10 Qualities Of A Successful Entrepreneur

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It does not matter what business you are in, to make it a success, you need to possess the right qualities. Some would call that the right mindset. Consider the following two scenarios:

1. A person with the right mindset using mediocre training and business tools
2. A person with the wrong mindset using the best business tools

Which of these individuals in your opinion will have the key to a successful business? If you said the first, you are correct.

 

This reminds me about the business of Network Marketing. When I was active in this field, I saw people soar with problem companies. The products were not the best. The compensation plan was weak. The marketing tools had a lot to be desired. Yet I witnessed some distributors overcome those limitations and still succeed.

On the other hand, I have seen companies where the products were out of this world. The compensation plan was great. And the marketing tools were first-rate. All of this was not good enough for a whole slew of distributors who didn’t do well.

When I studied both these scenarios I concluded that the same people who succeeded in a great company would also succeed in a poor company. Success had little to do with the qualities of the company and more to do with the qualities of the distributors.

Can you figure out why this was so? My observation was that success belonged to successful entrepreneurs. What are the 10 qualities of a successful entrepreneur?

Let us look at these one at a time below:

1 – Have An Open Mind To Learn

If you think you know it all, then you must be a roaring success. What? You’re not? Why? Thinking you know it all and actually knowing it all are polar opposites. If you think you know it all the chances are you really do not.

It is better to really know what you do not know. That is a sign of having an open mind. Usually if you do not know it all you will be willing to learn.

Keeping an open mind is not jumping to premature conclusions.

2 – Confidence To Create A Plan For Success

One of the biggest causes for failure is not having a plan for success. What is a plan for success?

You start with the end in mind. Then work backwards adding tasks that must be completed, usually serially, that will take you towards your final goal. In this case, it is FINANCIAL FREEDOM!

Before creating your plan, you must conduct research as well as get the best training you can find. Armed with this information, you will develop confidence in your decisions. Being confident is critical in your decision-making and outlook.

A plan will include short, medium and long term objectives with a timeline estimating completion. Within these goals there should be supporting tasks. For example, doing research on a specific topic. Creating and publishing a website. If you have ever been a Project Manager, you would know this as a Project Plan.

Isn’t creating Financial Freedom for yourself important enough to be classed as a Project? And shouldn’t it have a PLAN!

A plan can create clarity in your mind. Your project should not be complicated. Otherwise, you will never complete it. Keep it simple but with enough detail to help you move along.

3 – Willingness To Work Hard & Smart

This is a no brainer. There are loads of people who want success with as little effort as possible. Sadly the world is filled with people who expect to be successful without putting in the work. They have a mentality that the world owes them a living.

We waste so much time each day, like watching TV, spending a lot of time on your Social Media for fun, attending too many outside events, etc. There is nothing wrong in doing these things. However, when your biggest priority is to become financially free, doesn’t it make sense to do less of those non-productive activities?

There is one exception. When you get stuck, stop. Take a short break. Do something not related to your business. If you have a hobby, spend some time at that. Like playing a musical instrument.

You will be amazed to find you found a solution when you return to working on the issue that got you stuck.

4 – Self Driven

This quality may well be the most important one of them all. Being self driven is doing what has to be done in your plan without someone else telling you to. This also means, not coming up with excuses when things go wrong. Directing blame to others, or to situations that do not work out as you expected, is directly opposite to being self driven.

When something is not working, try to find alternate solutions. If you need to, ask for help. But be very specific on what area you need help.

It is easier to be self driven if you enjoy what you are doing. Therefore, it is important to select very carefully in what field you want to be an entrepreneur. More specifically, what niche within that field. It has to be something you are passionate about. After all, you are your own boss, so that should be easy. Nobody is telling you what to do.

Please, no more excuses!

5 – Make Mistakes And Learn From Them

Did you know that the most successful people in the world are also the worlds biggest failures? How can that be?

It is impossible to think and plan your every move so that you will not fail, without suffering paralysis by analysis. There is no such thing as a risk free project. As kids and in school we are brainwashed into thinking that making mistakes is bad. We are encouraged to aim for perfection. There is nothing wrong with perfection, Perfection is good. But when it causes you to get stuck whole searching for that perfect solution, nothing will happen. Your goal will get further behind.

Do your analysis. When something is good enough, just do it. If there is a 70% chance it will succeed, go for it. And if you fail? So what! You will have learned one more thing not to do. In the process of failing you will reach success faster. The unusual thing is if you tried to come up with this solution solely by thinking, you may never have found it. Trial and error is a perfectly good approach to solving problems.

Clearly when life is at stake, you have to think differently and eliminate as many mistakes as possible. Other than that, it is OK to make mistakes. You learn more from your mistakes than your successes. It keeps you humble. Being overconfident can be a project killer. You need to be confident. Not over confident. Hence, it is OK to fail your way to success!

6 – Willing To Delay Gratification

Delayed gratification is connected to #3, the Work Hard & Smart category. We must be willing to delay gratification until we have completed each goal along the way. And if this will take longer than one hoped for, it is OK. Only then do fun stuff, but on a controlled basis. Taking a break here is different from taking a break when you get stuck. In this case you are rewarding yourself for completing some important tasks in your plan.

Another characteristic of delayed gratification is having patience. Working with urgency to achieve a goal can coexist with being patient. You are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success, no matter for how long. It is important to be confident in your actions. The better trained you are by the best teachers, the more confident you will be. Once we reach our goal, the feeling is oh so sweet!

Children have a great problem with delayed gratification. As adults, we should know better.

