luck with your own venture. I’m pulling for you all the way!
Rhonda Abrams
1
Thinking Like an Entrepreneur
Common Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
Ability to develop a clear focus. You need to understand what makes your business different from your competitors’. Develop a vision and stick with it, rather than moving from one great idea to another. Many entrepreneurs fail because they’re always finding their next idea more enticing than their current activities.
Realistic expectations. If you start a diet expecting to lose ten pounds every week, you’ll soon be disappointed and give up. When your goals are more in line with reality, you’re much more likely to stick with them and be successful. Very few people “get rich quick.”
Willingness to plan. The most successful business owners are those who develop a clear set of objectives and devise a roadmap for achieving them. They study their market, competition, and operations and are willing to honestly examine the obstacles they are likely to face.
Flexibility and adaptability. While you need a concrete plan and a clear focus, you must likewise have the flexibility to respond to changing conditions. In business, as in life, all things change, and some things inevitably go wrong.
Ability to overcome the fear of making sales. At some level, every business owner must be a salesperson. You can’t be afraid to cultivate customers, motivate employees, nurture suppliers. You don’t have to have this skill when you start a business, but you’ll have to develop it to stay in business.
Willingness to work hard. There’s no getting around it; being in business means having to put in the hours to get the job done.
Clear personal goals. All of us have many competing goals. We want to make lots of money but be home when the kids get out of school. We want to have complete creative control but have a wide array of products and services. These goals are inevitably in conflict. To achieve success, you have to focus on what’s really important to you and what is achievable.
Experience. You needn’t have run General Motors to start a used car lot, but you should have some meaningful, related experience, either in your chosen industry or using the type of skills you’ll need, before setting off on your own venture.
What Inspires You?
When you think about your business, what do you hope for? To make a lot of money? Use your creativity? Have more flexibility in your life? Do you see yourself working alone or building a company with other employees? Do you hope your company grows very large or do you want it to stay small?
As you build and grow your business, it’s critical to understand what motivates you, so you can plan a company that responds to those personal needs. Otherwise, you can easily end up sabotaging a successful company. For instance, I’ve seen a fashion designer with a great need for creativity who ended up frustrated when her company grew so big she never had time to pick up a pencil. She started to torpedo her own success just so she could get back to the drawing board.
Entrepreneurs are motivated by what I call the Four C’s: Creativity, Control, Challenge, and Cash. Of course, we each want all four of these to some degree, but knowing which we want or need most can help us structure our companies to best achieve our goals.
Keep in mind there are sometimes trade-offs between personal goals. Wanting more cash often means having less control; staying at the center of the creative process may mean you need to have a partner or grow slowly.
Which of the Four C’s motivates you most?
The Four C’s
Creativity. Entrepreneurs want to leave their mark. Their companies are not only a means of making a living, but a way of creating something that bears their stamp. Creativity comes in many forms, from designing or making a new “thing,” to devising a new business process or a new way to make sales, handle customers, or reward employees.
If you have a high need for creativity, make certain you remain involved in the creative process as your company develops. You’ll want to shape your business so it’s not just an instrument for earning an income but also a means of maintaining your creative stimulation and making a larger contribution to society. But don’t overpersonalize your company, especially if it’s large. Allow room for others, particularly partners and key personnel, to share in the creative process.
Control. Most of us start businesses because we want more control over our own lives. Perhaps we want more control over how our good ideas are implemented. Perhaps we want, or need, more control of our work hours or conditions so we can be more involved in family, community, or even golf! Control is a major motivator for most entrepreneurs—usually more important than money. But how much control you need—especially on a day-to-day basis—directly influences how large your company can be.
If you need or want a great deal of control over your time, you’ll most likely need to keep your company smaller. In a large company, you’ll have less immediate control over many decisions.
If you’re a person who needs control, you can still grow your business larger. You’ll need to structure communication and reporting systems to ensure that you have sufficient information about and direction over developments to give you personal satisfaction. If you seek outside funding in the form of investors, understand the nature of the control your funders will have, and be certain you are comfortable with these arrangements.
Challenge. If you’re starting or expanding a business, it’s clear you like challenge—at least to some degree. You’re likely to be a problem solver and risk taker, enjoying the task of figuring out solutions to problems or devising new undertakings. Challenge-hungry entrepreneurs can be some of the most successful businesspeople, but they can also be their own worst enemies—flitting from one thing to another, never focusing long enough to succeed.
If you have a high need for challenge in your business life, it’s important to develop positive means to meet this need, especially once your company is established and the initial challenge of starting a company is met. Otherwise, you may find yourself continually starting new projects that divert attention from your company’s overall goals. As you plan your company, establish personal goals that not only provide you with sufficient stimulation, but also advance—rather
luck with your own venture. I’m pulling for you all the way!
