12 Essential Characteristics and Skills of Successful Entrepreneurs

Most people want to create their own empire, run their own business and achieve that elusive million-dollar lifestyle, but it doesn’t come easy.

Being an Entrepreneur is hard work and there’s no denying that. You might get the impression that it’s all yachts and private jets and sure, that can be the reward for highly successful entrepreneurs, but the amount of work that goes into creating that success is phenomenal.

There are almost 600 million entrepreneurs in the world, that’s 13% of the global population!

That’s an awful lot of people working hard to achieve their dreams. Hugely successful entrepreneurs have a specific set of personality traits and entrepreneur characteristics that make them a cut above the rest when it comes to reaching the height of successful entrepreneurship, and it isn’t necessarily because they have a high IQ.

33% of entrepreneurs left high school with only a diploma or GED and never went to college, so being academically successful doesn’t mean you have entrepreneurial skills.

So what makes a successful entrepreneur?

Read on to learn the 12 essential entrepreneur characteristics and skills of highly successful entrepreneurs and how you can harness these to achieve your own dreams.

What are Entrepreneur Characteristics?

The characteristics of entrepreneurs are what makes them so successful. These characteristics are a feature or quality that sets them apart from the crowd and drives them towards setting up a business or taking on that financial risk to make a profit.

Running your own business isn’t for everyone, and creating your own start-up can be scary. Entrepreneurs don’t focus on the risks, they focus on the possible reward that comes from taking a chance.

Some people are born with entrepreneurial traits, which are characteristics or qualities that they possess naturally such as being a good leader, being resilient, being a logical thinker and having an optimistic mindset.

But if you weren’t born with these skills, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a successful entrepreneur, it just means you might have to work a little harder to develop and improve those all important skills.

The difference between entrepreneur and employee skills

Being an Entrepreneur involves a whole different set of skills than working for an employer. If you work for someone else you won’t need to necessarily be a logical thinker, you might not need to be so resilient and risk management is probably something you’ve never even considered, unless you work in that industry of course.

Many industries focus on the importance of professional skills or qualifications, and sure that is important when you want to be an entrepreneur, you do need to understand how your business works and you will more than likely need to be hands on at some point, but becoming a successful entrepreneur is more focused on who you are as a person and how you handle unexpected situations.

Confidence in your knowledge and abilities is essential and not everyone is born with boundless confidence in who they are and what they know.

Developing confidence and standing firm in your beliefs is a really important entrepreneurial characteristic, you need to believe in yourself and your ideas if you want to succeed.

At times entrepreneurs may be laughed at for their ideas, they may have been told no more times than they can count. Being an entrepreneur means being strong in the face of adversity and steadfast in your beliefs.

So what are the essential characteristics that define entrepreneurs?

Essential Characteristics and Skills of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Purpose-driven company building.

You might not have heard the phrase purpose-driven company before. These are companies that take action on something that is bigger than its products or services.

Generally, businesses are divided into two categories; nonprofit and for-profit, but a purpose driven business sits comfortably in between where the aim is to make money while having another, just as important, motivation.

A purpose-driven company isn’t just about making money, it’s about solving big problems for people. It makes a difference to the world and can make employees feel like they have a genuine sense of meaning.

Not everyone believes that having a purpose bigger than profit is important but for most people being a part of a business that makes a difference to the world is hugely rewarding.

When your business has a higher purpose than profit it can make a huge difference to the businesses success and this is because both consumers and employees are loyal to businesses that have a focus other than profit.

79% of businesses believe that a business's purpose is the key to success and yet 68% of those don’t incorporate that purpose into their organization. That means that they are losing out on huge evolution potential.

Studies have proven that consumers are more likely to support a business that has a higher purpose than profit. Those purposes can be reducing their environmental impact, supporting the local community or using their brand to make a change to the world.

In fact, 79% of consumers confirm that they are more loyal to brands and companies that have a higher purpose and are more likely to forgive the company if they make a mistake, as we all do at some point.

Everyone wants to make their mark on the world and employees who work for purpose-driven companies are proven to be more innovative, loyal and energetic because they believe the company they work for is making a real difference.

Considering all of the positive business impacts of having a purpose driven company this makes it an essential entrepreneurial skill.

A large part of being an entrepreneur is being able to create a sustainable, innovative idea that evolves over time and purpose-driven companies are more likely to evolve and survive in the long run.

Purpose-driven businesses come in many forms. Some of them aim to make a difference to the world, others to improve their local community and some to provide a solution directly to their consumers.

For example a brand might state that their purpose is to provide an Eco-Friendly product line.

So their purpose is to improve the world around them by reducing their carbon footprint. The business would then have to ensure that this purpose is ingrained in everything they do.

They might do this by delivering their products in recyclable packaging, ensuring their products are sustainable and fair-trade, or reducing their paper usage.

The focus of the business would not necessarily be on the products they are selling, which are important, but instead, it would be on how they are manufacturing and distributing them to match their purpose.

An example of a purpose driven business that is currently very popular is Love your Melon.

This company was actually founded by two students taking an entrepreneurship class at the University of Minnesota. They wanted to create a business that had a positive social impact and so Love Your Melon was formed.

This company creates hats for children suffering from pediatric cancer. All their products are manufactured in the USA or Canada and are made from 100% cotton.

What makes this company stand out, is not only that their business is geared towards making a difference to children who are diagnosed with cancer and undergoing treatment, they donate 50% of their net profits directly to nonprofit organizations that are leading the fight against pediatric cancer.

That is the purpose of their business. It is the core for everything they do and it is why their business is so popular.

The founders of the business used this important entrepreneurial skill of finding a purpose to create a successful and world changing company.

So how do you start a purpose-driven business?

Consider what your ideas can change either in the world, to your industry, to your local community or for your consumers.

Do you have an innovative idea that would solve a big problem for your consumers?

Once you’ve decided on the purpose of your business you can ingrain it within everything you do. A successful entrepreneur with a purpose-driven company ensures that their purpose is reflected in every action they take.

It’s no good saying that your company has a purpose but never acting upon that purpose.

The key part of this entrepreneurial skill is to keep your business's purpose in the forefront of your mind, making it the most important aspect of your work and making a difference while you do.

2. Growth and Learning Mindset.

Having a growth mindset is understanding that your skills and abilities can be developed and improved to increase your knowledge.

A true entrepreneur doesn’t believe that they know everything and understands that there are times that they’re going to need to increase their knowledge or hone their skills.

You might be naturally talented in your business but hard work and development of skills can push you from being average to top notch.

