Whether you’re just getting into the game or you’re a seasoned pro, you probably know that being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. It takes a special kind of person with a certain set of personality traits to be able to ride this emotional rollercoaster and come out on top.
As an entrepreneur who has started several small businesses over the years, I’ve come to find that for any founder – young or old – to be successful, they must have passion, motivation and persistence, which all play into one another.
1. Passion
You don’t necessarily need a lot of money or funding to make your idea work. Many successful entrepreneurs identified a need in the marketplace and set out to fill it, leveraging whatever resources were available. I bootstrapped my current business, Insightly, with virtually no capital for the first nine months from my basement.
I lived frugally and concentrated all of my time and energy into building my product. Being self-motivated is important, but it’s just as important to surround yourself with passionate people. Keeping good company with people who share your ideals will only help you grow professionally and personally.
Takeaway: Find your passion and stop at nothing to make it happen.
2. Motivation
Passion will feed into an entrepreneur’s motivation to grow his business. Starting out, my motivation was to build a viable business. As that dream started to become more of a reality, it motivated me to want to take it to the next level, which resulted in moving my family and my business across the world from Perth, Australia to San Francisco. It takes gumption, and a little bit of craziness thrown in for good measure, to take the leap most entrepreneurs have to take in order to bring a business to its full potential.
Takeaway: Keep yourself motivated to achieve whatever goal you’ve set for yourself; once you reach it, set another.
3. Persistence
I’ve witnessed far too many entrepreneurs give up once things started to get tough. No one said starting a business would be easy. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Building a business has its ups and downs. It’s during those lulls that a true entrepreneur is tested.
To be successful, you need to work hard at your business, and you may need to work at it for a long time. Having the ability to maintain a strong will and drive, even when it seems things are at their worst, will prove to be the ultimate test.
Takeaway: Keep the end goal in mind, especially when things aren’t going the way you had planned.
Not every entrepreneur will be successful, but the possibility of failure doesn’t mean you should shy away from trying something new. In the end, you’ll either come out a successful entrepreneur or you’ll be wiser from the experience.