7 – Seek Out Mentors

A mentor is an individual who has achieved what you are seeking to achieve, who you have struck a deal to get advice from. The role of a mentor is to provide advice when asked, and not to take the role of a trainer.

It works like this. The person creating their online business, seeks out others who have made a success of this activity and asks them if they will guide them when requested. Successful online entrepreneurs are very busy people. If you can convince one of them to be your mentor, count yourself fortunate. You may have more than one mentor.

It is not a mentors’ role to drive you. It is imperative you are self driven before you seek out a mentor. If you cannot take the initiative and drive yourself, I suggest holding off on seeking a mentor. You may not even be ready to take on the challenge of training to be an entrepreneur until you can drive yourself.

If you find it hard to get a mentor, the next best thing is to find other successful entrepreneurs and follow their activities. Check out their websites and see how they have created their Blog Posts. Do some research on their articles and keywords. If you have any questions, ask. I am sure they will consider sending you a reply if they can fit it in. Send them a PM.

When approaching mentors you must be humble and respectful. It is also OK to tell them what you like about their achievements. No matter how experienced and successful, entrepreneurs are human and feel good when others appreciate what they have accomplished.

8 – Be Accountable

A major barrier to success is not being accountable. You should check your progress periodically to see how well you are meeting your plan. If you set up your plan as I advised in #2 above, this should be automatic. All valid projects have a check list to keep track of what tasks have been completed, and where there may be issues. Be prepared that some tasks will not be completed on time. That happens. What is unforgivable is not knowing that you are behind and by how much time.

If you find yourself falling behind, come up with a recovery plan. This could be like another mini project.

May I make a suggestion? It is difficult to be accountable to oneself. If you have a friend or business colleague you can trust and are comfortable with, share your plan with them. Ask them to help you out by checking your schedule at the end of each week and to contact you to find out how you are doing. Sometimes, knowing that someone else is keeping track of your progress may be enough to motivate you to stay on track.

9 – Be Flexible When Conditions Change

The best of plans can come unraveled. Situations change, Emergencies crop up. Especially if you have a full time job and married with kids. When you have valid reasons for slipping, don’t beat yourself up. Take a deep breath and re-evaluate your situation and make modifications to your plan.

One of the great advantages of being your own boss is, there are no other team members who will be impacted by your problems. There can be other reasons why you have problems. It may be harder to learn some concepts you need to build your website for example. And that is OK.

Knowing why you are having delays or problems is better than sauntering on aimlessly and hoping for the best. That attitude is like playing the lottery. And we all know what the probability of winning the lottery is. Right?

Being flexible is an important quality that all successful entrepreneurs have. Be aware though, when your schedule slips, your goal to become financially free will also slip. Unless you have a rigorous set of activities to catch up. It is all up to you.

10 – Celebrate Success Along The Way & At The End

What is your emotion when you meet important milestones? Do you get a feeling of satisfaction? I hope you do. That is the time to celebrate. As I mentioned earlier in #5 – Delayed Gratification, use these moments to reward yourself.

Becoming financially free doesn’t happen overnight. For months and in some cases years, you will feel that you are making no progress at all. And when you start to see earnings, it is usually noting to brag about. If you do not give up, something magical will happen.

Suddenly your online business will reach critical mass. That is when your earnings start to accelerate higher. This turning point could occur within months from when you started. Or it may be years. But it will happen. When it does and you finally see regular earnings that match that of your day job, it time to break out the champagne and celebrate with your loved ones.

Remember, not only you have made sacrifices. They have too. By not being readily available to spend time with them, they were deprived of your company as well as going out and doing fun stuff. Now is the time to make it up to them.

But don’t relax too much yet. See how well your online business provides you with sustainable income. You will also need to spend some time in maintaining and updating your business. However, that should only require a couple of hours a day at most to keep it humming.

You may wish to scale up your business. Now would be the time to do that. But don’t rush.

Enjoy your success and CELEBRATE BIG!

An Idea For You To Take To The Bank!

Creating your own online business can be a daunting task. Finding the right training, tools and mentors’ can be tough. As well as take a great deal of time. Even then, things can work against you as follows:

• In your search for training, you could end up paying a lot of money.
• Worse yet, you could end up being scammed.
• You could waste a lot of time in ramping up.

What if I told you that there is a company who I found that provides you with quality training, tools and mentoring, precisely what I talked about above, to create your own online business, for less than $1 a DAY!? Really! Sounds too good to be true?

You don’t have to take my word for it. What if I let you in so that you could check it all out for free? Do your own homework. Be diligent. And there is no rush to become a paid member. Would you jump at this opportunity? I’ll give you two choices.

Your first choice is to click the banner below and sign up for free. All that you need is a valid Email address. Your privacy is highly respected so this will not be shared with anyone else.

 

If you are hesitant and need to find out more, I created an article just for you. It helps you see what we have on the inside, without actually going inside:

The Best Training In Affiliate Marketing That Turns Beginners Into Pros!

Although Affiliate Marketing is the objective of the training, everything that is taught is directly applicable to any type of online marketing. Including marketing your own products and skills.

I wish you much success in your quest to become a successful online entrepreneur where you are able to create financial freedom for yourself. Now that you know the 10 qualities you will need, ask yourself. Do you have these qualities? And if you are lacking in one or more of them, are you willing to make changes so that you will instill those missing qualities? The choice is yours.

Remember, you will not be alone when you do this after joining Wealthy Affiliate. I will be your mentor. If you do not have all the 10 qualities now, but expect to work on them in training, that is perfectly OK.

All the best to you.

Edwin Bernard