Qualities of an Entrepreneur

Some of the qualities of a successful and good entrepreneur are as follows:

1. Ability to Take Risk 2. Balancing Family and Business 3. Creativity and Innovations 4. Determination and Commitment 5. Enjoyment of Responsibilities. 6. Financial Risk Taker 7. Goal-Oriented Leadership 8. Honest and Trustworthy

9. Interpersonal Skill 10. Jealous of None 11. Know Your Industry 12. Learn from Failure 13. More Work, Less Talk. 14. Nurture Entrepreneurial Spirit 15. Out of Box Thinking 16. Proper Business Plan

17. Quest for Continuous Learning 18. Resource Utilization 19. Seek Professional Advice 20. Team Building. 21. Upright and Honest 22. Vision (Smart) 23. Work Pattern 24. Extraordinary Human Being 25. Youthful Spirit 26. Zest for Fairness and Justice and a Few Others.

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Qualities of a Successful and Good Entrepreneur

Qualities of an Entrepreneur – Top 26 Qualities of an Successful and Good Entrepreneur

Essential qualities of an entrepreneur are as follows:

Quality # 1. Ability to Take Risk:

An entrepreneur is a pivot around which the entire business rotates. To be an effective entrepreneur, one has to bear all the risks and uncertainties associated with the setting up, running and the ultimate outcome of the enterprise. Risk and failure are integral parts of any successful entrepreneur’s life. One cannot expect success straightaway.

Quality # 2. Balancing Family and Business:

Work-life balance identifies the key need or reason for introducing work-life balance policies. An entrepreneur must build the commitment to work-life balance in order to fulfil his vision or values. One should be very much effective in the day-to-day work life and personal life. There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance one should be striving for. Work-life balance will vary over time.

Quality # 3. Creativity and Innovations:

Creativity is the ability of an entrepreneur to use insights and come up with new solutions to old problems. An entrepreneur is doing things in a different way or follows a different approach for conventional things to work together. An entrepreneur is the head of a business who always thinks of new ideas, new product and new marketing methods – all these are fertile ground for creative thinking.

Quality # 4. Determination and Commitment:

Business success never comes easy. To overcome the obstacles that will be thrown in entrepreneur’s path, it requires an incredible amount of hard work and resilience. Successful entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes. They are not easily discouraged and never give up. This involves being self-reliant and personally disciplined. Endeavour without goal would be like groping in darkness.

Quality # 5. Enjoyment of Responsibilities:

Every work and the consequent result is a self- portrait of the person who does it, regardless of what job he does. The feeling of a job well done is a reward in itself. It is better to do small things well, than do big things poorly. We all take pride in our performance. Pride gives a winning edge. It enthuses one to put in required effort and hard work.

Quality # 6. Financial Risk Taker:

A good entrepreneur realizes that loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavor. Thus, an entrepreneur must always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences those risks might have. Entrepreneurs must have the courage to face failure and start again despite these setbacks.

As in all fields of endeavor, the characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.

Quality # 7. Goal-Oriented Leadership:

Successful people tend to write down their goals, check them daily, and regularly review them until they achieve success. Entrepreneurs take a lot of satisfaction in setting and reaching achievable business-related goals. This helps them find satisfaction in their accomplishments. As a leader of the enterprise, he has to set examples of dedication, devotion and self-discipline to inspire the various persons working with him.

Quality # 8. Honest and Trustworthy:

Entrepreneurship is concerned with the development of a range of skills and capabilities including planning, coordinating and organizing, using initiatives, working independently, effective time management, risk management skills, good communication skills, adaptability, flexibility, taking responsibility, decision making and the ability to innovate and exercise vision. Honesty and integrity means to firmly adhere to a code of moral and ethical principles.

Quality # 9. Interpersonal Skill:

An entrepreneur is a natural leader with the vision and the drive to do things right and steer his company towards success with ease. Effective leaders have the ability to relate and communicate well with people from all walks of life. Their sociability and enthusiasm inspires those around them and enables them to lead others to achieve their business vision. This quality is not present in everybody, it is a very scarce characteristic, hard to find among individuals.

Quality # 10. Jealous of None:

It is sometimes said that, ‘Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.’ Entrepreneurs are zealous. They are so bound by their passions that they often forget about the risks and simply go after what they desire. Sometimes this leads to greatness while other times it leads to utter failure. The common thread in either case is an unyielding desire to pursue what is important to them, regardless of the cost.

Quality # 11. Know Your Industry:

Entrepreneurs perceive new opportunities and create and grow ventures around such opportunities. Entrepreneurs are specific people who engage in the creative process. We can talk about entrepreneurs in abstract terms, but that will never have an impact on our communities. All persons in business have some entrepreneurial traits, but all business owners/operators are not entrepreneurs.

