I’ve owned my own company for two years now. This is honestly something I never thought I would do. I have never taken a single business class. But it has worked. So I wanted to share with you the qualities I think all entrepreneurs need in order to be successful.
I get asked about this topic a lot so I have given it a lot of thought. Here goes:
- Ability to kick your own ass into gear.
You need to be able to get out of bed in the morning. Early. Responsibility for yourself is super key because no one is going to hold your hand or get you out of bed. No one will pull your weight for you. If you’re not an independent worker, entrepreneurship is essentially a non-starter. If you are proactive and able to hold YOURSELF accountable for projects rather than requiring a boss reminding you.
- Ability to pivot.
THIS IS MY NUMBER ONE skillset that I think is VITAL to any entrepreneur. I have discussed it at length with mentors, peers, and other entrepreneurs I’ve worked with. Your idea might be a little off… You need to figure that out quickly and shift your concept/service as needed. For example, when I started blogging, I thought 90% of my income would come from brands. Today, a lot of it does. But a MUCH bigger money maker is my consulting business. Local Oklahomans noticed that I have spent a lot of time learning about social media and put a lot of work into my own accounts. Before I knew it, other small businesses were calling me for guidance. I realized that was a big need here in the heartland where there aren’t a ton of creatives. So filling that role needed to become a big part of my focus. I pivoted! Does that mean I can’t still blog and work with brands and make money off ads? Of course not! My company/brand is whatever I want it to be. But it also needs to be what makes the most sense. So I have learned to pivot towards whatever that might be.
- Ability to always be a student.
When you’re starting out, every entrepreneur has to wear a TON of hats. Not all of them will be for things that come easily to you or that you have prior training in. For example, I had no graphic design or coding experience prior to starting my company. So guess what? I had to learn. You need to be someone who is always taking in new skills and is excited to learn more. Networking, resourcefulness, and adaptation are all big components of this too… But the biggest thing is you need to be brave enough to admit you don’t know everything and start at the beginning with a new skill. Frankly, the entire endeavor of starting a company (filing my trademark, taxes, LLC structure etc.) were ALL foreign concepts to me before I started SBA. I had to learn ALL of those things and I was able to because part of me will always love being a student.
- Humility to admit, reflect on, and learn from your mistakes. This is not always easy.
Humility is a key component to SUCCESS as an entrepreneur. People who lack humility will have no problem STARTING a company but they likely will not succeed. EVERYONE will make mistakes as they’re starting out with their company… And often, we are too close to it to see it ourselves. We need to be open to constructive criticism or feedback or guidance. Mine often comes from my father. My initial reaction is to dig my heels in, insist I am right, and stomp around my house listing to Deven ALL the reasons he’s wrong. But in the cold light of the morning, I can admit to myself if I have been amiss and make changes accordingly. Being open to this feedback is HARD because the thing is – its your BABY! It’s tough to be objective about something you’ve poured your heart and soul into. But in order for your baby to grow up into something bigger, you’ve gotta check your ego and be open to tough feedback.
- Ability to dust yourself off.
You’re going to mess up. And I am not talking about in a little way… In a big way. A devastating way. You’ll miss deadlines you set for yourself, delete your entire website, or no one will come to your event. One big one that sticks in my mind is the first giveaway I ever did, only ONE person entered… I legit cried to Deven that I was NEVER going to be a successful blogger if I couldn’t get TWO people to enter a giveaway out of over a thousand followers . I was SO devastated and thought it reflected on me as a person… But it really just reflected on a poorly planned project! I was TERRIFIED to do another one… But eventually, I teamed up with other, bigger name bloggers out there who helped me get HUNDREDS of entries and eventually THOUSANDS. But let me tell you, at the time, I felt I had already failed even thought I was just beginning. To be a success, you need to be able to bounce back from embarrassment, let downs, and failures. It’s really trying completely essential.
- The balls to dive in.
The thing that annoys me THE MOST when I coach people…. Is when they are hesitating for no reason or insisting on getting each detail perfect. Entrepreneurism is messy by nature. You’ll never be 100% ready for it. How could you be? You’ve probably never done this before! So it’s a matter of trusting in yourself and your idea enough to take the risk and “get naked” in front of your world! I think you really need big BOLD balls in order to be a successful entrepreneur. Because it’s not just a matter of telling your social media network you have a new business… You’re also going to need to pitch to investors, speak at events, network with strangers, etc! You can’t be timid in those situations, you need to own your brand and in order to represent it well.
SO those are my thoughts! I learn something new every day doing what I do… And you can bet I will share with you guys any major lessons I learn along the way.
X,
Antigone