Entrepreneurs aren’t born. It’s who they are. It’s in their hearts and souls. It’s in their very essence. The entire DNA of the most successful of entrepreneurs buzzes and throbs 24 hours a day with the entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial attributes. There’s a switch that can’t be turned off.
Do you have what it takes? Are you a real entrepreneur or a wannabe entrepreneur? Ask yourself the following questions and determine if you have the fundamental requirements to make it as an entrepreneur.
1. Do you have passion?
Is this something you want to do more than anything else in the world? Are you filled with an urgent need, with a deep hunger, to bring your idea to market and make it superior to anything else that exists? You’re not an entrepreneur if you’re not passionate and if you’re not on a mission to make a difference—a big difference.
2. Do you have ideas?
Is your mind constantly flooded with ideas? Are your eyes always searching for niches and gaps in the marketplace? Or do you have a groundbreaking “big idea.” Entrepreneurs are always on the cutting edge. They’re innovative and they’re leaders. They can’t stop thinking about what they need to do next. Their restless mind keeps them awake at night. Is this you?
3. Do you have drive and determination?
Are you going to be able to run with your idea and actually make it happen? Are you a “can do” kind of person? Having ideas is one thing; having the ability to implement them is something else. Entrepreneurial leaders execute their vision. They “just do it.” Again and again. Each time with renewed energy and renewed enthusiasm. They turn ideas into reality. They never give up.
4. Are you willing to take chances?
Are you a risk-taker? Are you willing to push the envelope? Are you willing to experiment? Are you, in fact, willing to fail? Taking chances, seizing opportunities, overcoming obstacles, going beyond the boundaries…successful entrepreneurs do all of this. They are fearless. They know that a failure or setback is nothing more than a speed bump on the journey to success.
5. Do you have a vision?
Do you have purpose? Do you have a long-term goal? Do you have an all-consuming, single-minded vision of where you want your business to go? Can you be the architect of that vision and can you also be the builder who constructs it? Entrepreneurs know their final destination and how they are going to get there. Entrepreneurs believe in destiny.
6. Are you authentic?
Do you live what you believe? Do you have integrity? Do you believe in Karma? Do you only make promises that you can keep? You have to be true to yourself and your loved ones. You have to uphold your family principles of honesty and decency in your business experiences. Successful entrepreneurs need to consistently display a set of ethical values that win the respect of their professional peers.
7. Do you know how to lead?
Winning entrepreneurs also need to be the leader of the pack. They need to inspire and motivate. They have to be able to put together a team of rock stars and create a culture of success. They forge a bond in which everyone unites around a common purpose. Can you build a team and empower them by delegating key responsibilities to them? Can you make tough decisions when necessary?
8. Do you have a thick skin?
Are you able to ignore the naysayers? Do you have enough belief in yourself to take no notice of those who are scornful of your ideas and those who even ridicule your plans? Believe me, it happens. Entrepreneurs always encounter those who wish them ill and those who want them to fail. This is your opportunity to prove the skeptics and antagonists wrong. Entrepreneurs thrive on being vindicated and achieving victory.
9. Are you a change-maker?
Can you innovate? Can you develop products or services and market them better than anyone has ever done before? This doesn’t necessarily mean radical, game-changing solutions. Often your enterprise can be a supremely better business model or a phenomenally more effective tool.
10. Are you an optimist?
Most of all, do you have faith and confidence in yourself? Do you have utter conviction that you’re going to make it big—really big? Are you filled with positivity and can’t understand others’ negativity? True entrepreneurs never doubt that they will engineer breakthroughs that will be the envy of their peers. They are persistent to the extreme. They never quit.
Having the DNA of an entrepreneur means owning these qualities. Entrepreneurs lead but they also listen and learn.
They ignore the negatives and pursue their dream. And they win.