Quality # 12. Learn from Failure:

Failure to an entrepreneur is nothing more than an opportunity waiting to be discovered and the entrepreneurs learn from their failures and those of others. This is an untrue notion that entrepreneurship is often difficult and tricky. Entrepreneur is often synonymous with “founder”. Most commonly, the term entrepreneur applies to someone who creates value by offering a product or service.

Quality # 13. More Work, Less Talk:

The key to quality is doing something, not just talking about it. This provides an introduction to the key areas of quality analysis. The basic quality techniques are applied to the individuals and this approach concentrates on identifying customers, analyzing their needs and finding ways of servicing these needs. Successful entrepreneurs do not start with all the knowledge, skills and insights necessary to create thriving ventures.

Quality # 14. Nurture Entrepreneurial Spirit:

Entrepreneurship is the complex process by which entrepreneurs envision, create and grow ventures. To understand entrepreneurship, we need to understand the necessary components of the process i.e., Creativity, Innovation, Motivation and Capacity.

Quality # 15. Out of Box Thinking:

A successful entrepreneur believes in his abilities. He is not scared to explore un-chartered territories, take risk and take difficult decisions. A person can have high self-confidence in one situation and totally lack in another. This is one of those skills that can be developed by training. Self-confidence is a key entrepreneurial skill for success.

Quality # 16. Proper Business Plan:

Success is the offspring of a plan well executed. An entrepreneur should have good perception of an idea, credible business plan, clarity of what he wants to do and above all belief in him/her to become successful. The ambition and aspiration will be fruitful when one work with a sense of direction, i.e., a good plan of action strictly adhered to.

Quality # 17. Quest for Continuous Learning:

Learning is generally considered to be any change in an individual’s response or behavior resulting from practice to experience. Learning is the process by which individual acquires various habits, knowledge, skill and attitude that are necessary for meeting certain objectives. Continuous learning changes the behaviour of entrepreneur. There are three focal areas in psychology of learning. They are- (i) learner (ii) the learning process and (iii) the learning situation.

Quality # 18. Resource Utilization:

Entrepreneurs are not wild risk takers in the gambling sense. They are very good at assessing and managing risk. Second, most grown businesses are not rooted in some high tech invention. Third, most entrepreneurs are not experts. Rather they are very good at assembling a team to ensure key competencies. Fourth, most entrepreneurs do not have a fully sorted out vision of their enterprise. Successful entrepreneurs whether online or offline tend to be willing to take carefully calculated risks after careful thought and planning.

Quality # 19. Seek Professional Advice:

‘Compassion for people’ or ‘humanity’ is another value that should be cherished and discussed on equal terms with professionalism, integrity, ethics and other values. Business entrepreneurs who adhere to creative values are defined as intrapreneur as their principal objectives includes personal development and social change. Every entrepreneur expect to do everything i.e., high-level work, ground work, business developments, brand developments, human resources, operations, finance etc.

Quality # 20. Team Building:

A key element to motivate staff is enabling them to take ownership of any problems arising and to give them a framework, either individually or in groups, to solve these problems. It is empowering to staff members to take action. The most effective approach is usually within groups which can take the form of quality improvement teams or quality circles.

If an entrepreneur expects to have a successful team at any level, one must have strong leadership. Most people are not born with leadership qualities and need good training to learn these skills. Team work enables a wide variety of skills to be brought together to solve the problem.

Quality # 21. Upright and Honest:

An important mark of a good entrepreneur is to be honest and honourable in all the business dealings and interpersonal relationships – whether it is between business partners, employees, peers and investors.

Entrepreneurs are not super humans. What is different is their approach towards things, their vision, their inclination towards treating challenges in a more creative and positive way, and their determination to achieve their vision against all odds. The positives of an entrepreneur include control of one’s own future, have the satisfaction of making one’s own money and not for someone else, and to put one’s talent to use.

Quality # 22. Vision (Smart):

A vision is the ability to see what others cannot see. The visionary entrepreneur is able to see exactly what his or her business is going to look like in every detail when it is finished. The visionary entrepreneur uses leverage to his or her full advantage. Leverage is simply the ability to do more with less. An entrepreneur must be a visionary for further growth and development, commitment to constructive change and energy to achieve results.

Quality # 23. Work Pattern:

One who assumes risk in order to combine knowledge, capital, and resources to create a venture that will hopefully return a profit. Entrepreneurs are generally highly independent, which can cause problems when their ventures succeed. In a small company the entrepreneur is able to personally manage most aspects of the business, but this is not possible once the company has grown beyond a certain size.

Management conflicts often arise when the entrepreneur does not recognize that running a large stable company is different from running a small growing company.

Quality # 24. Extraordinary Human Being:

Passion, resourcefulness, willingness to improvise and listen to others and strong determination to succeed is what makes an entrepreneur successful. Entrepreneurs don’t need to be told to be entrepreneurs.

Risking everything and becoming an entrepreneur is not a vocation that is typically encouraged or even suggested. The successful entrepreneur is also described as having strong drives for independence and success, with high levels of vigor, persistence, and self-esteem.

