Although successful entrepreneurs seem different at face value, they all possess similar character traits. For instance, they have passion, vision, confidence, and determination. Also, they are not afraid of failing many times, adapting their strategies, taking risks, or giving away their hard-won wealth.
Because of these traits, they succeed where others fail and inspire others to be like them. Fortunately, you too can develop these traits and become part of the 13 percent of the population that engages in business. So, here are these traits in detail.
1) Passion
Successful entrepreneurs, such as Gurbaksh Chahal, are passionate about their businesses. To people like Chahal – an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist – money is important. However, it takes second place after the love for their products or services.
Chahal founded his first 2 companies, Blue Lithium and Click Agents, by the time he was 26 years, and none of this would’ve been possible without passion. He also founded his own philanthropic organization because of his desire to help others, especially victims of child labor and religious discrimination.
Successful entrepreneurs see their products and services as tools with which to make a difference in their lives as well as that of others. As for money, it is simply the reward for following their passion.
2) Vision
According to Gurbaksh Chahal, who is also the founder of the Chahal Foundation, passion alone is not enough if you are to make it in business. You must also have vision. This is the ability to spot opportunities or come up with an innovative product or service before anyone else does. Vision keeps an entrepreneur ahead of the pack.
3) Confidence
Passion and vision get entrepreneurs started on the road to success. But confidence keeps them going. Researchers even have a name for this type of self-belief. They call it task-specific confidence, which is having faith in two things.
One is in your product or services ability to solve a specific problem. And two is that clients will pay you to solve this problem for them.
4) Prone to Risk Taking
Task-specific confidence turns entrepreneurs into risk takers. They are so sure of their abilities, products or services that they consider taking a risk worth it. Thus, some quit their jobs to venture into business. Others take out a loan on a valuable asset, such as a car or a home, or sell the asset and invest the money in their business idea.
5) Not Afraid of Failure
They say that the greater the risk, the greater the returns. Even though there is truth to this statement, the converse, however, is also true. Great risks can and often lead to even greater failures, and entrepreneurs know this. Nevertheless, they soldier on because they regard failure as an opportunity to grow and not to quit.
6) Tenacity
No matter how brave you are in the face of failure, experiencing too many failures can wear you down. And if you are not tenacious when this happens, you will eventually quit on your entrepreneurial dream. Tenacity makes you hang on and remain committed to your dream despite many failures.
It is what kept Chahal from quitting. In his book The Dreams, he describes how he failed, how he remained determined to succeed, and how he succeeded in the end.
7) Willingness to Learn
Taking one failure after another without looking into why you are failing in the first place is not tenacity but stubbornness. Instead of simply being stubborn, combine tenacity with a willingness to learn from your mistakes. This way, every failure becomes an opportunity to learn, grow, and adapt – something at which successful entrepreneurs excel.
8) They Give Back
Successful entrepreneurs make a difference in society not only through their innovative products but also through philanthropy. Take the case of Chahal, for instance. Despite founding well-known businesses like Click Agents, Blue Lithium, Radium One, and Gravity4, he still has time to give back to society through his foundation.
Successful entrepreneurs have the above traits in common.