7 powerful characteristics of a successful business owner

April 12, 2022

Characteristics of a business owner

Every individual has a unique set of characteristics that differentiate them from other people. The same principle applies to business owners as well. However, if we look closely, there are certain characteristics of both male and female business owners that repeat. Namely, Elon Musk and Jack Ma could not be any more different but it’s undeniable that they have several business owner traits in common: passion for one.

It’s important to note that some of these characteristics of a successful business owner are inborn, yet others are obtained and developed later in life. Hence, you may not be genetically predisposed to being a confident person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t become one with practice and experience.

What are the signs of a  successful business owner?

One thing is for sure, lacking one of the powerful characteristics of a business owner listed below doesn’t make you a bad entrepreneur. There are hundreds of business owner traits and what matters is not how many of them you possess, but how you put the ones you have to work.

Stamina

Of all the characteristics of a successful business owner, this one is probably the most needed. The road of entrepreneurship is one bumpy ride and flat tires occur more often than you think. So having the stamina to not only survive but also thrive in difficult business situations is definitely imperative.

How many times you’ve heard about a successful entrepreneur losing billions only to come back richer than ever before? It’s because they had the stamina to sustain the blows.

Goal-setting mindset

Without a goal to reach, you’ll just wander around aimlessly never achieving anything of significance. It can be either a short-term or long-term goal, regardless of it, you must always have a goal in mind. Additionally, goals won’t work out themselves without a plan. So besides the goals, you must also have a plan for how to achieve them. 

Steve Jobs’ goal was to create the most practical, aesthetically-pleasing and quality smartphone in the world. And he did it, all because he possessed a goal-setting mindset.

Confidence

Have you ever seen a non-confident successful business owner? Me neither. 

Confidence can sell anything in the business world, even the worst idea or product. When your approach is shaky, you appear distrustful in your partners’ or clients’ eyes. And the last thing they want is to spend money on something you don’t even believe in. 

As one of the most important characteristics of a business owner, confidence radiates power and shows you’re in control. It makes people more susceptible to what you’re saying because they trust you.

Passion

One thing is for sure, you have to have passion for what you do in order to succeed. When you sincerely love and believe in your work nothing is too hard. Of all the traits that make successful business owners , this is possibly the most romantic one, but that doesn’t make it less valuable. 

The greatest ideas are born out of passion. The hardest obstacles are insignificant when you have passion in the heart. Real passion keeps you going no matter what.

However, if you’re not led by passion, you’ll sooner reach failure than success.

Risk-taking mindset

Simply put, nothing good ever comes out of staying in your comfort zone and not risking anything. Risk brings profit. If you’re not willing to risk in business you’ll regress instead of progress.

There’s an opportunity knocking on your door but you have to risk a big portion of your budget? Evaluate, calculate and if the win outweighs the loss, take the risk. Have the courage to step out of your comfort. Don’t be afraid to experience loss. That’s the whole point of business: losing and winning. In fact, sometimes in order to win you have to lose.

Adaptability

You can plan budgets, strategies, projects… write it all down on paper, but don’t ever fool yourself that you’re in control of everything. Life always happens and unpredicted things show up out of nowhere. Therefore, you need to adapt and be flexible. If you’re rigid, and you must have it your way or no way, then you’re doomed.

Look what it happened to Thomas Cook: a giant in the tourism industry brought to its knees because the management failed to adapt to the new streams and trends.

Conclusion

As humans, we’re blessed with the unlimited potential of growth. This list of characteristics of a business owner who strives for success is not definite. As an entrepreneur, it is your duty to explore your possibilities and master your skills in order to avoid all the myths of entrepreneurship out in the world .

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