Having a growth mindset means being aware that knowledge needs continuously expanding and is a key characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. You can never truly learn all there is to know about a topic as industries and standards are constantly changing as the world advances and you don’t want your business to decline and be left behind.

You might think you know all there is to know about your business or industry but considering how fast a market can change it’s important to stay up-to-date on all you can.

Leading entrepreneurs are aware of all that is happening in their industry and the industries that surround theirs. It’s important to know what changes are happening and how that will impact the way your business functions.

Businesses that are slow to respond are usually the ones that fail. Being aware of industry changes means that you can plan ahead and prepare for anything that might affect the way that your business works.

Consider Blockbuster. This business was once a giant in its industry but failure to react and respond to the changing market meant that in 2010 they filed for Bankruptcy.

The movie rental giant didn’t consider the rise of companies, such as Netflix, a threat to their business as the CEO believed Netflix was a niche market.

What Blockbuster didn’t consider was the rate at which the world was advancing and before they knew it, renting physical movies and video games from a store was null and void, when you could have them delivered directly to your door without having to leave the house.

As a direct competitor to Blockbuster, Netflix began with mail-order subscription service and as the online world became more popular, they adapted their business model to accommodate this, creating the streaming service almost everyone knows today.

To further adapt in 2013 Netflix began expanding into the production industry, producing their own shows and movies meaning they have their own exclusive content.

From these examples, you can see a stark contrast in the way the businesses responded to their own changing markets.

Where one business was aware of the market and industry changes, the other was focused exclusively on their own industry and unaware of the impact that the changing world would have on their business model.

A successful entrepreneur takes notice of all the changes to the surrounding industries, planning and considering how these may affect them and their business.

Increasing your knowledge is essential!

Not only should an entrepreneur be aware of the changes in the industry, they need to have a Learning Mindset.

Entrepreneurs see failure as an opportunity to grow, advancing their skills and increasing their knowledge as opposed to giving up and accepting that they can’t do it.

Being able to learn or hone skills is an incredible characteristic that not only makes the entrepreneur knowledgeable, it makes them adaptable and determined, both of which are essential for entrepreneurs to succeed.

People all learn differently and with the vast ways that we can learn today, there’s no reason that increasing knowledge has to be a mammoth task.

You might not be very good at traditional classroom learning but that doesn't mean you can’t find online, self-paced training or even look for a hands-on learning workshop where you can get stuck in and physically practice your skills.

Not only do successful entrepreneurs update and practice their industry skills, they stay up to date and involved in their business practice. A successful entrepreneur knows how all aspects of their business functions so they can make adjustments to practices if they need to.

Knowing how all parts of your business tie together enables you to make changes if things go wrong.

Entrepreneurs know and understand their business. They are fully aware of how important it is to continuously improve their knowledge and skills as industries are constantly changing. Entrepreneurs that limit themselves by refusing to adopt a growth mindset often fall behind while the truly successful ones embrace the growth and learning mindset and as a result flourish in the business world.

3. Result-Oriented Decision Making Based on Facts.

Result oriented decision making is an essential skill if you want to be an entrepreneur. Being able to look objectively at a situation and consider the results of each decision you make can give you an edge over your competitors.

Predicting the outcome of your decisions is important, you need to be able to plan ahead and understand the impact of the choices you make on your business.

Every choice you make can affect and change the way your business functions and could impact the progression or profit, so it’s paramount that you understand how this change will be implemented and what it means.

Result-orientated decisions focus on the outcome of your choices and should be based on logic. These decisions can’t be made because you feel like it’s the best choice. When it comes to being an entrepreneur you need to make logical decisions after reviewing the facts.

Sometimes in business, decisions need to be made quickly, you won’t get time to be able to thoroughly consider every option, so you need to be able to adapt and decide in a short amount of time, while ensuring the choice you make has the most positive outcome possible.

This can be difficult. Afterall, how are you meant to make the right decision if you don’t have enough time to think everything over?

That’s why result-oriented decision making is an essential skill to develop. You need to be able to assess all of the facts and respond accordingly without causing delays.

Delays in a business can be disastrous; products might not be manufactured on time, customers could be left disappointed, employees could be confused and you could miss out on an important business partnership.

Entrepreneurs understand how their business works, they know what's going on in the industry and this knowledge really helps when it comes to making decisions. Being on top of your industry and business means that you already have a majority of the facts you need to make a decision and don’t have to spend a lot of time playing catch-up.

You might be the type of person that can make decisions easily, it could be a natural skill or you might be the kind of person who struggles to decide and ends up procrastinating.

If you do find making fast decisions difficult then you can develop your skills by following effective decision making steps and gaining experience through practice.

Fast decision-making skills

Most start-up businesses are short on resources and you’re going to need to make fast decisions using the resources you have.

Time lost through slow decision making can be expensive and can result in your competitors getting ahead of you.

When entrepreneurs make decisions, they’re done with confidence and positivity. They don’t choose to do something that they don’t agree with or could have a very negative impact on their business.

To make effective decisions you should:

1. Identify the problem. Try to understand how the problem arose and what the impact could be
2. Gather information. Gain insight and facts about the issue from employees or industry experts
3. Identify alternatives. Look for an alternative solution, consider as many possibilities as possible
4. Weigh the evidence. Look at all of the information you have gathered and compare each option and the possible results
5. Choose among the alternatives. Make your choice and have a secondary backup decision in case your first option doesn’t go to plan.
6. Take action. Implement your final decision
7. Review the decision. How did your choice work out? Were the results positive or could you have made a better one? Reviewing your decisions is one of the most important steps as you can use this to learn from the experience and be better prepared for the next choice you have to make.

There are many things that factor into an entrepreneur's decision making process and these are things you can draw on yourself to make faster, result-orientated decisions.

• Use your experience. Entrepreneurs have a variety of experience and so do you. Your industry experiences or your life experiences can be a huge help when it comes to making fast decisions. Maybe you’ve been in a similar situation before or you’ve seen someone else make similar choices, either way, you can take this knowledge and use it to your advantage.
• Intuitive choices. Don’t dismiss your intuition, especially if you have experience. Use your intuition to guide you. If something doesn’t feel quite right, don’t jump straight in. Take a step back and take a little more time.
• Awareness. Being aware of how your choices affect your business, your employees or your consumers is essential. No decision should be made solely on how it will affect you as an entrepreneur.
• Listen well. Listening to the people around you, understanding their opinions or taking the time to pay attention to their experiences is essential when it comes to decision making. You might be the entrepreneur but other people can be a huge help when it comes to understanding, and resolving, a problem.

