Year 1917, do you recall any momentous event? WWI perhaps, the then U.S. President Woodrow Wilson solicited the United States Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. During the same year a 23 year old trainee at the Osaka Electric Light Company in Japan came up with an innovative concept of improved light socket. Since he had no formal education and he was “too young,” his boss discarded the idea. A little disappointed, yet fueled by his passion he started to develop samples in his basement. Later on he progressed by expanding with other electronic products like bicycle lamps powered by battery and many more under the name of Matsushita Electric.
Well, that is the story of Konosuke Matsushita aka “God of management” for many Japanese. He’s best known as the founder of Largest Japanese Consumer Electronics Company, Panasonic - estimated to be worth USD 66 billion at present.
What did he have though, that made him such a successful businessman? Was it the idea? Of course it was, but the idea couldn’t have withstood all the potential challenges and limitations on its own. He, like all the successful entrepreneurs around the globe shares a few traits in common, irrespective of their background and industrial difference.
We’ve enlisted 8 essential attributes that make a successful entrepreneur. Or saying it the other way around, these 8 traits can be easily found in every accomplished entrepreneur.
#1 they’re fairly optimistic but not optimally biased
According to a survey three out of every four startups fail. For an average person, those statistics couldn’t be more terrifying but those uninviting outlook numbers never deter the spirit of a true entrepreneur. They take failure as an opportunity to start another million dollar idea; as a matter of fact failure rate of 75 per cent for them is synonyms for, “I’ve to try three businesses before I start a successful one.”
Despite working at least 16 hours a day, or sometimes more and uncountable social and economical hardships, they don’t stop for they’re capable of visualizing the future in the long run. However, they are not over confident about anything and they don’t take anything for granted.
In financial world, optimal bias is used to describe over confidence. A successful entrepreneur always measures a situation with his utmost sense of practicality and rationality. He not only optimizes his strength but also acknowledges and works on empowering his weaknesses.
Every business is exposed to some or other risk. In order to maximize the returns on investment it is necessary for the business owner to identify, characterize, mitigate and most importantly not to undermine the impacts of these risks.
#2 they posses better understanding of the market
They’re well aware of their surroundings; they constantly follow the market trends and keep themselves updated. For instance, one of the recent trends is of OTT, and startups realizing its significance are not only securing investors but are helping the world to communicate on the same platform.
Mobile and broadband internet connectivity is thriving like never before and smart phone prices have witnessed a drop of 40-50 per cent from the year 2011 to 2016. Acknowledging the demand of customers a raft of content developers and content distributors (most of them being a startup) are creating their own empire by proffering ergonomic OTT services.
Other example is of MTN, who have recently launched Over-The-Top (OTT) service in Nigeria. The company understands both (OTT trend and Nigerian market) and believes in the development of the state. The market of OTT is growing exponentially and is creating hundreds of potential millionaires. But only those who can comprehend the industry and market can drive the results.
#3 they’re committed to their ventures
As much as the idea of earning millions of dollars excites them, nothing compares to the thrill of launching new ventures and freedom of creating new businesses. Entrepreneurship is all about ideas, discoveries and innovations, but it also demands a certain level of stability and steadiness. Entrepreneurs are committed to their projects despite of thousands of reasons that tell them not to.
Well, undoubtedly expanding their business and investing in new ventures is the fastest way of progressing but they never ditch their current projects and they don’t leave them hanging in between. They ensure its efficiency and make it stable enough to gather profitable revenue, then they move on to next business. And that’s how it should be done.
According to several business experts, “It is not advisable for a business owner to entirely detach himself from his venture. Doing so can affect the growth rate of it adversely.” “However one can partially detach himself in order to focus more on second project, but only after ensuring the former’s establishment.”
#4 patience is not their cup of tea
As immoral as it might sound, it works like a charm for entrepreneurs. They start way too early in their field of interest. To be precise, age is another number for them. In year 1941, an eleven year old bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his sister. In year 2015 that kid was ranked as the third richest person in the world. Yes, that’s right – Warren Buffet.
