Key Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial traits and characteristics are the personal qualities and skills that successful entrepreneurs possess. Let’s take a closer look at some of these traits.

The description of the enterprising person is drawn from what is known about entrepreneurs; the idea being that the enterprising person shares entrepreneurial characteristics.

Just as there are different types of entrepreneurs, distinguished by theirgrowth orientation, motivation, type of business, involvement with new technology, association with business owner management, and so on, there are different enterprising people.

Enterprising Tendency

An enterprising tendency is defined as the tendency to start up and manage projects. The most enterprising people set up projects more frequently, set up more innovative projects and are more growth-oriented which means that they have to be opportunistic and good at utilising resources, including human, technological, physical and organisational resources.

If a person is highly enterprising, they have the following qualities:

• Have a strong need for achievement;
• Like to be in charge;
• Seek opportunities and use resources to achieve plans;
• Believe that they possess or can gain the qualities to be successful;
• Are innovative and willing to take a calculated risk.

High Need for Achievement

The enterprising person is highly motivated, energetic, and has a capacity for hard work. They are busy, driven, dynamic and highly committed to getting things done. Their high motivation levels are characterised by a high need for achievement, manifesting as the desire to lead, shape and complete projects.

If a person has a high need for achievement, they have the following qualities:

• An orientation towards the future;
• Reliance on their own ability;
• An optimistic rather than a pessimistic outlook;
• A strong task orientation;
• Effective time management;
• Results-oriented with yourself and others;
• Restlessness, driven and energetic;
• Opinionated in defence of your ideas and views;
• Determination to ensure your objectives are met even when difficulties arise;
• Responsible and persistent in pursuit of aims;
• Oriented towards challenging but realistic goals;
• Willingness to work long and hard when necessary to complete tasks.

Need for Autonomy

What is a high need for autonomy? The enterprising person is highly motivated, energetic, likes to lead, shape and do things their way. They are independent, driven, dynamic and may have to be number one or work solo.

If a person has a high need for autonomy, they have the following qualities:

• Independence, preferring to work alone especially if they cannot be ‘top dog’;
• Self expressive, feeling a strongly need to do their own thing their way, rather than work on other people’s projects;
• Individualistic and unresponsive to group pressure;
• Leadership, preferring to be in charge and disliking taking orders;
• Unconventional, and prepared to stand out as being different to others;
• Opinionated, having to say what they think and make up their own mind about issues;
• Determination, strong willed and stubborn about their interests.

Creative Tendency

What is creative tendency? The enterprising person is restless with ideas, has an imaginative approach to solving problems, and tends to see life in a different way to others. Their innovative tendency and need for achievement helps them to develop ideas to create new products and processes, for example new technologies, businesses, projects, organisations, comedy and artistic outputs.

If a person has a creative tendency they have the following qualities:

• Imaginative, inventive or innovative tendency to come up with new ideas;
• Intuition, being able to synthesis ideas and knowledge, and make good guesses when necessary;
• Change-orientation, preferring novelty, change and challenges with a dislike of being locked into routines;
• Versatile and able to draw on personal resources for projects or problem solving;
• Curious and interested in new ideas.

Risk-Taking

What is calculated risk-taking? The enterprising person is opportunistic and seeks information and expertise to evaluate if it is worth pursuing the opportunity which will usually involve some risk.

If a person is a calculated risk-taker they have the following qualities:

• Decisive, being able to act on incomplete information and good at judging when incomplete information is sufficient for action;
• Self-awareness with the ability to accurately assessing their own capability;
• Analytical, being good at evaluating the likely benefits against the likely costs of actions;
• Goal-oriented, setting themselves challenging but attainable goals;
• Effective information management, using information to calculate the probability of success

Locus of Control

What is an internal locus of control? The enterprising person has an internal rather than external locus of control which means that they believe you have control over own destiny and make their own ‘luck’. This means that they confidently seek to exert control over life, draw on inner resources and believe that it is down to them if they succeed through their own efforts and hard work.

If a person has an internal locus of control they have the following qualities:

• Opportunistic, seeking and taking advantage of opportunities;
• Self-confidence with the belief that they have control over their destiny and make their own luck, rather than being controlled by fate;
• Proactive, taking personal responsibility to navigate the problems that arise to achieve success on their terms;
• Determination and express a strong willed control over life;
• Self belief, equating the results achieved with the effort made.