When making your decisions try to avoid:

• Relying on single sources. Try to gain multiple insights or industry experts. Every single person will have their own biases and opinions, it’s an unavoidable fact of life, so be sure to have more than one source of information when making decisions.
• Over and underestimating others' information. This goes both ways. Occasionally you might find yourself questioning the information given to you which is important. Don’t just rely on the information, seek out some of your own as all people make mistakes.
• Be aware of your own prejudices and expectations. We all have our own prejudices, opinions and expectations and occasionally they affect the way we make decisions. Don’t allow your own opinion to be the only deciding factor in the choices you make. An entrepreneur needs to be able to remove their prejudices and consider the bare facts.
• Taking too little time. Entrepreneurs have to make fast, agile decisions and it’s important that you make these choices quickly. Reaction time is essential in good business but taking too little time to consider a decision can be just as harmful as taking too much. Entrepreneurs need enough time to review all of the facts and outcomes before selecting the best one. Jumping to a decision too quickly can be disastrous.

Once you’ve made your decision and implemented it, make sure to follow up. Ask for feedback and make sure you pay attention. The way people react and respond to your decisions can be a big indicator on whether you’ve made the right one.

Most importantly keep moving forward. You’re not always going to make the right decision but entrepreneurs don’t give up and instead use any failure as a learning experience. Keep practicing your decision making and soon you’ll have honed this essential entrepreneurial skill.

4. Mental Fortitude to Withstand Negativity and Being Laughed At.

One of the most entrepreneurial characteristics you can possess as an entrepreneur is being mentally strong. Not everyone is going to support your ideas, you’re likely to be told no more times than you ever have before and you’re going to need to be able to handle criticism if you want to make it.

Some people have the innate ability to withstand criticism. They can stand tall and ignore negative comments and insults like water off a duck's back and that is an incredible skill to possess.

If you want to be an entrepreneur you’re going to need to develop a thick skin and a strong sense of confidence in your ideas.

Rejection can be a tough pill to swallow but instead of seeing it as a negative, entrepreneurs use it as motivation to keep pushing through.

Use rejection and doubts as fuel to fire your entrepreneurial goals.

Even successful entrepreneurs will still regularly be told no by customers, potential investors or potential business partnerships but that doesn’t stop them from moving forward.

Even the most successful entrepreneurs have failed at some point.

Have you ever heard of Fred Smith? You should have. He is the founder of FedEx, one of the largest logistic companies in the world.

He came up with the concept for FedEx as a term project while studying at Harvard University and his professor felt his idea would only merit him a C at best.

Fred Smith didn’t let that criticism stop him and firmly believed in his business idea; he used that rejection as fuel to get his business up and running.

Now FedEx is an integral part of everyday day life, and is worth over $55.5 billion dollars!

The difference between failure and being a successful entrepreneur is how well you can stick it out.

So how can you build resilience as an entrepreneur?

• Give any issues or setback your undivided attention. facing a problem head-on can be hard. Especially if it’s an issue that might ruin your day, but being able to focus entirely on the problem can help to build your resilience. Practice makes perfect and in this case practicing how you handle problems builds your reaction and resilience for future issues.
• Remember why you started. It can be exhausting when you begin your start-up. A constant barrage of set-back or repeatedly being told no can really take a toll on you as an entrepreneur but you need to learn how to take it on the chin and keep moving. TAKE A step back and remember why you started your business. Focus on the why rather than the set-backs and try again.
• Know when to quit. It seems like a contradiction but knowing when to stop pushing is essential when building entrepreneurial resilience. Not all of your ideas are going to work and knowing when to stop is a very important skill. The best entrepreneurs can admit that they’re wrong and that they made a mistake. Being able to hold yourself accountable and start again helps to build resilience and confidence.
• Take a breather. Starting your journey as an entrepreneur is hard and being resilient in the face of adversity is tiring. When you feel burned out and like you can’t keep going, think back to everything you’ve achieved and how far you’ve already come and then keep pushing forward.
• Overrule your moods. It’s normal to feel tired, fed-up or like you just can’t be bothered to work but as an entrepreneur you need to be able to overcome those feelings and push through. Even when you don’t feel like working, make yourself get involved. Resilience can only be built when you can overcome your own lack of motivation.
• Focus only on what you can control. When you’re an entrepreneur you might find yourself swamped by decisions and stressed about lots of things all at once. You need to understand what you can and can’t control and focus only on the things that you can actively change. By focusing on the things within your control you can build resilience to outside forces, giving you a clearer mind to concentrate on the important aspect of your business.
• Learn from your mistakes. Every entrepreneur makes mistakes at some point. There is not a single entrepreneur in the world who hasn’t had a lapse in judgement. The key to building resilience from your mistakes is how you handle them. Use your set-backs to form new goals and record how you could make a better decision next time. Use this information to grow your knowledge and build your confidence.
• Take rejection on the chin. Rejection hurts and being told no can be soul crushing. Instead of allowing the rejections to knock the confidence in your business idea, use it as a fuel to push you forward. Understand that almost every single entrepreneur in the world has been told no and yet they used that as motivation to prove the ones who doubted them wrong.

An entrepreneur's resilience is one of the biggest tools in their armory of skills and to become a successful entrepreneur you're going to need to develop this.

Prepare yourself for rejection and understand that there is a high possibility that your ideas might be mocked but this shouldn’t stop you from persevering and working towards your entrepreneurial dream.

5. Unstoppable Will to Win (No Matter What It Takes).

Perseverance is the key to success and to be an entrepreneur you need to have plenty of it.

Starting your own business and taking those first steps to be an entrepreneur can be exciting but also a little scary. Standing firm in your beliefs and pushing forward with an idea you’re passionate about means you have to be determined.

There’s going to be times that you feel like quitting but true entrepreneurs dig deep and find the strength to carry on and a determined drive is a characteristic that all entrepreneurs have in common.

If you’re not naturally determined, it can be a difficult skill to develop but determination is an entrepreneur's secret weapon.

Psychological studies have shown that a positive mindset and focus on determination have a positive impact on your performance. In short, if you concentrate on your achievements you will be more successful.

Positive and negative mindsets are not a naturally occurring trait, instead, they are learned behavior and although you can be a naturally determined person, you can also learn how to become more purposeful and have stronger willpower.