Quality # 25. Youthful Spirit:

Self-improvement is about knowing who we really are. It’s a journey of self-discovery; leaving our comfort zone and exploring uncharted territory. It has nothing to do with getting a better paid job, having lots of friends or taking better care of our families.

It is about honesty, compassion and integrity to one’s self. Because everyone is different, there is no one path in the journey toward self-improvement. Each person must find their own way and in their own time.

Quality # 26. Zest for Fairness and Justice:

It’s the innovative entrepreneur whose ideas, passion and dedication, create new companies in new industries, requiring new skills, that foster the economic growth and new jobs that turn the situation around. The biggest winners in life have also been the biggest failures at one point or another.

Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process that involves a blend of vision, change, and creation. Entrepreneurship is a practice involving traits and behaviours that can be cultivated and developed to better manage and entrepreneurial venture.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur –Innovative, Self-confidence, Risk taking, Problem solver, Adaptability, Imagination and creativity,  Organising ability  and Leadership skills

Successful entrepreneurs share some common characteristics.

Some important qualities an entrepreneur should possess are as follows:

1. Innovative – The ability to come up with new ideas and constantly improving them overtime is an essential quality of a good entrepreneur. They constantly monitor their products and services in an attempt to find out the ways of improving them.

2. Self-confidence – Their confidence should not be shaken when they are faced with failure. They must accept that there are some factors beyond their control.

3. Risk taking – Risk is inherent in any business. Entrepreneurs take risk very cautiously. They risk time and money but at the same time keep resources for dealing with these risks.

4. Problem solver – Entrepreneurs need to be very capable people with the intelligence to find the right solutions. They should be able to sort out the issues quickly and efficiently. They should possess decision making skills even in the face of failure.

5. Adaptability – Market needs are dynamic and change is a recurring phenomenon. The entrepreneurs should be flexible enough to change when things do not go as planned. Being able to adapt to changes is crucial for any business.

6. Imagination and creativity – An entrepreneur must be imaginative and creative. He should be able to see things before they happen. Good entrepreneurs find ideas and offer solution to problems.

7. Organising ability – Entrepreneurs possess necessary skills to organise both manpower and physical resources. They are able to foresee what others cannot. They employ, train and develop people accordingly to utilise these resources efficiently.

8. Leadership skills – Entrepreneur should have the ability to motivate the employees to work towards the organisations goals. They must have good communication skills as they work with different kinds of people.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur – (with Ten most Essential Entrepreneurial Traits)

In coordination and organisation of a system an entrepreneur bear a vital responsibility. James J. Berge has given the qualities of a good entrepreneur.

1. He is capable and flexible in nature. He states that he is energetic, hardworking, resourceful and flexible enough to accept the changes.

2. He should be innovative and interested in advancing technologies or improving his standards of providing services.

3. He is capable of earning supernormal profits and expansion of business units.

4. He is a good planner and a systematic system follower.

5. He bears the risk and is involved in doing good of his co-workers or fellows.

Apart from the above as stated by J. Berne the successful entrepreneur bears the following qualities:

1. Specific objectives – Entrepreneur should be target oriented. He should be very well aware of the needs and requirements of the enterprise and the objectives targeted.

2. Good leader or leadership – An entrepreneur needs to have all qualities of a good leader. He should not be rude to his fellow beings or co-workers. An entrepreneur must be a worker who works for the benefit of the entire system.

3. Entrepreneur should provide services or facilities to customers or consumers – An entrepreneur provides services to the consumers indirectly. The services should be provided for the benefit of the customers. An entrepreneur manufactures or plans the products of good quality at the best possible or at the lowest possible rates or the reasonable rates. For an entrepreneur the consumer is the king or the queen.

4. Entrepreneur should be able to fetch desired results – The various mixes of production like product mix, technology mix, factor-mix, distribution mix and promotion mix has to be done so as to get the desired results and earn super normal profits.

5. Proper management – An entrepreneur should be capable enough to manage the resources to get the desired results. He should be able to learn by experiences.

6. He should be capable enough to forecast the future risks – Contingency plans are to be made to meet such risks.

7. He should be capable to build goodwill – Goodwill is the necessity for any brand. Every entrepreneur works and plans to get the desired results and earns super-normal profits. They plan and work always to build goodwill for the system or unit. A branded company with goodwill can earn profits even at higher rates.

8. He should work within the limits of the law – An Entrepreneur should be able to earn profits or plan for savings or lowering income tax burden through legal way.

9. An entrepreneur should be experienced – An entrepreneur should be capable enough to tackle various situations in adverse conditions or unfavourable time. An entrepreneur is one who is learned enough to use the skill and resources in best possible way.

10. Motivation and communicator – A good entrepreneur is one who is capable of motivating others. He should have the quality to communicate the policies and programmes to his subordinates in a coordinating way. He should be able to convince them and should have the command over his skills.

