you take a long walk and then plot your options?
Dealing with uncertainty comes down to qualities like self-discipline, critical thinking, and having an overall vision. It’s a skill that every entrepreneur must develop.
5. You’re Like to Learn
Life is full of lessons. And success is full of failure. If you’re passionate about learning, growing, and experiencing both the ups and downs of life, then you’ll discover the lessons in failure that you need to proceed to the next step.
Entrepreneurs understand that what most people call failure is just a learning experience. Real failure is throwing in the towel.
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