The entrepreneurial spirit is the driving force behind any business. Even in times of great doubt or uncertainty, an entrepreneur pushes forward and is ready to take on the next challenge. Unfortunately, not everyone is an entrepreneur; it takes a very specific and cohesive group of traits to personify the entrepreneurial spirit and bring that to your company.
However, entrepreneurship is more than just a set of traits – it’s a way of thinking. In this blog, we will explore how entrepreneurs think and how they apply this mindset when reacting to the natural occurrences of life. Remember, there are no steadfast rules in the world of business, and that includes respect to the traits of an entrepreneur. However, possessing these qualities is a great indicator of whether or not you will enjoy an entrepreneurial position.
Related: Do’s and Don’ts for Entrepreneurs Under 25
What is Entrepreneurial Behavior?
The entrepreneurial spirit is composed of a collection of characteristics that, together, exemplify the ideas and skills of businesspeople. While this list isn’t comprehensive by any means, it’s a great overview of the traits common to many entrepreneurs.
You Don’t Hesitate to Take Action
Entrepreneurs cannot hesitate when making major decisions, even if the consequences of a poor choice would be disastrous. Therefore, the entrepreneurial spirit necessitates that a leader is quick and logical in his or her decisions. Hesitation in the face of adversity or trouble can cause more problems that make even a correct decision less valuable.
For example, due to rapid changes in economic trends, hesitating on an important business deal can be extremely costly. While educating yourself and considering all perspectives is generally useful, entrepreneurs need to know when to trust their instinct and make quick decisions.
You’re a Natural Leader
Being a natural-born leader is practically a necessity for commanding a business. Having a good idea or a plan is not sufficient, because nothing can be done alone – being able to control and manage a large team is necessary to work with others towards a common goal. If you work well with others, and can effectively delegate and manage work, you have the qualities of a strong leader and potentially a powerful entrepreneur.
You’re Always Looking for Ways to Solve Problems
The entrepreneurial spirit can best be characterized by the constant pursuit of answers to the problems of daily life. At its essence, entrepreneurs must find out how to create value from the resources available to them. If you’re constantly on the lookout for how to mold common problems into value-adding solutions, you’ve already taken the first step into entrepreneurship.
This can manifest itself in many ways, but if you are always searching for solutions, you have a trait vital to creating new ideas. Creativity combined with a unique knack for solving problems is the best way to think of innovative business ideas.
You’re Motivated by Challenges
Many entrepreneurs characterize their career as a series of challenges with short bursts of success in between. Truth be told, any business owner is constantly fighting an uphill battle to expand and innovate. If this seems daunting, you’re right. However, if this challenge excites you, you have the entrepreneurial spirit within you.
Entrepreneurs face challenges on a daily basis, including small problems like management and unruly workers to larger problems like scaling and product development. As a business leader, you’ll constantly have work on your plate and many things on your mind. If this excites rather than intimidates you, you possess the right set of qualities to be an entrepreneur.
You’re Not Afraid to Take Risks
When most people think about entrepreneurship, “risk” is one of the first adjectives that come into mind. Many people see this as a negative – taking risks can be stressful and have terrifying implications. However, to entrepreneurs, risks are a necessary part of business and life.
While no one enjoys risks, entrepreneurs must come to terms with the necessity of risks. That isn’t to say risk calculations are necessary – some people are more risk-averse than others. Nonetheless, a true entrepreneur acknowledges that risks are part of the package they signed up for and are willing to accept the consequences with confidence and eagerness.
You Bounce Back Quickly
On that note, entrepreneurs often face failures; even the safest of decisions can go astray. For that reason, it is important that you bounce back with full eagerness upon facing failure. An experienced businessperson is likely used to failure. However, as long as you come back quickly and make the wins count more than the losses, you’re destined for success.
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You’re Constantly Looking for Opportunities to Learn and Grow
You Like to Be in Charge
To be a powerful leader, an entrepreneur must, at heart, enjoy positions of leadership. If you have to force yourself to lead others, you aren’t necessarily a bad entrepreneur – you simply need practice and persistence. Once your leadership position becomes natural, you are ready to manage others and promote efficiency.
Related: Why Young Entrepreneurs Find Success
Do’s and Don’ts in Business
Making mistakes in business can mean the difference between success and failure. Over half of all new businesses fold within five years. There are plenty of reasons they don’t make it, including poorly executed business ideas and a lack of funding.
If you have been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, let’s look at some tips for starting a business to help you start off on the right foot.