11. Entrepreneurial behaviour – Behaviour relates to the thinking, feeling and action of an entrepreneur. He behaves to achieve the set targets. He is a creative and tries to find out new methods etc. He sets his own standards and acts with emotions accordingly to face competitions. He accepts the challenges and learns from his previous experience and tries to overcome the lagging behind issues. He acts optimistically and behaves professionally and remains ready to complete his work in time and takes review of his work.

Following are the top ten essential entrepreneurial traits one must possess:

1. Independence – This is the most common denominator of all entrepreneurs. They want to seize control of their future; thus they decide to become their own boss instead of labouring under the gaze of a master.

2. Persistence and determination – The world of entrepreneurship is fraught with both success and failure. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the doggedness to continue pursuing a goal despite some setbacks and obstacles they may encounter on the road. This persistence and determination is fuelled by a burning desire to achieve the goal of succeeding in the chosen field of business.

3. Self-confidence – Along with independence, an entrepreneur possesses self- confidence. They believe in their capabilities and makes sure that they will put in their best efforts into their particular endeavours and likewise expect the best results from it. Belief in one’s capabilities is very important in achieving any goal, especially in the world of entrepreneurship.

4. Creativity – In the business world, you cannot afford to be complacent and uncreative unless you want the competition to move up on ahead of you. Creative people are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly flexible when thinking. They keenly observe their environment and have an eye for spotting new trends that could spark a business opportunity.

5. Organised and goal-oriented – An entrepreneur knows the value of organisation in a business endeavour. A good entrepreneur has the ability to consolidate resources.

6. Visionary – An entrepreneur has a vision for his/her future.

7. Risk-taking and tolerance for failure – A good entrepreneur realizes that loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavour. Thus, an entrepreneur must always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences accompany those risks. As in all fields of endeavour, the characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.

8. Perseverance and hard work – These two are perhaps of the most important entrepreneurial traits.

9. Commitment – An entrepreneur will not achieve success if he/she gives up at the first sign of trouble.

10. Honesty and honour – Another very important mark of a good entrepreneur is being honest and honourable in all business dealings and interpersonal relationships, whether it is between business partners, employees, peers or investors.

Not to have Qualities for Entrepreneurs:

Everybody can become an entrepreneur but those must have at least the essential qualities of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs can be differentiating by judging their qualities. Two entrepreneurs may be same or different. If they are different that means one has all the necessary qualities of the entrepreneur and other lacks all those qualities.

And some traits are common to all successful entrepreneurs. While – quite naturally – individual entrepreneurs have many unique traits that are not common to other entrepreneurs, all entrepreneurs do share a kind of strength, a certain type of foundation and attitude and a special drive and willingness.

1. Lack of Confidence:

Entrepreneurs must have confidence but all entrepreneurs do not have this quality. Some new entrepreneurs lack confidence. Confidence is a property of the entrepreneur. Not all of us are born with confidence, but that does not mean we are not capable of it. And because of lack of confidence the entrepreneurs cannot do any work properly.

Those entrepreneurs lack in self-esteem and they are unable to accept challenges because of the fear of not completing those challenging tasks. They lack in their strength. They are not confident about their own strengths. They have fewer beliefs in themselves and therefore do not progress after some level. They remain stagnant or become failure in tough competition.

2. Lack of Feeling a Sense of Ownership:

The lack of self-esteem is not a good symbol for the entrepreneurs. Taking responsibility for getting things done – and doing them with care and attention – means to act like an owner. But lack of responsibility in the entrepreneurs suffers the whole business. They do not give proper direction to the business. They become dependent on others for progress of the business. They do not find solution so easily or unable to take the decisions. They leave the things in bad shape they are unable to estimate the problems and solving them. They always fear of getting failure that brings restriction to their business.

Sometimes they do not solve the problems and let the problems as it is. The entrepreneurs must have a sense of ownership and responsibility. While a sense of ownership makes for a stellar employee, the entrepreneur knows that the goal is not to be owned by the enslavement of too much responsibility.

Rather than controlling situations in an attempt to possess them, the entrepreneur teaches other people how to take charge. In that way the clever entrepreneur uses individual accountability in the ultimate pursuit of profitability, teamwork and overall success.

3. Unable to Communicate:

Entrepreneurs know the importance of human resource in business. One business interact with their employees, customers, suppliers, business partners etc., all are the form of human being if you could not have been able to have a good relation with them then these relations will either make or break your business. Here the role of communication is very important. The entrepreneurs should work on their communication skills it may be in the form of verbal, non-verbal, body language, written or oral.

When entrepreneurs do not posses these qualities they become unable to maintain the relationship with the other people who are valuable for the growth of the company. They do not properly interact with the people of foreign language or national language.

They are unable to put their thought, clearly and as a result of that they do not win the trust of others. The entrepreneurs must sharpen themselves with communication skills. And to support communication, they should take advantage of all available tools and resources.

