Starting up a business is a long and challenging marathon, growing it is another, both of which would intimidate any ancient Greek gladiator, however neither are impossible. Every business in the market, big or small started up somewhere, whether it was in a garage, kitchen or luxury office park. If you’ve spotted an opportunity in the market place where no one else has or maybe you have a product or service that you know and believe the world needs and will change it for the better, but are not sure if you have what it takes to make the “entrepreneur personality” cut, then here are three essential characteristics you need to adapt to and hone for your success.
Flexibility
The first thing that you need to know about the market, global or local, is that it is always changing. New businesses and products seem to pop up out of nowhere while others disappear and become obsolete overnight. Consumers are in constant want for bigger, better, smaller, prettier and newer things. Over time your new business will have to adapt to keep up with competitors and you, as the entrepreneur, will have to be flexible in the way you alter and improve your business and products or services, change your brand identity or lower your prices; decisions that every entrepreneur will make throughout starting, growing and running your business. At some point, there may even come a time where you’ll have to stop and admit to yourself that your strategy, product or service “just isn’t working,” this is where you need to keep your chin up, knuckle down and be willing to learn in order to make adjustments where necessary.
A Tolerance for Uncertainty
There will always be some uncertainty in starting a business; a lot in fact, you’ll ask yourself whether the risks outweigh the rewards? Will those rewards even be worth all the sacrifices? As an entrepreneur you need to have the ability to deal with this uncertainty and take the all the risks that you’ll encounter on the way. You have to have absolute confidence in yourself and trust that your business will succeed despite the challenges you will come to face in starting and growing your business. You need to be able to manage all the fears associated with your venture; fear of humiliation, fear of bankruptcy and other turmoil you’ll be facing for the years to come. Having the ability to deal with ambiguity is essential.
Tenacity
When starting up a new business, money shouldn’t be your driving force but a consequence of your hard work. The reason for starting your business needs to be passion. Most successful entrepreneurs put money second to their need to create and run a successful business, that’s the special, something that makes it work. It’s the fire that will fuel you between paydays and the reason that your partners, employees and investors will stay loyal. If you believe in yourself then why shouldn’t they?
As an entrepreneur you will have to deal with repeated failures, it comes with the territory. Many key obstacles, both personal and professional, lie on the road ahead. The resilience and drive to push through all these failures and obstacles, and all the times you want to call “uncle,” are what will make your business and yourself successful.
Author Bio: M. Rafiq is the brain trust behind multiple ecommerce startups, and has become a thought-leader in the entrepreneurial space by providing wisdom and advice based on his decade of startup success. The digital age has opened opportunity to everyone, and M. Rafiq is passionate about providing opportunity to anyone willing to work both hard and smart. He also writes about his personal experience on financentric. Follow M. Rafiq on Twitter.
