The 6 Entrepreneurship Characteristics You Need For Your Own Business Venture
What makes an entrepreneur successful?
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage, determination, and a whole lot of hustle to turn an idea into a successful business venture.
The road to entrepreneurship is often rocky and full of unexpected twists and turns, but the rewards can be unparalleled for those who have what it takes. In his book, Entrepreneurial Leap (book summary), Gino Wickman claims that there are six essential traits of entrepreneurship.
So, if you’re ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship or are already on your journey but looking to level up your game, get ready! We’re exploring the six essential characteristics every entrepreneur needs to thrive in their business venture.
From perseverance to adaptability, these traits will help guide you through challenges and set you up for success as you build your empire. Let’s get started!
What is An Entrepreneur?
And so, he defines an entrepreneur as follows:
Entrepreneur – “someone who sees a need or an opportunity, and then takes a risk to start a business to fulfill it”
First, the six essential traits are “genetically determined characteristics,” which means either you have them or don’t. Second, essential means these traits are “absolutely necessary, extremely important” to an entrepreneur. These are the six essential traits of entrepreneurship:
- Visionary – “being imaginative, creative, inventive, ingenious, enterprising, and innovative”
- Passionate – “showing or caused by strong feelings or a strong belief”
- Problem Solver – “someone who leans into problems, obsesses about them, and genuinely gets a high from solving them”
- Driven – “relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious”
- Risk-taker – “someone willing to take a leap and willing to fail”
- Responsible – “ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”
If you can’t answer yes to having all six traits, you should probably not be an entrepreneur. While the traits can’t be taught, you can discover them within you. If you answer yes, you should consider yourself an entrepreneur-in-the-making and take the entrepreneurial leap sometime in the future.
Also, Gino Wickman offers an assessment on his website to confirm the degree to which you possess the six essential traits of entrepreneurship. For more on entrepreneurship, check out Entrepreneurial Leap or our summary of the book. Now, let’s discuss each of the characteristics in detail.
#1) Visionary
The first of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Visionary:
Visionary – “being imaginative, creative, inventive, ingenious, enterprising, and innovative”
- Understands where your company is now and where you want to take it in the future
- Sees the bigger picture of how your company operates and fits into the world
- Provides the intuition to sell your goods and services and generate revenue
- Sources new ideas, initiatives, or innovations to move the company forward
There are incredible visionaries like Steve Jobs or Walt Disney, but not every company needs a high level of visionary.
The Visionary Spectrum
In Entrepreneurial Leap, Gino Wickman teaches entrepreneurs this tool to encapsulate the range of visionaries that exist:
Visionary Spectrum – a tool that shows how much of a visionary is required by a company, which is determined by:
- Type of industry,
- Growth aspirations and
- Degree of market research dynamics (change, competition, or complexity)
Thus, visionaries fall on a spectrum that can range from the highest end of a fast-growing tech company to the lowest end of a lawn care management company. Regardless of how visionary you are, you must have a mindset that is constantly innovating, seeking opportunities, and continuously improving.
You should clarify and document your vision using the MyVision Clarifier tool if you have not done so already.
Are you a visionary?
#2) Passionate
The second of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Passionate:
Passionate – “having such a strong belief that you’ll do almost anything to prove, create, or deliver your idea, product, or service to the world”
- Provides the why for doing what you do and why your organization exists
- Creates an intense obsession for their company, products, services, or impact
- Inspires you to work hard to achieve mastery in your work, product, or service
- Helps one to survive through failure and challenging periods in business
Cultivate Your Passion
In his insightful book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport challenges the common advice of blindly following your passion, labeling it as potentially misleading. Instead, Newport advocates for cultivating your passion through excellence in valuable areas.
He argues that curious, successful entrepreneurs often find fulfillment not by initially seeking out passion but by becoming exceptionally skilled at something that holds intrinsic value. This expertise makes them good entrepreneurs.
Newport believes that passion develops over time as one becomes “so good they can’t ignore you.” This evolving passion allows entrepreneurs to endure the challenges of running a business and identify and seize business opportunities. As skills and mastery grow, so does genuine passion, driving further success and growth in their ventures.
Start With Why
Once you cultivate your passion, you need to embody it and communicate it. In his book, Start With Why, Simon Sinek discusses that “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Thus, showing others why you do what you do will get them to buy into your why and pay for your products and services. The first question to ask when clarifying your vision is, “What am I passionate about? Why am I doing this?”
Are you passionate?
#3) Problem Solver
The third of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being a Problem Solver:
Problem Solver – “someone who leans into problems, obsesses about them, and genuinely gets a high from solving them”
- Focuses on finding the truth and best solution over being right or proving so
- Stays positive in negative situations, seeing them as a chance to learn and grow
- Considers and explores the alternative options and positions
- Makes things better by innovating, improving quality, or reducing costs
Solve People’s Problems for Profit
Businessman Paul Marsden has said, “Business is all about solving people’s problems – at a profit. If you’re not solving a problem, you’re not adding value.”
The larger the problem you solve, the more you will earn to solve that problem. Thus, you need to look to solve problems in the market and issues that arise within your business.