Those might include foreign language or public speaking classes, computer and telecom technology or search engine optimization as it relates to sales and marketing or specialized writing such as that needed for grants, business proposals, mission statements or policy manuals. At last the entrepreneurs should also be a good listener what others are communicating to them. Improper listening could cost you in business dealings.

4. Lack of Passionate about Learning:

Entrepreneurs when do not have passion about their business then they take the business as a formality. They do not learn the things easily; they do not search the important information that will be useful for the business. Every time they need help to get the knowledge. They themselves do not ask the question why the business is not growing. What can we do to grow the business? Where we can get the useful information? They do not do any research for their business.

They also do not quickly learn from their own mistakes, which means they are more prone to keep repeating them due to overconfidence, ego or blindness to one’s own faults, shortcomings or errors in judgment. They do not try to get more knowledge from the experience of others and to become more educated. They are the laze ones.

Because of the lack of passion for education, entrepreneurs miss the opportunity to learn from the people who either know more than they do or know things that are different from what they know. They never enrich themselves with knowledge while also making a concerted effort to grow that knowledge by sharing it with others.

5. Lack of Team Player:

Business is an integrate activity. You cannot run your business alone. Business is a good example of team work. If you do not have a quality of team work then you cannot accomplish any task. If you do not have a habit of working with others then your business can never survive. There is no need to do everything alone in business. You must be able to utilize the benefits of team work. You must be very effective in developing and maintaining relationships with your employees, suppliers or partners.

But the problem is that they never take the advantage of the good relationship. They become failure to maintain the relationship. One man cannot possess every possible trait and if entrepreneurs will try to do everything by their own then they will be good in something but become failure in most of the things. The entrepreneurs must learn to work in a team. They should know how to utilize the characteristics of different members in a team. The successful entrepreneurs leverage teamwork to get the heavy lifting done without breaking stride.

6. System-Orientations:

The good system has one property here you can make predictions about the outcome with less and less exertion of energy or resources. Entrepreneurs have more love for their systems than their people, they believe in system based solutions than people based solutions. If the person gets the job done but falls sick or leaves, the job is threatened.

But if a system is created to get the job done, anyone can step in and follow the blueprint to get the desired result. Similarly, when troubleshooting and problem solving, the entrepreneur will first examine and study the system – because a flaw in the system will produce a flawed outcome each and every time. Designing, implementing and perfecting systems is one of the most useful and rewarding skills of an entrepreneur.

7. Lack of Dedication:

Entrepreneurs should have dedication to fulfill number of requirements of the business. Though they see many dreams but they lack their desire to fulfill the requirements. They just fulfill some requirements of the business but they do not care about the remaining requirements. For example they will fulfill the requirement of taking employees but what about their training they do not care about it. Some entrepreneurs lack dedication to their work. They run business according to their mood but they do not fold themselves according to the business.

They lack in fulfillment of their plans, visions and dreams and that tenacity of purpose generates electricity throughout the whole organization. Companies fail because they try to achieve many things at once and because of that they lose their business main focus. You must clearly specify the goals, write down your objectives and narrow the margin of error.

The real entrepreneurs do not follow multiple objectives at a single time rather they follow one by one different objectives with their full dedication. They show their willingness and commitment to their work. No matter what that might mean in terms of rising to meet a challenge or acting above and beyond the call of duty, the entrepreneur shows steadfast dedication.

8. Grateful:

Entrepreneurs learn to take nothing for granted in this world. That gives them the agility and flexibility to adapt to changes and demands, while it also invests in them a thankfulness that reminds them that riches and wealth are not about “stuff”, but are about fulfillment, satisfaction and the pleasure that comes from one’s accomplishments and contributions.

9. Lack of being Optimistic:

If the entrepreneurs are not optimistic then they cannot earn the profit and cannot run the business. You must have a positive attitude for your business. Don’t lose your enthusiasm after one failure. Instead of getting nervous collect your energy and try again. Your positive attitude will give you success. The entrepreneurs who are not optimistic they cannot enjoy the business. Do not think on failure only. It will waste your time.

Now plan about what you will do next? You must be ready to face the challenges. Your negative feelings will make you fearful and unsure. The growth requires patience, hope if these are absent in the entrepreneurs then business cannot grow. Such kind of entrepreneurs cannot give impetus to their business for greater accomplishments.

10. Gregarious:

Some entrepreneurs are always serious in their business. They think that seriousness is the secret of the success. If it could be then just by becoming serious most of the entrepreneurs can have success in their business, it is true that seriousness is necessary for the success of the business but more important is responsibility. They should be responsible to their business it does not matter whether they are serious or smiling. Because business is all about people, entrepreneurs tend to be socially outgoing. New entrepreneurs just want the authority and therefore they neglect the part of some funny time with their employees.