How to develop a more determined attitude:

• Set long term goals. The goals entrepreneurs set themselves are key when becoming more determined. Goals provide focus, something to aim towards and having solid, long term goals enables entrepreneurs to look forward and plan ahead as opposed to feeling lost and stressed as the business progresses.
• Let go of the past. We’ve already discussed the importance of learning from your mistakes, but becoming more determined also means letting go of the past and moving forward. Everybody has regrets, but entrepreneurs don’t dwell on them, instead, they take the lessons they have learned and move on.
• Don’t rely on luck. Too often people wait for a ‘lucky break’ and although some might find themselves one of the few that get one, a majority of people waste opportunities in the hope that something big will come along without putting in any work. Entrepreneurs make their own luck, and create their own opportunities.
• Words are powerful. Don’t waste your energy complaining. Entrepreneurs don’t have the energy to expend on moaning and griping when things don’t work out. Instead, they push the negativity away and use all of that energy working hard to make their dreams a reality.
• Revisit and review goals. As businesses change entrepreneurs will routinely go back and review their goals. Does the direction their business is taking reflect where they planned to be?
• Business plans are an entrepreneurs best friend. The business plan is an entrepreneurs guide. Once you have a completed business plan, it gives entrepreneurs the guidance and advice they need to progress. The whole point of a business plan is to ensure that there is a plan for everything.

Entrepreneurs don’t rely on luck, they rely on their own vision.

There is no plan B for true entrepreneurs. They take the risks and give it their all to achieve what they set out to achieve. There is no success without sacrifice and an entrepreneur's sacrifice is the work and determination they give to their hopes and dreams.

A true entrepreneur will fight for their vision relentlessly because it’s something they are passionate about and believe in. If you don’t have passion for your business, you’re not going to give it your all and you won’t succeed.

Determination and an unstoppable will to win is a entrepreneur characteristic of the most successful entrepreneurs and anyone who can harness this skill, is a force to be reckoned with.

6. Working Hard and Pushing Forward (Even If You’re Not Really Motivated Today).

Entrepreneurs need to be motivated and have a strong work ethic. Being your own boss means you have to manage your own workload.

It’s very easy to understand your duties when you work for an employer. You normally receive a job description and have a very clear idea on what your tasks are going to be, meaning you can manage your time efficiently throughout the day.

When you’re an entrepreneur you need to be able to identify your own work, and make sure you complete it. It’s far too easy to feel demotivated and put off complicated tasks for a day when you feel more upbeat, but when you’re an entrepreneur you just can't do that.

The most successful entrepreneurs work even when they don’t feel like it. When you start your own business, you set your own working hours but that does mean you really do have to get moving because if you don’t show up, nothing is getting done and your business won't advance.

26% of entrepreneurs started their own businesses because they wanted to be their own boss, but that does mean acting like a boss and getting out of bed even when you fancy a lie in.

There are some serious positives to pushing yourself to be more motivated. Not only will it have a positive impact on your mindset, you’ll feel less stressed, have more time, more opportunities and realize your goals faster.

How do you become more motivated?

Being motivated every day can be tough but it’s an essential characteristic that all successful entrepreneurs possess and here’s how you do it:

• Get up at a reasonable time. The kind of industry you work in determines what time you get up. If you work in an industry that normally operates throughout the day then being up and ready to work in the morning is a key motivator. The phrase, the early bird catches the worm really is true when it comes to being an entrepreneur. Not only does getting up early help you to be ready for the day ahead, you’ll create a routine which is essential for organizing and managing your time.
• Set goals. Entrepreneurs thrive on goals. Long term goals encourage determination while day-to-day goals encourage motivation. Set goals for those daily tasks, checking cash flow, contacting clients, speaking to potential partners and you’ll soon find yourself naturally more motivated to get up and go.
• Prioritize wisely. Not all tasks are important and seasoned entrepreneurs know which ones they need to be focusing on. Some tasks are urgent and need to be completed while others are important but not urgent and some tasks you can leave until you get a chance to fit them in. The key part of entrepreneurial thinking is to be able to establish which tasks are worth devoting your energy to, and which are a waste of time.
• Set Deadlines. Deadlines are a brilliant motivator. Setting a deadline for a task gets entrepreneurs motivated and moving especially when there’s no second chance if you miss the deadline. Some tasks can’t be rescheduled, such as presentations to potential clients, so a deadline can give you the motivation to get your work done.
• Take regular breaks. Working hard is a part of entrepreneurial life, but taking a break is just as essential. Some people believe that working all day without a break is productive and they can get more done, but that is incorrect. Taking regular breaks gives your brain a chance to rest and re-set, improving focus and quality of work.
• Plan ahead. Entrepreneurs need to be organized, staying a step ahead of the competition and this means planning ahead. Looking forward to the next week or month and planning out your tasks is a brilliant motivator. That way you know where you need to be and can plan accordingly, fitting your work and tasks in around your schedules.
• Establish working hours. Entrepreneurs work extra hours, normally being available and still working well past the time the business officially closes. Setting yourself a regular start and finish time is just as important as being available for your potential clients.

Not only will working really long hours wear you down, it’s a sure fire way to demotivate you and squash any passion you have for your business. Set a time to turn off your laptop or put your phone on silent so you can get the rest you need to jump straight back into it the next day feeling refreshed and ready for whatever is thrown at you.

Manage your workload

A simple but effective way to become more motivated is to manage your workload effectively. Sorting tasks into categories is an entrepreneurs secret weapon, allowing them to recognize the most important and urgent tasks.

If you’re not very competent at managing your workload, and your time, a Time Management course can be incredibly useful as it teaches you effective, easy ways to organize yourself.

Organization is the key to becoming more motivated. Once you know what you have to do, and how you’re going to achieve it, the tasks don’t appear so overwhelming.

If you don’t motivate yourself properly and organize your time your business can suffer leaving you with poor workflow, wasted time, lack of control and a bad reputation in your industry.

7. Master of Smart Risk Management (Maximize Expected ROI of Every Decision).

Entrepreneurs are not just savvy, confident and motivated; they’re masters of managing risks within their businesses and managing them well.

There are risks in everything we do but when it comes to business, knowing which ones are worth taking and which are best avoided are a crucial part of entrepreneurial life.

Sometimes entrepreneurs will take huge risks, pushing themselves to the absolute limit, because the rewards are worth taking a perilous chance.

As an entrepreneur, you need to manage all the risks in your business, not only manage them but be able to identify potential dangers before they arise.

Ultimately being a successful entrepreneur is a question of how much risk are you willing to take?

All businesses come with risks, it’s an unavoidable part of being an entrepreneur, and managing those risks is a skill that you’re going to need to learn if you want to prosper as a successful entrepreneur.

