Entrepreneurship is getting a lot of love these days and for a good reason. The speed of change is occurring at such a pace that old ways are quickly becoming obsolete, creating new opportunities in every sector for those with ambition, skills, and the necessary personal characteristics for entrepreneurial success.
Many people dream of starting their own businesses, but take it from me; it’s not easy. It took me eighteen years to prepare so that I could be successful. Individuals who can start large companies (over $50 million per year in sales) are rare, but if you have the drive, you are halfway there. The other half is preparing yourself to succeed.
We all know that entrepreneurs need to understand the customer, possess basic business skills and communicate their vision. However, little is said about the basic characteristics that highly correlate with successful entrepreneurs. Much of the popular literature on the subject focuses on teamwork, passion, creativity, and other soft skills. Still, a lot of hard behavioral evidence shows that the most successful entrepreneurs have a predictable pattern of behaviors and values that has little correlation to “teamwork” and “passion.”