The six must-have personal traits that make a successful entrepreneur
To be an entrepreneur means being comfortable with taking educated risks, in business.
The secret to success is buried in a formula that combines drive, forward momentum and persistence.
Here’s a few personal traits:
Passion
This is what drives you. You need a true sense of passion, and belief that the product on offer, or the service you have is what clients want. Passion is infectious – and will rub off on the staff and clients. A business launched without passion will lack the ooze and charisma – clients will not return.
Perseverance
A new venture may need up to a year before visible growth can be seen. Until then, an entrepreneur needs energy and enthusiasm to ride out the bumps. There will be constant errors – but a passionate owner will learn, and rise.
There will be daunting overhead bills, staff problems, cash flow issues. One just needs perseverance.
Empathy
This uncanny skill makes or breaks a new business.
The ability to understand your prospective client’s minds and visualize self from that angle. That’s how you realize their problems, and understand them. In that way, you can provide a solution – and this is what sells to your clients.
A practical solution to their problems.
Leadership Skills
A start up needs equally motivated staff to run. You need to be a leader – and not just loaded motivational pep-talks, but practical touches.
An entrepreneur has to learn the Art of Delegation.
This is to be cognizant that one cannot possess all the skills and knowledge needed to pursue the vision & mission of a company.
Like, one can have good social skills, but miserable in accounts.
Stamina
New ventures demand a complete lifestyle change.
Perhaps, one that requires working crazy, long hours. It may mean giving up some aspects of your life, and of those in your circles – vacations, weekends, private cars, etc.
Do you have the wherewithal to grind through long hours at work and lean budgets?
Before the big break, you need stamina to survive a period of intense sacrifice. It pays for one to have a supportive family that shares the vision.
Business skills
Basic understanding of how a business is structured and works is helpful. This is the foundation on which a business sits. Under this, it helps to be a creative problem solver.
To counter this, one has to hire skilled staff, or take the pains to learn the relevant skills, especially on delicate aspects of the business. Say, accounts, or marketing.
Another advisable trick is to align self with established business or financial entities to act as mentors. An entrepreneur learns from the mistakes of others.
In the finance section, for instance, a new start up needs articulate system off keeping books, calculate cash flow and monitor the inventory.
Introducing the Co-op Bank e-Commerce platform,
This robust e-Commerce platform offers a new business a variety of cashless ways to accept payments, or make purchases.
This includes use of mobile phones to access Co-op Bank accounts through USSD numbers, M-Coop Cash Apps, M-Pesa Pay bill numbers, or the use of Co-op Visa Cards, by swiping at payment points with PDQ/POS machines.
It’s easy to track expenses, credits or debits in real time. It’s fast, safe and convenient. Within moments, one receives account notification messages on mobile phones.
To learn more on cashless payments through the Co-op Bank e-Commerce platform, visit the nearest Co-op Bank branch.
Alternatively, check online by clicking here.
