One of the biggest misconceptions regarding starting your
own business is that you are doomed to failure unless you
have a natural aptitude or a natural talent for business.
Needless to say, this is an untrue notion.
While there are a number of skills that you absolutely have
to be a successful businessperson, there are ways for you
to develop those skills along the way.
Instead of those skills, what you need to be thinking about
are the qualities inherent to all good entrepreneurs. Here
are 5 critical skills or characteristics you will need to
succeed as an entrepreneur.
Vision
The first is Vision/Leadership; successful entrepreneurs
usually see what other don't and tend to think outside the
box, compared most people. Vision also implies leadership,
and both qualities go hand and hand. Leadership in this
context means to do what others won't; to go outside their
comfort zones.
Perseverance
Next is Perseverance. Starting a business is like the
exponential version of working on a project for school.
When you are learning a new concept for that project, you
are going to have to go slow, but steady.
If you just start, do it for a bit and then leave it alone,
you are going to fail the project. But if you start it and
then keep at it little by little, you are going to
eventually succeed. This is what you need to do in
business; you need to keep at it until you reach your goal.
Self-Discipline
A related quality to perseverance is Self-Discipline. The
ability to take consistent and persistent action even when
we don't feel like it. This means not allowing ourselves
to get distracted by the T.V., social events and any myriad
of activities are "non-productive".
Flexibility
Another great ability successful entrepreneurs have is
Flexibility. They realize that,"there is more than one way
to skin a cat", so to speak, and are constantly looking for
ways to do things better. They have the unique ability to
recognize when perseverance devolves in just plain
"stubbornness", and will make adjustments as necessary.
Mental Toughness
In the business world, you are going to meet a number of
cut-throat individuals that would like nothing better than
to see you fail so that they can succeed. Unfortunately
that is just a reality in business.
While it is good to have business relationships with
others, what is not so good is taking anything negative
they say as the gospel and taking it completely to heart.
If you do that, then it won't take very many negative
comments before you hang up your business for good.
Consider taking peoples' advice if it is constructive, but
do not listen to anyone that is completely negative. It is
also a fact that often the most painful criticism comes
from those that we love the most.
Finally the key to every successful entrepreneur is their
ability to deal with failure. There are a number of people
that do not have this ability and in fact there are people
that give up on something after having one unsuccessful try
at it. This is something that you need to avoid in business
because you're going to fail at things again and again.
Closely related to this handling adversity in general. It
is important to remember that it is not what happens to us
that is key; instead it is how we react that is the
determining factor in permanent failure or simply temporary
defeat.
Please understand that even the most successful businessmen
and women of today failed at some point their careers; The
reason they became successful is because they DID NOT GIVE
UP; you shouldn't give up either.
Remember this, if you had to have just one quality, make
sure it is the ability to deal with failure and adversity.
It may be the single most important quality an entrepreneur
can have.
----------------------------------------------------
Keith Walden blogs about home business ideas and concepts
at http://www.the20secondcommute.com . Get his Free E-Book
On How to Successful build an Online Business, at
http://www.KnowtheTruth.biz
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