Warren Buffet’s worth is estimated over USD 66 billion. When he was 14 years old he purchased a land with USD 1,200 with his savings. At the age of 15, Buffet generated more than $175 on monthly basis by distributing Washington Post newspapers. In high school, he invested in his father’s business and purchased a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. Warren had accrued more than USD 90,000 in savings by the time he finished his college (measured in 2009 dollars).
#5 they prefer to learn than to study
See, the thing about the successful entrepreneurs is that they’ve received about the right amount of education. Bill Gates, Li Ka-shing, Ted Turner and the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc they all are college dropouts. Richard Branson is amongst famous school dropouts who proved that you don’t have to be bound by books to be successful.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, an English business magnate, investor, and philanthropist is best known as the founder of Virgin Group. Virgin Group incorporates more than 400 companies at present. He was knighted at Buckingham Palace for “services to entrepreneurship” in March 2000.
Sir Richard started his journey as an entrepreneur at the age of sixteen when dropped out of school and started a magazine called Student. He interviewed many famous personalities then and it was an overnight success. Branson was not an A grade student and he suffered from a common disease, dyslexia. On his last day at school, Robert Drayson, his headmaster called him in the office and said, “You’d either end up in prison or become a millionaire. Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at USD 5.5 billion in 2015.
#6 they’re hungry but not greedy
“Stay hungry stay foolish!”
There’s a fine line between the hunger and the greed that separates successful entrepreneurs from average businessmen. When you talk a business deal with them, you’ll understand that they don’t let their emotions empower their decisions. Business is all about making hard choices, and those choices should be based on facts and figures. Rationality and practicality are two founding pillars of their decision making process. They’ll definitely want to earn the profit (businesses survive on profit) but they won’t play all their cards for it.
Nothing can wreck a negotiation more quickly than greed, and entrepreneurs understand that. They won’t worsen the relation aggressively or by pushing the other party too hard. All businesses are personal, for they have emotional sentiments attached to the core of it and it runs high. But a rational business owner will never overestimate the value of his product, position, or contribution in a negotiation. He won’t undermine it either.
#7 they’re well aware of their numbers
This characteristic of being self aware is what keeps them successful in long run. They check budget, credit accounts and other financial statements line by line and understand it thoroughly without any fail and do it on regular basis.
They know that if the numbers go floating above their head, there are people who want to take advantage of this situation. But they prevent any such scenario by sitting down with their accountants and asking them to explain everything that is currently present the financial statements. They don’t dive in deep and heavy terms, just basic stuff like net profit, marketing sales, etc.
With the sense of awareness they achieve optimization in their revenues and easily minimize the capital costs.
#8 they don’t make any excuse
This is their favorite attribute. There is no such term as procrastination in their dictionary. You won’t hear them say, “I am really sorry, but I haven’t got time for this.” Rather they speak every sentence with can-do attitude. They understand the importance of everything and they don’t take their business for granted.
In complicated situations where every solution has a problem attached with it, they take the initiative and they don’t rest until either one of them breaks down entirely. They’re never afraid to experiment with ideas for they don’t see failure as full stop but a question, where do I improve and how do I do it? I got to do it. I will do it. I did it. Irrespective of the condition I am at, I’ll deliver nothing but qualitative service. Well that’s an entrepreneur for you.
Being an entrepreneur is no child’s play. It demands intense level of dedication and sacrifice with ridiculous amount of sheer hard work. Entrepreneurs are normally strange. When Ruth Handler created a doll that looked more like an adult rather than a baby, everyone thought she’s lost it including her husband. When she passed away in year 2002, her new worth was calculated USD 100 million.
So if by any chance you have the idea that could earn you handsome money during your summer vacation and if you believe that you’ll be able to pull it off – just do it.