Risk management categories

There are specific risk categories that arise in any business, no matter what industry you’re in and those are:

• Strategic. These are risks to your business objectives. Things that may affect the way the entrepreneur's business grows or expands.
• Financial. Transactions and financial structure risks such as the debt and equity that the entrepreneur's business contains.
• Operational. Administration and operational risks within the entrepreneur's day-to-day operation such as production and meeting deadlines.
• Environmental. These are external events, out of the entrepreneur's control such as weather conditions.
• Compliance. Law and regulatory risks may affect the way the entrepreneur's business functions or trades.
• Reputational. The reputation and character of the entrepreneur's business and how it’s viewed by consumers, clients, potential investors or competitors.

Expanding your entrepreneurial skills is critical if you want to thrive in the world of business and knowing how to manage and mitigate those risks is a vital skill. So if you’ve never managed risks before here’s how you start:

1. Identify the risks to your business. What risks are involved in your business, what ones might appear as your business advances?
2. Analyze and measure the impact. How would the risk impact your business if it happened, what would the outcome be?
3. Decide which risks are unacceptable. Which risks are you not willing to take or could severely impact your business?
4. Mitigate or transfer unacceptable risks. Can you eliminate the unacceptable risks entirely or is there a way to reduce the chance of the risk occurring?
5. Plan how to deal with risks that you can’t eliminate or reduce. There are always going to be some risks you cannot change, plan in advance how you will deal with these risks should they occur.
6. Monitor and review. You need to be regularly reviewing the risks within your business as the chance of them occurring may increase, decrease or the risk itself may change entirely.

Understand the risks to your business

For each section of a business, an entrepreneur will take the time to identify the risks, understand how they may affect the business and take action to try and reduce any impact from the potential risks.

Another key skill when managing risks is knowing which ones are worth reducing or eliminating and which ones are better left alone.

RISK = LIKELIHOOD x IMPACT

If the risk has both a high likelihood of occurring AND the impact of said risk will be severe, then you need to take action.

If, however, the likelihood of the risk occurring is low AND the impact of said risk would be minimal, the risk is better left alone.

Some entrepreneurs might start a business for fun, but a majority do it because they expect a return on their investment or an ROI.

Investments in business don’t always have to be financial, they can be time, services or products laid out by the entrepreneur that will be expected to increase in value or receive back more than they put in and that is the ROI.

If you were to create an Ad campaign and this campaign generated sales, the ‘Benefit’ would be the revenue from the sales. You would then minus the ‘Investment’ from the revenue to establish the ROI.

The ‘Investment’ would be calculated by adding the cost of creating the campaign, plus the cost of planning and the cost of the delivery of goods.

Was the amount generated by the Ad Campaign MORE than the amount spent to create the campaign and was it worth it?

In our online world, a majority of ROI’s are monitored through marketing including social media and email campaigns. A skilled entrepreneur would ensure that they understood and stayed on top of their marketing, establishing which marketing techniques are not only efficient but also cost effective.

The most successful entrepreneurs make sure they understand how all aspects of their business works, not only making major financial decisions and undertaking regular risk assessments, but they will also consider the effects of products, sales and hiring personnel as all of these can bring their own risks to the entrepreneurs business investment and some decisions can drastically reduce the ROI.

At the end of the day a business is only viable if it can make money, regardless of its purpose. Analyzing the risks and understanding the impacts of daily decisions on the ROI is paramount to ensuring that your business can continue to trade, and not be one of the 50% that fails within the first 5 years.

8. Boundless Creativity to Find Ways to Deliver More Customer Value.

Customers are the entrepreneur's best friend. Afterall, a business without a customer base is not a business. Finding new and innovative ways to provide customers with more value, and making them feel appreciated can increase a business's reputation in a short amount of time.

If a customer has a bad experience they will, on average, tell 15 other people about that experience and the issues they had. That doesn’t include social media posts or bad reviews on the business's website which have the potential to be seen by thousands.

Entrepreneurs know that their customers are one of the most important aspects of the business and work hard to ensure that as many customers receive the service, value and experience that they expect.

Bad customer reviews are difficult to resolve, and with 95% of customers sharing bad experiences compared to only 87% sharing positive experiences, it’s clear why a good entrepreneur needs an excellent understanding of their customers and how to provide them with the best value.

An entrepreneurial skill not to be missed is being customer obsessed. Knowing your customer base, and understanding what they expect and how they expect to receive it, paves the way to a highly praised business with a very loyal customer base.

So how do you understand your customers better?

Identify the customer's pain point

What is an issue or specific problem that potential customers of your business are experiencing? Can you convince them that you can solve that problem for them?

For example, your potential customers are spending too much money on their product with their current provider, can you provide it at the same quality at a lower price or perhaps a higher quality at the same price?

Maybe your potential customers are wasting too much time with their current suppliers, can you supply the same or very similar product in less time than your competitors?

Are your potential customers receiving enough support throughout the sales process? Could your business provide more comprehensive support to them than your competitors?

All of the above are examples of pain points, understanding your customers' frustrations and attempting to resolve them effectively, can put you in good standing with consumers.

Define a convincing value proposition and USP

Entrepreneurs recognize that consumers expect value for their hard earned money and finding the value proposition gives entrepreneurs the edge on their competition.

Value proposition is how entrepreneurs market their business to potential customers on the type of product or service and how it will be delivered. Consumers will then expect the product or service to be delivered and experienced in the marketed manner.

When the value proposition is provided to consumers in the expected way the consumers are likely to return, if the value proposition is not provided in the way consumers expect it can have a negative impact on the business.

An important entrepreneurial skill is being conscious of what consumers need, how they need it, at what price and how to alert consumers to their value proposition without saying it outright.

There are some excellent examples of value propositions where the business has identified what the consumers want, how they want it, why they need it and have successfully marketed this product to the consumers to make sales.

One of these examples is the Iphone. Apple sold the idea of the Iphone to consumers as an experience rather than the features of the product itself. Although the design of the Iphone is sleek and professional, the actual phone itself is similar to most other smartphones on the market.

Instead of trying to encourage consumers to buy because the product had exceptional features, they marketed using the Iphone as a revolutionary experience.

Not only do Apple focus on the experience of using the phone, they tap into consumers' fears by highlighting the importance of the Iphones security features keeping data safe.

Meaning that consumers will purchase from them as they expect the Iphone to provide a technological experience while keeping their data and personal information secure…and it worked; 44.4% of Apple’s entire revenue is made from Iphone sales alone!

The important thing to remember is that meeting your value proposition is essential. If an entrepreneur marketed an exceptional value but over-promised, and couldn’t provide consumers with that value, the consumers are likely to purchase from a competitor instead.

Your value proposition is not only a marketing tool, it is a promise to your consumers.

Brainstorming for more innovative ideas

Entrepreneurs need to be continuously planning. Planning for risks, planning for progress and planning for potential consumers and what better way to generate ideas than brainstorming.

