8/28/2014

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TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR

TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR




Prepared for:
Dr. AKM Saiful Majid
Professor
Course Instructor, Entrepreneurship



Prepared by:
Md. Ashiqur Rahman
Roll No. ZR-55
Section A, Batch 20
th







Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
August 28, 2014




ENTREPRENEUR:

The general definition of entrepreneur would be someone who develops a business model,
acquires human and other resources necessary and is fully responsible for its success or failure.
For better or for worse, entrepreneurs who are successful are believed to be having certain traits.
These traits can be innate or developed.

TRAI TS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR:

Studying all the successful entrepreneurs all over the world, one wont face much difficulty
finding a pattern. Successful entrepreneurs are likely to have some common personality traits.
Some of them are discussed below:

1. TENACITY:

This quality is also known as perseverance, commitment, persistence, determination or
resilience. It basically is the old sticking-to-it trait. Being an entrepreneur means living with
huge uncertainty, running a marathon with obstacles and dealing with failures all the way. So, to
become successful one must have the patience to deal with mistakes, learn from them and move
on to their next project. Every successful entrepreneur had to face obstacles on their way up. One
of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Inc. was at
one stage fired from his own company with no apparent reason. But, he was brought back and he
achieved huge success with the second spell with the company.

It is not necessarily a third person point of view. Even the successful entrepreneurs when asked,
place great importance on tenacity as a necessary trait for an entrepreneur. According to Mike
Colwell, CEO of Plains Angels,

Tenacity is number 1. So much of entrepreneurship is dealing with failure. It happens many
times each week.

2. PASSION:

General believe would be that entrepreneurs are motivated by money. But, in most cases it is
seen that passion is what drives entrepreneurs to extra-ordinary. Committing to something one
likes makes one able to achieve the impossible, because he/she wants to and gives him/her more
satisfaction. Jay Friedlander, a professor of Atlantic and Babson College comments on that,

Most entrepreneurs I know believe that they will change the world. Theres an excitement
and believe in what they are doing and that gets them through the hard times.
3. RISK-TAKING:

Risk-taking mentality is like a requirement for being an entrepreneur because they have to take
new and uncertain ventures time-to-time. Michael Sherrod, entrepreneur-in-residence at Neeley
Business School of Texas Christian University says,

It all boils down to successfully managing fear. Fear of humiliation, fear of missing payroll,
running out of cash, bankruptcy, the list goes on.

4. VISION:

Being an entrepreneur means exploring into the unknown for opportunities. Vision is
fundamental to predict the future and act accordingly to achieve success or sometimes survive.
According to Eldad Matityahu, CEO of Net Optics,

Entrepreneurs often see naysayers, because we see the future before the future plays out. You
have to be several steps ahead of the market.

5. SELF-BELIEF:

Entrepreneurs need to have strong self-belief because they see what others cant see. So,
everyone walks out of the line, they have to stay strong and go through with their goal to
overcome the naysayers.





6. FLEXIBILITY:

Business success and survival is like adaptation in new places. Often the final product turns out
to be totally different to the initial design. So, an entrepreneur must keep an open mind and
remain flexible to adapt with the changes in the market. Mike Colwell of Plains Angels says in
this regard,

You have to have the willingness to be honest with yourself and say this isnt working. You
have to be able to pivot.

7. CONVENTIONAL RULE-BREAKING:

An entrepreneur must have the courage to think and act past the conventional rules in our
society. Just being an entrepreneur requires that as most of the people in our society would
choose security over adventure.



8. LEADERSHIP:

Entrepreneur is the one who initiates the business and he/she is the one who looks after it, takes
responsibility for it and makes it thrive. So, leadership should have to be seeded in an
entrepreneur, because in dire times, others will look to him/her to make the call.

9. HARD-WORKING:

Entrepreneurship, however lucrative it sounds, isnt sunshine in the morning. Entrepreneurs
should be able to and willing to do whatever it takes in times of needs. The idea doesnt matter if
there is no one to execute it efficiently.



10. CREATIVITY:

Last but not the least, an entrepreneur should have enormous creative ability. They have to be
able to address wants and come up with products that no one has ever seen before. Thinking
outside the box is a single most common trait of any successful entrepreneur.


In the end, the traits of an entrepreneur are manifold. Its not always that all of them have all
these qualities. Some are stronger in some traits and weaker in others. The bottom line is they
have to be able to stand out from the herd and think like nobody. That is what makes them
leaders of the society and craftsmen of the nation.


THE END