Nine Key Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
by Paul and Sarah Edwards
Editor's Note: Do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? Paul
and Sarah Edwards discuss the findings of researcher Dr. Barrie Jaeger, who
showed that successfully self-employed individuals share several common traits.
See what they are and, if the shoe doesn't fit, how you can develop them.
1.Being independent is part of the kind of person you think you are, should be or would like to be. If that doesn't describe you, experiment with thinking of yourself as someone who's self-employed. If you like how it feels, keep imagining it and sooner or later you may no longer feel satisfied with yourself until you've become the person you're aspiring to be.
2.The work you do or want to do is rewarding, satisfying, and enjoyable in and of itself. If it isn't, you can begin searching for work that would meet these criteria. When you find it, you'll know because you'll want to stay up late, get up early, and sneak away to fit it into your day. You'll start feeling impatient and restless until you can begin doing it.
3.The thought of being autonomous is appealing, even if somewhat frightening or challenging. If not, start making and following through on small autonomous decisions, like "Today, I'm going to make a purchase without consulting anyone" or "Tonight I'm going out to a movie alone." See how you feel about taking autonomous actions. You may grow to like it.
4.Work is a way to serve others and thus is enjoyable. If you've never thought of work that way, watch how work can benefit others and imagine enjoying the positive effect of your work. See how that makes you feel.
5.Being on your own leads to goals you're highly motivated to achieve. We all have different priorities and goals during different periods of our lives. When being on your own meets key personal goals, you'll find doing it much easier than when your goals lie elsewhere.
6.Each person has their own standards of what it means to be responsible and do a good job. Start defining what you would expect of yourself. How do you know if you've done a good job? You can begin exploring what clients and customers expect in your field and, when the time comes that you won't tolerate less than that from yourself, you'll find working on your own easier.
7.Working hard is enjoyable. This doesn't mean that you have to like doing difficult, pleasant things you don't want to do. It means putting concentrated time, energy, and effort into doing sometimes challenging and difficult things that are compatible with goals you have freely chosen. To test out how much you enjoy working hard, think of things you like to do (golf, chess, gardening, tennis) and evaluate whether you enjoy the challenge they present. If you don't, it may be that you haven't yet found things that challenge and engage you enough to enjoy working hard for.
8.What's started should be completed. If once you've set a desired goal and started toward it you don't feel compelled to finish it, start experimenting with pushing through to the finish. You may find you enjoy the sense of satisfaction that comes from following through enough to want to make it a habit.
9.If you're going to do something, you might as well do it right. If you have a tendency to do the minimum necessary, but would like to be your own boss, experiment with going the whole nine yards. Try giving 100 percent to some small task you enjoy. Give it your all; don't hold back anything. See how that feels. You may find that the pride you fell in a job well done will push you to want to make doing your best a regular habit.
Paul and Sarah Edwards have written hundreds of articles and seven books covering a range of home office and self-employment issues. They appear in a weekly cable TV show, "Working from Home with Paul and Sarah Edwards" and do a weekly segment on CNBC's "How to Succeed in Business."
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