Brainstorming is one of the most effective ways to become more creative, linking thoughts and producing innovative ideas in a simple effective way and using brainstorming to plan your value proposition is a great way to get started.

Being able to brainstorm effectively is a great tool for an entrepreneur to have in their arsenal but not everyone can brainstorm very well.

The key features of brainstorming are:

1. Free your mind. entrepreneurs need to be able to think freely, writing down or considering whatever ideas pop into their head, disregarding the cost or restriction. Start with what you really want without considering implications, just the core idea itself.
2. Be open. Take the initial ideas and expand them, no idea is too far-fetched in the early stages.
3. Quantity is important. the saying ‘quality over quantity’ doesn’t necessarily apply when brainstorming. The point is to come up with as many ideas during the process, without spending a whole heap of time considering how to implement them. Brainstorming isn’t about implementation, it’s about the initial ideas.
4. Visualize. Instead of sticking with the monotonous pen and paper, make brainstorming a creative experience using different colors, positions or images to get the creative thoughts flowing.
5. Focus. Remember to stay focused on the purpose of the brainstorming session and try not to get side-tracked or distracted by tangents along the way.

Successful entrepreneurs take the time to understand what consumers need and want. They then take those requirements and incorporate them into their business, making the consumer a key focus always at the forefront of their business endeavor.

9. Exceptional People and Communication Skills to Build a High-Performance Team.

Have you ever met a successful entrepreneur? They can captivate the room and engage almost anyone in conversation. Having exceptional communication skills is an essential entrepreneur characteristic if you want to be an entrepreneur.

So much of managing your own empire involves communicating and networking with people and you just cannot get by without it.

Not only are entrepreneurs excellent communicators, they focus on being charismatic and interesting.

Potential customers and investors aren’t interested in boring conversations and drawn out sales pitches, they are drawn to interesting, engaging and empathetic people. They want to do business with honest entrepreneurs because, quite frankly, they want to like the people they’re buying from.

Not only do entrepreneurs need to communicate well with potential customers, investors or partners, they need to be able to build a strong-high performance team to have their back as the business grows.

As an entrepreneur you need to be transparent and honest about your business and its intentions. 94% of consumers would be more loyal to transparent, honest brands and 73% of consumers are willing to pay more for honest brands. That's a huge percentage of consumers, meaning that you could build a loyal customer base just by being sincere.

Brand transparency doesn’t just include the business intentions, it also means where products are sourced, made and what they contain. If you are clear and open about your business and its processes, it can result in a huge surge of repeat business.

Being an honest brand also helps when it comes to finding strong, loyal team members. By starting with transparent and honest intentions, it creates a stable work culture.

Good work culture is essential if you’re looking for long term success. It’s based on the businesses beliefs and values, from the business purpose to how customers are treated.

Establishing a good work culture from the beginning can save budding entrepreneurs from headaches in the future, by avoiding the difficult task of having to try and change employee attitudes if they don’t match with the business.

Not only does honesty create a positive work culture, it encourages employees to feel secure and remain loyal to the business.

If employees understand the business, their position within the company and feel that the company is open with them; they are more likely to be more positive, loyal and engaged while working.

Employees are also more likely to be more honest with the company if they feel undervalued or frustrated, another important feature to creating a good work culture.

81% of full-time employees would prefer to work for open, honest brands as opposed to companies that offer perks such as health plans or free food.

There’s more to being a successful entrepreneur than just being likable and honest. You need to be empathetic while also being able to delegate.

Why is empathy an important entrepreneurial characteristic?

As an entrepreneur you're going to be surrounded by people you need to understand and engage with. Being empathetic allows you to understand the needs and interests of the third parties, creating a stronger business.

At the end of the day, your customers, investors and employees need to feel that their interests are your priority and that the goals of your business benefit everyone involved.

Employees are your front line, they keep the wheels of your business turning. Engaging and understanding what they need from you, as an employer, allows you to check your business strategy and see where it can be improved.

Keeping strong, loyal employees is key to making your business growing and getting stronger.

Investors and partners also need to be understood. They have invested in your business, so maintaining communication and understanding what they expect to gain and want should be a key focus for any entrepreneur.

Finally, you need to be empathetic with your customers. A brilliant entrepreneur takes the time to recognize what their customers need, how they feel and what they want.

Taking a little time to speak to customers allows entrepreneurs to understand how you can adapt your business to fit their requirements and can elevate your business to new levels.

Not only are highly successful entrepreneurs honest, likeable and empathetic, they are also able to delegate.

You want customers, employees and investors to feel that you understand them and how they feel, while also maintaining the entrepreneurial status. You need to be seen as a capable entrepreneur and not just a friendly individual.

It can be a tricky line to traverse, but truly accomplished entrepreneurs can manage to maintain this balance well but it all boils down to communication.

Communication is one of an entrepreneurs most important characteristics.

Not everyone is a natural communicator but you can improve your skills easily.

Communication is usually thought of as 7% verbal and 93% nonverbal meaning that what you say isn’t as important as how you say it.

Of course in this day and age, a majority of our communication is written rather than verbal, but the importance of learning how to communicate in person is still an essential part of an entrepreneurs life.

1. Listen Properly. A key part of communication is listening, not just listening but actually hearing what people say. It’s easy to get distracted, especially as an entrepreneur, there can be so much going on around you that taking on board what people are saying can be really challenging. When communicating with people, understanding and considering what they are saying is the main factor in effective communication.
2. Non-verbal cues. How do you sit or stand when you speak to someone? Do you maintain eye contact? Are your arms folded? Do you look interested in what someone is telling you? Understanding how you present when you are communicating is just as important as understanding other people's body language. Practice appearing relaxed and engaged. Consider how folded arms can appear combative even if the conversation is friendly and fidgeting while in conversation can make you appear disinterested or ignorant.
3. Be clear and concise. As an entrepreneur over-promising and under-delivering can really damage your reputation. Be honest about deadlines and never promise to complete something if it’s not realistic. Always keep information short and to the point, getting distracted and talking endlessly about irrelevant information can ruin a sales pitch and put off customers.
4. Understand why you’re communicating. Knowing why you’re starting a conversation is just as important as the content. The purpose of the communication gives you a clear idea as to the kind of language and nonverbal cues you need to make.

As an entrepreneur you will need to practice your communication skills, fine tune them and put them to good use. Being an effective communicator won’t only help with sales, but it will improve investor relationships and help you find the best of the best when it comes to employees, all of which will push your business right to the top.

10. Sales Mindset is Key for Attracting Customers, Employees, and Investors.

Have you ever heard of a sales mindset? It’s an essential characteristic if you want to be a successful entrepreneur and it’s not a difficult skill to hone.