Problem solvers seek the truth, have an optimistic attitude, and lean into their issues. They take on obstacles, viewing them as opportunities for revenue and growth. There is always room to improve by improving experiences, reducing expenses, or making better products.
Are you a problem solver?
#4) Driven
The fourth of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Driven:
Driven – “relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious”
- Has the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed, no matter what
- Wants to compete and be the best in their industry or sector
- Sets big, ambitious SMART goals and works tirelessly to achieve them
- Has an internal feeling of urgency and motivation
Do Whatever It Takes
Being driven encompasses the desire to succeed, a trait common in many successful entrepreneurs. A noted author, Jack Canfield, captures this essence when he states, “Part of paying the price is the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. It comes from a declaration that you will get it done no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, no matter what comes up.”
This relentless pursuit distinguishes being driven from merely being passionate. At the same time, passion is about understanding the ‘why’ behind your product or service, and drive is about a relentless desire to succeed, regardless of the business domain.
Drive is a critical component of the entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurial mindset, which are vital for starting a business and steering it to be successful. It fuels personal growth and is essential for navigating the entrepreneurial journey. A business owner with actual drive is prepared to actively manage challenges and adapt, traits that characterize the best entrepreneurs.
Whether pursuing innovative business ideas or launching a new venture, drive ensures that entrepreneurs who are successful in their endeavors continuously push forward, even against formidable odds.
Have Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose
In his book, Drive, Daniel Pink discusses that the secret to being driven does not involve biology or reward and punishment. Research shows that achieving high levels of performance requires three elements:
- Autonomy – “the desire to direct our own lives
- Mastery – the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and
- Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves”
#5) Risk Taker
The fifth of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being a Risk-Taker:
Risk Taker – “someone willing to take a leap and willing to fail”
- Has the willingness to take a chance, fail, adapt, and try again
- Makes calculated decisions by understanding the risks versus rewards
- Wants to put themselves in uncomfortable scenarios as this leads to growth
- Has a rebellious nature by thinking outside the box and taking actions outside the norm
Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
In his book, Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins states that you will genuinely grow when you “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” You need to be willing to break the rules, defy norms, and take a chance.
To grow as an entrepreneur, you need to get uncomfortable and take risks in yourself and your business. You may fail, but failure is just an opportunity to learn and try again.
Use the Risk/Reward Framework
The risk/reward framework is a critical tool used by successful startups and business leaders to evaluate the tradeoffs of various decisions, balancing the risk of failure against the potential rewards of success.
Generally, the greater the reward sought, the higher the risk involved. While many hesitate to take risks due to the possibility of failure, successful entrepreneurs are known for their readiness to take calculated risks.
This willingness stems from certain entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneur characteristics such as a positive attitude, curiosity, self-discipline, and a desire to challenge the status quo. Indeed, successful entrepreneurs understand that to achieve remarkable outcomes, one must be ready to step beyond conventional boundaries.
Are you a risk taker?
6) Responsible
The final of the six essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Responsible:
Responsible – “ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”
- Takes total responsibility for the outcome of their circumstances and actions
- Don’t complain, make excuses, or feel entitled to success
- Own up to a failure when a mistake occurs or a wrong decision is made
Extreme Ownership
Despite everything that happens, good or bad, you are ultimately responsible for your life and business. In his book Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink says, “You must own everything in your world. There is no one else to blame.” This means that you are not only responsible for actions under your control but also for everything that happens in your life and business.
Responsible Entrepreneurship
Founder of The Strategic Coach® Program, Dan Sullivan, has trained many entrepreneurs and defines a successful entrepreneur as follows:
Entrepreneur – “someone who:
- Decides they will depend on their own initiative, performance, and results to guarantee their financial security and
- Decides they won’t expect anyone to give them an opportunity until they’ve first created something that’s useful and valuable”
This definition shows that an entrepreneur must be responsible. They must take ownership, work the challenging tasks, and solve issues to guarantee their own success. There are no handouts, shortcuts, or shirking of responsibility.
Are you responsible?
Take the Entrepreneur Assessment
The six essential traits of entrepreneurship are as follows: Visionary, Passionate, Problem Solver, Risk Taker, and Responsible. Either you have all of them, or you don’t.
If you are unsure, take Gino Wickman’s assessment on his website to confirm the degree to which you possess the six essential traits of entrepreneurship. For more on entrepreneurship, check out Entrepreneurial Leap or our summary of the book.
Final Thoughts on the Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
So there you have it, folks. These are the six essential characteristics that every aspiring entrepreneur needs to have to successfully navigate the treacherous waters of starting their own business venture.
From passion and determination to adaptability and risk-taking, these qualities are not only necessary for success, but also make for a pretty badass individual. These traits may sound like they belong in a superhero’s toolkit, but in reality, they can be developed by anyone with the right mindset and attitude.
So, if you’re still deciding whether entrepreneurship is for you, I urge you to examine yourself and see if you possess these qualities.
And if you do, then what are you waiting for? It’s time to unleash your inner superhero and take that leap into entrepreneurship!