They do not share ideas, products and services and that excitement is contagious to their employees, clients, friends and other contacts both within and beyond the business sphere. They do not discuss their business issue with their employees but try to hide all the things. But the fact is that they should enjoy their business, people and should show trust on them.

Human resource experts, career counselors and business psychologists all agree that those who do jobs they enjoy and are good at have higher rates of success and broader measures of satisfaction. Entrepreneurs know that firsthand, from their own experience and they tend to be a fun-loving group of people both on and off the job.

11. A Leader by Example (Lack Leadership):

Entrepreneurs not only lead themselves through self-motivation as self-starters who jump into tasks with enthusiasm, but they also have skills in leading others. But few new small entrepreneurs lack leadership. They do not know the importance of teamwork and they do not understand the need to appreciate others, support them and reward them accordingly. They just think that whatever success their business is getting because of themselves only.

In contrary to above they blame others for their failure. True leaders do not fear. They take the responsibility of their failure. They never blame to others for their failure. This is the quality which makes them more prosper. Leaders who share their power and their time can accomplish extraordinary things. The best leaders understand that leadership is the liberation of talent; hence they gain power not only by constantly giving it away, but also by not grabbing it back.

12. Afraid of Risk or Success:

New entrepreneurs are afraid of the success and risk. That make them handicap to do something new in the business. That restricts them for doing the experiment with their business. Many people could be successful if they only took chances. And many people who take chances and become somewhat successful find the realization of their dreams an overwhelming possibility, so they sabotage their continued success by retreating back into a comfort zone of smallness.

The entrepreneurs who do not want to take risk have lazy, scared and uncompetitive kind of personality they want protection and that’s why they fear to bring any innovative idea. Entrepreneurs are not immune to fear. But they prioritize their approach to life so that the fear of failure, frustration, boredom, drudgery and dissatisfaction far outweighs the lingering fear of success.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur – Top 12 Most Unique Qualities of an Entrepreneur

The term ‘trait’ refers to a distinguishing quality possessed by an individual in his life. A person with some unique qualities is considered as an entrepreneur. Dr. C.B. Gupta and S.S. Khanka, in their book titled Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management have identified few traits which can be possessed by an entrepreneur.

The traits identified by them are explained below:

1. Initiation

2. Watching for opportunities

3. Persistence

4. Information seeker

5. Quality Conscious

6. Commitment to work

7. Proper Planning

8. Self Confidence

9. Assertiveness

10. Persuasion

11. Efficient Monitoring

12. Concern for employees

1. Initiation – The term ‘initiation’ refers to the ability to act independently and with a fresh approach towards a new activity. An entrepreneur should possess this trait. He should start affecting an activity before others do.

2. Watching for opportunities – An entrepreneur should always watch for favourable business opportunity and initiate necessary action to exploit it in the best interest of his venture.

3. Persistence – Here, the term Persistence’ refers to ‘continuing to do something inspite of difficulty or opposition’. An entrepreneur should try again and again to succeed in his mission even though there are obstacles in the way of reaching his goal. He believes in Japanese proverb ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight’.

4. Information seeker – An entrepreneur should be ready to seek new information from the experience of others. This will help him to reach his goal without much difficulty. For this purpose he should keep his eyes and ears open to new ideas, Skills and technology.

5. Quality Conscious – He should not believe in average performance and always set high standards and then put his efforts to achieve these standards.

6. Commitment to Work – An entrepreneur should have dedication to a particular cause (i.e. work) and accord utmost priority to accomplish it irrespective of costs involved.

7. Proper Planning – An entrepreneur should design proper plans before attempting to execute them. He should develop relevant and realistic plans and ensure proper execution. This will assure him success in his attempt.

8. Self Confidence – An entrepreneur should believe in what he has. That means, he should trust his strength and weakness. He must be a man of confidence. When he believes his strength then he is able to work with his fellow friends more confidently.

9. Assertiveness – An entrepreneur should assert (i.e. state a fact confidently) in the interest of his enterprise. That means, he should say his thought very confidently and forcefully.

10. Persuasion – An entrepreneur should have the quality of forcing others to accomplish what he feels good and right in a right manner to promote organisation’s interest.

11. Efficient Monitoring – An entrepreneur should assume personal supervision of work done by others to ensure that the work is accomplished according to pre-determined standards.

12. Concern for employees – An entrepreneur should be benevolent to his employees. He must show sympathy and helping hand whenever the circumstances so warranted. He should take personal interest to solve workers problems and fill confidence in the minds of them that the organisation supports them.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur – Top 7 Qualities with Required Competencies

There may be many qualities needed to successfully run an enterprise.

However, the following qualities are considered important:

1. Initiative:

In the world of business, opportunities come and go. An entrepreneur has to be a man of action. He should be able to initiate action and take advantage of opportunity. Therefore, initiative on the part of entrepreneur is a must.

2. Willingness to Assume Risk:

In any business there is an element of risk. It implies that a businessman may be successful or unsuccessful. In other words it is not necessary that every business shall earn profit. This deters individuals to take up business. However, an entrepreneur always volunteers to take risks to run a business and be successful.