Three Things You Should Always Do in Business
You don’t have to look any farther than your local food truck rally to find a business that is absolutely killing it. Aside from taking advantage of a re-emerging trend in cuisine, successful food truck operators seem to have figured out the key to operating a successful business. Here is what they have in common:
- Innovative Ideas
- Adaptability
- Seek Outside Advice
Four Things You Should Never Do in Business
But success isn’t just about doing the right things. It is also about not doing things that will hurt your business. The don’ts in business are a little more experiential than common sense, meaning that it can be hard to see these pitfalls coming. Some things to watch out for include:
- Don’t put your eggs in one basket (generate multiple streams of revenue).
- Don’t overlook planning.
- Don’t wait too long to get help (including employees and consultants).
- Don’t underestimate the importance of financial management.
9 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make
While entrepreneurs tend to enjoy more success and wealth in proportion to the risks they take, no one is exempt from failure. Especially, when it comes to new entrepreneurs who lack experience. Here are some common mistakes that greedy or inexperienced entrepreneurs tend to make:
- Blow the budget
- Underestimate competition
- Make Poor Hiring Decisions
- Set Lofty Goals and Fail to Achieve
- Not Allocating Resources to Marketing
- Working with Tight Profit Margins
- Struggling to Delegate
- Focusing on the Wrong Piece of the Puzzle
- Making Decisions Out of Fear
The amount of money invested in a successful startup is more than most individuals have ever dreamed of. Inexperienced entrepreneurs struggle to adequately manage big budgets, spending too much money on product development and not nearly enough on marketing.
This same sort of inexperience hurts new startups in every facet of the business. It may feel almost natural to focus the most attention on the product or service, but well-established companies know exactly how shortsighted that is. The product is only part of the equation and it takes just as much or more effort to attract and nurture customers.
In fact, successful businesses tend to focus on customers first, employees second, and products third. When you make this shift, your relationships with customers and employees will build your confidence and support your success as an entrepreneur.
What are the 5 P’s of Entrepreneurs
Now that we’ve discussed some of the general traits of an entrepreneur, we can dive deeper into the characteristics of the entrepreneurial spirit. In this list, we discuss the top five specific traits of those with an innate entrepreneurial spirit.
Planning: They take calculated risks.
Calculated risks are the essence of every decision made in a business. If you want to own a company and make the correct decisions, you must internally evaluate every decision you make with sufficient due diligence. If you are a methodical and careful person, you are well suited for the calculated risks that make up any business.
Passion: They are in tune with their passion.
Passion should always be the focal point of a business – from raising funding to attracting customers, a passionate leader is a necessary component. If you are well-versed in your passion and committed to its growth, you are ready to explore that topic with an entrepreneurial spirit. After all, a true entrepreneur is devoted and diligent towards their passions.
Patience: Above all, they execute.
There’s a significant difference between an inventor and an entrepreneur. An inventor takes ideas and creates innovative products. An entrepreneur, on the other hand, takes a product and turns it into a business. If you have the drive to take an idea or product and create a fully functional business with all the facets a company entails, you are ready to become an entrepreneur.
Perseverance: Optimistic about all possibilities.
Unfortunately, as an entrepreneur, you will face failure, and often repeatedly. For that reason, an entrepreneur must always be optimistic and ready for the future ahead of those failures. While you will always be met by an onslaught of potential possibilities and challenges, remaining optimistic and hopeful about the future is the only way to stay strong and find success.
They are always questioning how it can be done better.
Behind any product and business is the problem that the creator was trying to solve. Entrepreneurs rarely search for a product – they search for a problem and create a solution that adds value to a consumer. If this mindset aligns with yours, you are well on your way to implementing the entrepreneurial spirit into your own thought process.
Related: Business Advice From Other Teen Entrepreneurs
What are the Key Reasons for Most Small Business Failures
It takes a little more than heart and the right entrepreneurial skills to make a successful small business. Small businesses are both the lifeblood of commerce and the inevitable doom of financial success. This means that as many as 8 out of 10 small businesses fail due to finances or management problems.
Many small businesses are plagued with problems from the start because they are hobbies or passions turned into profit-seeking enterprises. These works of the heart are lacking appropriate business planning or startup capital that helps make more successful businesses profitable.
Final Word
Now that you have a better idea of what defines the entrepreneurial spirit, it is time to evaluate yourself. None of the characteristics above are set in stone – it is up to you to develop the characteristics you see fit and mold yourself into the entrepreneur you hope to be.
This may seem like a tedious or difficult path. However, for those who possess the correct traits, entrepreneurship is a breath of fresh air. To many, entrepreneurship represents a fulfilling and independent path into the corporate sphere. If the entrepreneurial spirit speaks to you, it is time to take your passion into your own hands and dive into the world of business.
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