Each year, thousands of Americans start their own businesses. Thousands more dream about chucking their day jobs, setting their own hours, and enjoying the freedom of being self-employed.
Unfortunately, the financial picture for people who make the break and start their own businesses is not encouraging. Depending on what statistics you believe, between 50% – 85% of new small businesses fail within the first year. And the vast majority earn revenues of less than $25,000.
In other words, becoming an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart.
So, before you make the leap, it is a good idea to do some soul-searching and make sure that you have the characteristics shared by most successful entrepreneurs.
Vision
Many people daydream about being the next Steve Jobs or Oprah…but it takes more than a dream to start your own business. You have to start with a big vision — a WHY that is so compelling that it will motivate you to keep on going when times get tough. Some people think about this as their “life purpose,” but that makes it sound big and scary. I like to think of it as your unique perspective on the world — how you want to impact your own life, your family, your community and the world.
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you’ve found it.~Steve Jobs
Ask yourself these questions, and see if a vision starts to unfold:
- What am I most passionate about doing on a daily basis?
- How can my skills and talents be used to improve lives?
- What kind of financial future do I want to create for my family and loved ones?
- When I reach the end of my career, how do I want to be remembered?
- What do I value most in life?
- How will I use my wealth to contribute to something I really believe in?
Commitment and Perseverance
The day you start your new business will be one of the most exciting days of your life. You are following your dreams, and everything seems possible.
Then you come down off your high. You’re working the same amount of hours (if not more), but you’re not seeing the results you imagined. You wonder if this business is ever going to get off the ground.
The test of a true entrepreneur is what happens when the adrenaline high wears off. It takes a lot of hard work to get a business off the ground. You may find yourself working long hours without generating great rewards in the first couple of years…and you can never get away from the boss!
It takes courage and commitment to keep going in the face of the inevitable cycles and setbacks of starting a new business. Ask yourself if you are willing to keep going when you are not getting an immediate payback. In other words, can you keep your eyes on the long-term vision?
Objectivity and Flexibility
Most entrepreneurs are visionaries. They see a gap in the marketplace and come up with creative ideas to bridge that gap. That can lead to great success, as long as you don’t fall in love with your own ideas.
The challenge is being able to let go if market research reveals that your brilliant idea is not something that consumers value. The need may still be there, but they are looking for a different solution.
You may have spent months or even years working on your brainchild…and you might have to give it up and try something different. Ask yourself if you are willing to let go and move on when the marketplace is not ready for your vision.
This applies to pricing as well. You have to understand the value of the products or services you provide, and how they fit into the marketplace.
Some entrepreneurs work like dogs for pennies, because they don’t value the solution they are offering. Others charge more than the market will bear, because that is what they need to make their business model work.
Either extreme is a recipe for disaster. You have to be willing to conduct market research, and then find a way to make a profit by charging what you are worth.
Confidence
When you start a new endeavor, some people are going to doubt you. Some may even laugh at you. If you listen to them, your chances of success are slim to none.
Every successful entrepreneur has confidence in her ideas–and more importantly, in herself.
Think of starting a business as the world’s greatest classroom for personal development. At first, you may have to act “as if” you believe in yourself. Soon you will grow into the part.
Success or failure depends more on attitude than on capacity. Successful people act as though they have accomplished something or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results. ~ William James
Problem-Solving
Obviously, problem-solving comes in handy when you are an entrepreneur, because the buck stops with you. There’s no boss, no HR department, no corporate training — you’re the boss, and it’s up to you to solve the problems in your business.
But there’s a bigger reason every entrepreneur must be a good problem-solver. You are in business to solve problems for your clients and customers.
Whatever you have to sell, people are buying it because they have a need and they believe you have the solution.
Too many entrepreneurs focus on their products, services and business goals…and forget about the customer’s needs.
I see a lot of entrepreneurs come in, and jump from problem they are solving to who they are going to be and what they are going to get. They say ‘I’m going to have a billion dollar company in years to come’ and I have this red flag that goes up, I think to myself: this guy wants to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, next Pincus, next Steve Jobs. They are jumping to the effect, if you want to be an entrepreneur you want to be the cause, you have to be creator of somebody else’s new reality. ~ Ashton Kutcher
To be really successful you have to go beyond solving the customer’s problems. To create a company as successful as Apple, Guy Kawasaki says you have to “enchant” people to become loyal customers by changing their hearts, minds and actions.
That is a vision worth pursuing, whether you sell widgets or run a nonprofit organization.