In fact, having a sales mindset interlinks very closely to communication because it’s all about understanding and discussing your business with investors and customers.

Being able to sell your business, and sell it well, can be the difference between an entrepreneur's success and failure, afterall you can’t have a business that doesn't make a profit.

Your business shouldn’t rely entirely on selling, but it is an essential part of being an entrepreneur and although you could hire people to sell for you, having a sales mindset should be an integral part of an entrepreneurs skillset.

Your mindset is your mental attitude or inclination and entrepreneurs need to be able to shift into ‘sales mindset’’ frequently throughout the day.

How can you develop your own entrepreneurial sales mindset?

• Keep pushing. You might find a few successes but that doesn’t mean you should settle. Keep pushing forwards and working towards improving your business. A strong entrepreneur keeps the passion for their business burning and achieving some success doesn't mean that they sit back and relax. Entrepreneurs are always looking to improve, increase or expand their business towards new horizons.
• Integrity is key. The integrity of your business, your brand and who you are should never be compromised for the sake of a sale. Not only can it negatively affect your business but it can also affect your reputation as an entrepreneur. It all comes back to being an open, honest and transparent brand and by compromising on your business integrity, you can contradict what your business stands for.
• Have a positive attitude. The way you are perceived can impact your sales success. If you come across as a negative person, customers and investors are less likely to consider your business and brand. Being positive can not only change the way that you perceive challenges but it can drastically improve the way that your brand is perceived by others.
• Know your products. Have you ever tried to buy something but been completely put off by salespeople who were unsure about the products they were selling? It’s a big no-no in the world of business. An entrepreneur should know their products inside and out, not only know everything about their product but also be able to explain why their products can solve a problem or make a difference in consumers lives. Being able to effectively and concisely describe your product, and it’s benefits, will be the difference between a hesitant maybe, and a definite sale.
• Be prepared. Entrepreneurial life will undoubtedly involve a lot of meetings, sales pitches and conversations. It could be in person, via video call or over the phone, but an entrepreneur always needs to be prepared. There's nothing worse than sitting in a meeting, waiting awkwardly for it to begin while watching someone shuffling through papers and umming and ahhing because they weren’t quite ready. A good entrepreneur always goes prepared. They know what they want to say, how they want to say it, they have all their paperwork in order and they have practiced the pitch or presentation before arriving.
• Earn a reputation. Gaining a positive reputation doesn’t just happen. Entrepreneurs don’t start a business venture and develop a fantastic reputation overnight. It takes work, dedication and plenty of proving your worth to customers and investors before a good reputation is created. Building a positive reputation falls back to making sure you're honest, empathetic and don’t over promise. Similarly you can easily earn a bad reputation by not following through on your promises, missing deadlines and diverging from your business's purpose.
• First impressions count. It’s said that your first impression is your lasting one and that is key to succeeding as an entrepreneur. The way you present yourself to investors, customers and employees when you first meet them is a hard one to change if you don’t do it right. The individuals you interact with have the potential to make or break your business venture, so always ensure you dress and speak appropriately.
• Set your goals. Knowing where you’re heading is an important part of developing a sales mindset. Entrepreneurs will often set sales targets or use a CRM system to plan ahead for their intended goals. Aiming for a specific goal can give you a solid direction to begin working towards and a clearer understanding on the success of your business strategy. If you’re not hitting your targets, is your strategy the right one?
• Become a customer service pro. Your customers are the priority, without them there would be no business. Developing a sales mindset means being able to provide fantastic customer service which in turn results in repeat business and an increase in your reputation.
• Influence without coercion. There is a major difference between being influential and being aggressive and entrepreneurs need to understand this if they want to achieve. There is nothing that gets someones back up more than combative sales tactics, it’s a sure-fire way to get a resounding no from both customers and investors. Being able to gently persuade someone about the benefits of your product, and the positive impact it could have on their lives, is entirely different to pushing your product at them when they seem unsure. Entrepreneurs walk the fine line between being persuasive and being overly aggressive and it’s important that you master this if you want to develop a successful sales mindset.
• Self-improvement. Entrepreneurs are continuously developing their skills throughout their careers and it’s essential to work on self-improvement if you want to develop a solid sales mindset. The skills you master can continuously be improved, the world is constantly changing and the skills you develop can become redundant in a short period of time.

Developing a sales mindset is an essential characteristic for all high-flying entrepreneurs. You need to be able to market and sell your business to the people around you. Developing this kind of mindset can only be done through practice and the more you do it, the better your skills will become.

11. Resourceful Money Management: Cash and Liquidity is King.

Everybody is told that saving money is important, you should take a percentage of your earnings and put them into savings each month but sometimes that can be hard to do.

With a majority of people living paycheck to paycheck, being able to save any money can seem an impossible task but if you want to make it as an entrepreneur, then developing that all important money management skill is a must.

Entrepreneurs need to be able to manage their money and know exactly where it is going at all times. Most first-time entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of spare cash so being resourceful and keeping track of cash flow is an integral part of running a business.

Being able to stretch cash, and save a few dollars, can be the difference between building a winning business and creating a money pit. The important part of resourceful money management is knowing where you can save a few dollars, and where you need to be investing.

If you skimp on important investments with the belief you need to save cash, it could result in your entrepreneurial career being over before it’s really begun. Smart investments are a key skill for entrepreneurs.

68% of potential entrepreneurs never get started because they feel like they don’t have enough personal savings to get their business off the ground, but being an entrepreneur isn’t about having a huge sum of cash at your fingertips. It’s about being able to manage your money in a resourceful way.

So how can you start managing your money better?

1. Organize your finances. Know exactly where you’re spending your money and how much you need to earn to meet your monthly expenditure. Entrepreneurs have a firm grasp on their incomings and outgoings.
   • All businesses have a solid cash flow record, usually in the form of a spreadsheet, detailing all of the business expenses, the entrepreneurs expenditure and how much money the business has coming in. Alongside the actual cash flow a business should have a projected cash flow showing how much the business is expected to make so the two can be compared and appropriate adjustments can be made.
   • Understanding and recording the financial aspect of the business allows entrepreneurs to be able to adjust the business strategy as they see fit and also identify unnecessary expenditure that could be reduced.
2. Check your credit. Did you know that your credit score can affect your business? Successful entrepreneurs work hard to ensure that they manage their credit, paying off outstanding bills and working to improve their credit scores. Business funding can often be impacted by negative credit checks, meaning that if you wanted to take out a start-up loan or encourage investors, you could find yourself stuck because your credit score is poor.
3. Look for more information. Managing your money can be tricky, especially when it comes to business finances. Searching for additional information about building a financially successful business can have a positive impact on your spending habits. Check out informational blogs, such as FounderJar, to find ways to improve your professional finances.
4. Set goals. Being an entrepreneur always comes back to setting goals and it’s the same with money management. Using a projected cash flow can allow entrepreneurs to set realistic, achievable financial goals which can help with money management.

