The 8 Personality Traits of a Successful Start-Up Entrepreneur

Posted by lkpetrolino under Self-Development
From http://www.365daysofstartups.com 4964 days ago
Made Hot by: Small Business Manifesto on September 29, 2010 7:57 pm

Starting a new business is a big deal. And, let’s be honest, it’s a lot of hard work.

The truth is, successful entrepreneurs have certain personality traits that allow them to go from a great idea to a thriving business. Often a person’s success has much less to do with what they know and more a result of their temperament, coping skills and mindset. While you are smart to focus on the external, nuts and bolts of your start-up, possessing these personality traits you will have a better chance of making it work for the long haul.

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Comments

Written by businessavante
4958 days ago

Both Shawn & Laura have valid points, but one thing I know for sure is that there definitely are people who have no inclination towards entrepreneurship.

businessavante

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Written by ronika
4957 days ago

Totally agree. There are people who need structure in their work environment and are risk averse. This does not necessary preclude them from being entrepreneurs, but it does make it more difficult...

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Written by lkpetrolino
4957 days ago

I'm thinking it might be nice to have a bit of a debate on this topic on 365 next week.....would be interesting to have more weigh in on this issue!

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Written by ShawnHessinger
4958 days ago

Laura,

Just to play devil's advocate, I think I'm probably not entirely satisfied with the "it takes a special kind of person" argument. I'd like to accept this point of view because it makes entrepreneurs special people and I think they are, but not because of how they are natured. It's rather because of what they have worked to become. We are facing a radically changing economy that may well alter the way many or most people work...forever. (Or at least for the foreseeable future.) Already the term "accidental entrepreneur" has been coined to describe a person who started a business for themselves during the recession because they couldn't find anything in the job market. If there are more people out there who want 9-5 jobs than there are 9-5 jobs and they cannot change, I would say we are in an awful lot of trouble. I'm not certain our ancestors wanted to climb out of the sea, but the consequences of remaining in the water may have been the more negative choice. Just my two cents.

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Written by lkpetrolino
4958 days ago

This is a pretty darn solid argument, and really can be looked at from a bit of a Darwinian viewpoint. The absolutely remarkable thing about human nature is that often if you force someone to rise to the occasion, they will......or else they are naturally selected out and are standing along the street corner with a fake cane and a dog

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Written by HeatherStone
4959 days ago

Interesting points.

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Written by lkpetrolino
4959 days ago

That is an excellent question Shawn....I think you are right in many ways, but having worked with many entrepreneurs there tends to be a certain unique type of confidence about them that is ingrained, you either have it or you don't. The thing is that people that don't have it, would never even think about being an entrepreneur in the first place...so it sort of settles itself out

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Written by ShawnHessinger
4964 days ago

Laura,

Thanks for this awesome list which we'll go ahead and take at face value. It kind of raises the question of whether entrepreneurs are born or made. Can you develop these traits over time or strengthen some that you are weak in? I've always believed we're more able to make changes in our lives than many people realize, that we don't need to look at a list and say, 'OK, that's it. I guess I can't be an entrepreneur." We can always work on the traits we lack.

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