3. Ability to Learn from Experience:

An entrepreneur may commit mistakes. However, once an error is committed, it should not be repeated as that will lead to heavy losses. So, one should learn from his mistakes. An entrepreneur, therefore, should have the ability to learn from experience.

4. Motivation:

It is a key to success. This is necessary for success in every walk of life. Once you get motivated to do something you will not rest unless you complete it. The need for achievement and interest in work comes through motivation. This is an essential quality of a successful entrepreneur.

5. Self-Confidence:

For achieving success in life, one should have confidence in oneself or herself. A person who lacks confidence can neither do any work himself nor can inspire others to work. Self-confidence is reflected in courage, enthusiasm and the ability to lead. A successful entrepreneur must have self-confidence and trust his abilities.

6. Orientation towards Hard Work:

There is no substitute for hard work in life. While running a business, every day, one problem or the other may arise. The businessman has to be vigilant about it and solve it as early as possible. This requires hard work on the part of the entrepreneur. Thus, orientation towards hard work is the secret of success of an entrepreneur.

7. Decision Making Ability:

In running an enterprise, the entrepreneur has to take a number of decisions. He should therefore be capable of taking suitable and timely decisions. In other words he must take the right decision at the right time. If an entrepreneur does not have the ability to take timely decision; he might miss opportunities and incur loss.

Competency Requirement for Entrepreneur:

The success of an entrepreneur depends largely on his intelligence, imagination, capacity to innovate and his ability to turn visions into realities. One of the factors necessary for the success of an entrepreneur is competency requirement. Competency requirement is the possession of certain core competencies which will give the entrepreneur an edge over others.

The following competencies are required of an entrepreneur:

(i) Superintendence:

A competent entrepreneur should be capable of assembling the different means of production in such a way as to give the maximum output at minimum cost and to supervise the work.

(ii) Control:

A competent entrepreneur should control the flow of goods, monitor the application of funds in the business and ensure the optimum utilisation of resources.

(iii) Direction:

A competent entrepreneur should have clear-cut objectives and goals. He should be able to foresee the future and provide for it in the present.

(iv) Organiser:

A competent entrepreneur should have organisation building capacity, ability to bear risks and sustain losses.

(v) Innovation:

Innovation is the key requirement of successful entrepreneurship. A competent entrepreneur should be capable of introducing a new product/service, new production technique, search for new markets, search for new sources of supply, and new opportunities for the success of business.

(vi) Other Factors:

Other factors necessary for entrepreneurial competency are – (a) Time management skills (b) Decision making skills (c) Effective coordinating skills (d) Resource management skills (e) Management of change (f) Leadership qualities (g) Problem solving skills.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur: Characteristics as pointed by McClelland and 11 Entrepreneurial Traits  

Many research studies have been conducted on this subject.

McClelland points out in his book ‘Achieving Society’ that successful entrepreneurs are characterised by:

i. An unusual creativeness

ii. A propensity to risk-taking

iii. A strong need for achievement.

Following entrepreneurial traits are found which are of importance:

i. Total commitment, determination and perseverance

ii. Drive to achieve and grow

iii. Opportunity and goal orientation

iv. Taking initiative and personal responsibility

v. Persistent problem-solving

vi. Realism and a sense of humour

vii. Seeking and using feedback

viii. Internal locus of control

ix. Calculated risk taking and risk seeking

x. Low need for status and power

xi. Integrity and reliability.

The trait approach to entrepreneurship is useful. By developing a profile of a successful entrepreneur, it becomes possible to spot and develop entrepreneurs. We do not know which traits are necessary for entrepreneurial success. Many traits used to describe entrepreneurs also apply to many managers. The trait approach lacks specificity and is not applicable in all cultures. Another difficulty is that traits listed are all positive. Thus, the trait approach is not fully satisfactory.

According to James J.Berna, the following are true qualities of a ‘good entrepreneur’:

i. An enterprising individual, energetic, resourceful, alert to new opportunities, able to adjust to changing conditions and willing to assume risks involved in a change.

ii. Interested in advancing technologically and in improving the quality of his product.

iii. Interested in expanding the scale of his operations and reinvests earnings to this end.

These are the basic criteria which must be used in evaluating entrepreneurs’ performance in an under developed country. They sum up “Spirit of Enterprise.”

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur: High Level of Administration Capability, Sound Technical Knowledge, Capable of Taking Decisions Correctly and Good at Communication

Following are the qualities of a good entrepreneur

i. High level of administration capability

ii. Sound technical knowledge

iii. Capable of taking decisions correctly and quickly

iv. Good at communication.

It is the possession of these scarce qualities that makes an entrepreneur have an advantage over others who lack these, for success. In addition, he should also be a generalist so that he can discharge his function without delegating it to others. He should have sufficient organisational skills to perform the organisational functions effectively and efficiently. To some extent, entrepreneurial qualities are innate (not all). Some can be improved or enhanced by training or experience. E.g. – Analytical ability, computation skills etc.