Managing your finances is all well and good but being able to be resourceful with what you have is an entrepreneurial triumph.

‘Time is money’ is certainly true when it comes to being resourceful. As an entrepreneur you need to be able to identify where you are wasting your time, and therefore your money.

Even big companies don’t have endless resources and have to make important decisions regarding their spending habits so all entrepreneurs need to be able to look for ways to hold back on the spending where they can.

Resourcefulness is the ability to overcome challenges and is one of the most important entrepreneurial skills that you can possess.

Traversing the business world is tricky and most entrepreneurs will use their resourcefulness throughout the entirety of their careers because that is how they found success in the first place.

Being able to overcome the challenges that will undoubtedly occur when entering the entrepreneurial world means being able to find solutions where it seems like there are none.

An entrepreneur could find that building their branding is going to cost them more money than they have available, some would give up and accept that they don’t have the financial resources to be able to do it, whereas true entrepreneurs would look for alternative solutions. Could they design the website themselves? Could they find a cheaper alternative? Do they have connections that might be happy to create their branding designs for free if they could be included in the designers portfolio? It’s all about searching for an alternate solution to a difficult challenge.

Nothing is impossible to a determined entrepreneur.

Another essential thing for an entrepreneur to understand is cash and liquidity.

What is cash and liquidity?

If you’ve never heard of liquidity it is defined as how easily assets can be turned into cash. Items such as stocks and bonds are very liquid; they can be turned into cash in a short amount of time and cash makes a business whereas buildings and land are more difficult to turn into cash quickly; making them the least liquid assets a business can have.

There are 3 common ratios that are used to measure how quickly a business can turn its assets into liquid to meet their current requirements and all entrepreneurs should understand them.

1. Working Capital. This is established by dividing the businesses current assets by their current liabilities. The assets included are the businesses cash, inventory and the accounts receivable. The liabilities include business debts and outstanding bills. It is basically a calculation of how well a company could pay its outstanding debts with its assets. Businesses should have bigger current assets to their current liabilities.
2. Quick Ratio. The quick ratio is almost exactly the same as Working Capitol except it does not include the business inventory. A business's inventory can be industry specific so it can be more difficult to turn into liquid assets than the other business assets.
3. Operating Cash flow. Probably the most simple of the 3 ratios. This one compares how well the business could pay its current liabilities with the cash flow received from the businesses operations. It is calculated by considering how many times a company could pay its current liabilities with cash flow from the same period.

You might be wondering why this is essential knowledge for an entrepreneur, it can seem a little overwhelming, but having a good grasp on your business assets allows you to appeal to investors and banks.

If an entrepreneur is looking for solid investment in their business, then being able to show investors that they can manage their assets and the investors money is secure, definitely puts the entrepreneur in good standing and opens them up to the possibility of more investments in the future.

12. Money Mindset: It’s GOOD to Make Millions of Dollars.

An entrepreneurs money mindset can make or break their business and having a positive money mindset can influence the way entrepreneurs make financial decisions.

Developing a positive money mindset is essential if you want to be an entrepreneur. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of limiting your financial beliefs.

Making big financial decisions can seem intimidating but entrepreneurs need to be able to overcome the fear that holds them back and take a leap, as long as it’s a smart one.

Negative money mindsets can really stunt an entrepreneurs potential, holding them back from making the investment or taking that step towards increasing business potential.

This negative mindset usually comes in the form of procrastination, feelings of fear and intimidation and generally feeling out of their depth. It’s normal to feel this way but breaking out of the negative money mindset is a must if the entrepreneurial lifestyle is where you want to be.

Being able to have a positive money mindset means that entrepreneurs are more confident, often seeking out new opportunities and being more flexible should something not go to plan.

Entrepreneurs need to be able to stay on track, even if things aren’t panning out the way they planned, and asking for help if they need it. Some people might class asking for help as a weakness, but when it comes to being an entrepreneur, it’s actually a strength.

How can you improve your money mindset?

1. How do you value money? Do you consider it an investment opportunity or do you feel like you need to squirrel it all away somewhere safely. Saving is great, but reinvesting money is key to improving business potential.
2. Money mistakes are lessons learned. Take the previous financial mistakes, learn from them and then let them go. Regrets are useless to entrepreneurs and can often end up holding them back. Take the lessons you’ve learned and use them to fuel your next financial decision.
3. Positive spending means a positive mindset. Entrepreneurs need to stay on top of their spending and being more financially aware can really change the way you view money. Track spending and see where you could be wasting money necessarily, then work on refining and improving your spending habits. If you’re smarter with money, your mindset will improve.

It’s common to feel like wanting to make a million dollars is a silly dream, but that isn’t true. Making money shouldn’t be something you shy away from and having aspirations of wealth isn’t a bad thing, despite the things you may have been taught growing up.

We’re all taught to be grateful for what we have, and great entrepreneurs are truly grateful for what they have but they also set themselves a higher target. Accepting life the way it is, because that is what they were taught, is just not an entrepreneurs way.

Being hindered by childhood fears, or limiting themselves because the thought of achieving more seems impossible, is not what entrepreneurs do, and if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you need to work on that.

Spend some time analyzing your money mindset. Does it reflect where you want to be? Is the fear of failure holding you back from making those important decisions?

Great entrepreneurs work hard to improve their money mindset and set themselves goals. Constantly increasing their skills, their confidence and their knowledge gives them the power to stand tall and strong with their beliefs and business ideas and take the leap into the unknown in the pursuit of success.

Got All Those Entrepreneurial Characteristics? Let’s Start a Business.

You’ve read the essential characteristics for entrepreneurs and you’ve assessed where you need to improve. Maybe you only need to work on a couple, or maybe you have the whole list to practice, either way you’re ready to start your career as an entrepreneur.

It’s time to take your ideas, your innovations and turn them from just fantasy into reality. Being your own boss, running your own business doesn’t have to be something that you only imagine.

It doesn’t have to remain a daydream that you fantasize about while working your nine to five office job. You have the knowledge, and now the skills, to start your own empire and build your million-dollar empire.

So what are you waiting for? The world is your oyster and it’s time to test your new found entrepreneurial knowledge by taking your first leap of faith and starting your business.

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