When asked what makes an entrepreneur successful, most people might venture a hesitant suggestion of “a good product” or “someone to invest in your ideas”. What these people don’t know, however, it that being a successful entrepreneur entails something much more difficult to obtain: the entrepreneurial mindset.
What is the entrepreneurial mindset? Business analysts have been debating this for quite some time now; in fact some researchers spend years of their life trying to pick out which personality types are most apt for launching a new product. As it turns out, there are certain personality aspects an entrepreneur can have to give themselves a competitive edge.
What Are The Personality Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs?
First and foremost, entrepreneurs are resilient. For each successful idea they have, hundreds or thousands of others have failed or been abandoned for one reason or another. What separates the entrepreneurs from your average joe is their ability to look past failure.
The most classic example of this is the light bulb conundrums faced by Thomas Edison, the famous American inventor and entrepreneur. Supposedly, the man failed thousands of times at creating a viable lightbulb before stumbling across the correct idea.
Unfortunately, there’s a little bit more to be successful than simply bouncing back after failure and continuing to work on a project. An entrepreneur must also possess enough foresight to determine if a project is viable or not. In the Thomas Edison example, he knew that the lightbulb would be a hugely influential piece of technology, which drove him to continue innovating and exploring possible routes of creation.
On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs know when to stop pursuing an idea as well. For instance, did you know that Thomas Edison also spent years trying to patent and sell lines of stone furniture? It may have been stylish, but the lack of comfort basically doomed this product from the start. Being the successful entrepreneur that he was, Edison recognized this and moved on to more viable projects.
It’s About Managed Risk Taking
Besides resilience, another aspect of the successful entrepreneurial mindset is managed risk taking. It’s important to note the first word of that phrase, managed. Some people mistakenly believe that entrepreneurs inherently take more risks than others. That’s simply not true.
A truly successful entrepreneur is willing to take risks, but smart enough to step back and examine the full picture. He or she recognizes that being successful is not taking every risk or opportunity, but only following the right risks and opportunities.
Creativity – The Final Component of Entrepreneurial Mindsets
Last but not least, a successful entrepreneur is creative. This sounds fairly intuitive, and truthfully, it is. At least some degree of creativity is necessary to create the products and services necessary to fill the gaps in the market.
Creativity in successful entrepreneurship extends far beyond product or service creation, however. Truly successful entrepreneurs also must apply their creativity to the production and execution of their idea, as well as in the analysis after the product or service has launched.
Obviously one cannot boil the personalities of all entrepreneurs down to three easy points, but by focusing on bolstering your creativity, managed risk taking, and resilience, you can begin to shape your mind into that of the entrepreneurial mindset.
About the Author – Issa Asad a lifelong entrepreneur with experience creating companies in the tech and wireless industries