A successful entrepreneur should have:

i. Technical competence

ii. Initiative

iii. Good judgement

iv. Intelligence

v. Leadership qualities

vi. Creativeness

vii. Self confidence

viii. Energy

ix. Attitude

x. Fairness

xi. Honesty

xii. Tactfulness, and

xiii. Emotional stability.

A successful entrepreneur today must be a practical industrial psychologist, well versed in guiding, developing and controlling the actions of his men to the expected direction. To be successful in entrepreneurial role, he should adopt such principles towards his employees which would help him in achieving the desired goals at the right time. These principles will not only help within the organisation but also outside the organisation i.e. with customers, suppliers and government officials.

We have often seen that, brilliant students who have secured ranks from university shy away from becoming good entrepreneurs, because they will fail miserably in coping with human emotions.

A successful entrepreneur is involved in:

i. Commercial potential of a product or service

ii. Design of operating policies in marketing, production, product development and the organisational structure

iii. Carrying out the whole set of activities of the business, with his high capacity for taking calculated risks and has faith in his own capabilities.

Some writers say that the functions of an entrepreneur are:

i. Coordination of the business management of the enterprise

ii. Risk taking

iii. Controlling the enterprise

iv. Innovation for change

v. Motivation and other related activities.

The entrepreneurship exists in every field of economic endeavour (Business can be either as a manufacturer or as a distributor). Manufacturing activities as compared to distribution activities require a relatively high capital investment and higher entrepreneurial abilities.

Attributes of a successful entrepreneur are as given below:

i. He should be a technically qualified person

ii. Have adequate shop floor experience to guide the machine operation in tool-setting techniques or die-maker on the specific needs of his machine tools

iii. Be familiar with the raw materials, their specifications, quality, sources of availability, price sheet etc.

iv. Have knowledge of marketing channels, distribution network, agency practices, transport intricacies and the economics of packaging

v. Know how to ensure the stipulated quality of his product

vi. Know taxation principles and laws governing SSIs

vii. Be willing to put up with bureaucratic regulations and insults and move with the situation

viii. Know how to avail himself of the various benefits available for the SSI

ix. Possess the following qualities-expertise, shrewdness, resourcefulness and perseverance (No substitute for hard work)

x. Have the guts to withstand the polluted climate in which he has to build his unit.

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Qualities of an Entrepreneur – Explaining the Objectives and Ideas an Entrepreneur must consider before landing for a New Venture

One must be clear in the objectives and ideas before landing for new venture.

Some of the points must be considered are:

1. Know How to Compete with Others – One must analyse the different ways of competition one may face in the business. Each factor should be carefully considered and then one should decide the appropriate, pertaining to his/her business.

2. Bid of the Lowest Price and still to make a Profit – This can be done only when one knows fully the market trend and competitors attitude.

3. Offer Services for High Demand only – This requires a constant monitoring of the economy. Depending on the demand one should shift the services being provided. For example – One can land for manufacturing metallic acetate. For this requirement is quite meagre. Same machines can be used for production of many metallic acetate. Depending on the market one should decide which metallic acetate should be manufacturing in how much quantity and when.

4. Establish Good Customer Relation – One must maintain the quality of the products/ services being performed and thus build up the good customer reputation. The word- of-mouth publicity about one’s business/services will soon spread up and may provide a positive image about yourself and your business.

5. Selection of a Proper Site for Business – One should be visible in areas where the services are needed. Role of demand and supply is quite applicable in this case. One should be quite choosy in selecting a proper site.

6. Build your Reputation – This can be achieved by providing good service (quality) in proper time. If you build a reputation of meeting the dead line for any job, you establish good reputation with your customers. This will work as a publicity media for your business.

7. Develop Contacts – It is important to be a member of some organisation which deals with your type of jobs. It may help you to be aware with the changing trends of the business as well as provide you information about latest laws and rules related with your business.

8. Good Credit Schemes – Paying the suppliers on time will give you a good reputation and may bring the benefits of special discount as well as credit.

9. Offer Special Service – For this purpose continuous contact with customers is required. This may require to work during holidays/Sundays/off hours/late hours, depending on the availability of the customers.

10. Labour Force – The labour force performs according to your instructions. As a key cost and quality factor, the relationship between you and your labour should be cordial and one understand the problems of each other fully and properly. The labour force may be composed of union/non-union/individuals. The advantages/disadvantages of each option should be properly considered.

11. Identify the Needs – One should identify the needs that are either not catered or have very few competitors.

12. Financial Institutions – These institutions serve as an important tool for short term/long term loan providing machinery. They require strong evidence of the entrepreneur ability to perform as a pre-requisite for loan sanctioning. They may become the source of providing sound business advice as well as good financial help provider.