Entrepreneurship is defined as the process of setting up a business or organization. Starting a business in Singapore requires a lot of hard work and dedication—the entrepreneur is in charge of securing and executing a business plan, acquiring the necessary resources, and taking full responsibility of the overall business direction. Suffice to say, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. However, there are those who seem to be born with entrepreneurship running through their veins. When talking about extraordinarily successful entrepreneurs, it is nearly impossible to miss mentioning Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson or Mark Cuban. Many of these self-made billionaires ventured into the business industry early in life. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sold plastic bags to his neighbors at the age of 12. On the other hand, 6-year-old Warren Buffet sold packs of gum around his neighborhood. It raises the question, are entrepreneurs born or made? Apart from the fact that these serial entrepreneurs have all thrived in their respective line of business, they also share similar traits that contributed to their overall success.
Successful entrepreneurs are passionate.
Passion is a powerful driving force for success. This rings true especially in business. Starting your own business can be a roller coaster ride full of ups, downs, and unpredictable turns. Being passionate about what you do is a great source of motivation especially in tough times. Money may be a great motivator, but only passion will get you through losses. Basically, only those who are “all in” can survive the bad falls, financial losses, physical demands and still have the drive to push forward.
Successful entrepreneurs are flexible.
From marketing to accounting, payroll, bookkeeping and customer service—entrepreneurs are able to wear many hats within the business. Doing so allows them to have a better understanding of different aspects of the business and cut costs whenever possible. There can always be financial setbacks in any business endeavor no matter how lean it is currently running. Looming unforeseen expenses and miscellaneous costs can test an entrepreneur’s flexibility. The successful ones are usually able to bend accordingly and find other ways to keep operations running.
Successful entrepreneurs possess the courage to fail.
They know that starting a business is full of anticipated and unforeseeable risks yet they trudge on. Starting a business is not like purchasing a ticket to success. Even with the right business model or right target market, there are no guarantees that a business will succeed. Hence, one must be willing to fail and more importantly, have the courage to push through when you make mistakes. Successful entrepreneurs take precautionary measures to mitigate the risks, but they are aware they might still face failure.
Fret not if you do not have these traits just yet. You can learn, adapt and apply them to shape you into a success-driven entrepreneur.
