10 traits of an entrepreneur

Unlock the traits of successful entrepreneurs – and how to become one

“Quality is not an act. It is a habit.” — Aristotle 

Success is always easy in hindsight. How many times have you said to yourself, “I thought of that years ago? If only I had ________!” Before success can happen, you must fill in that blank space.

Entrepreneurs are recognized by their process and accomplishments, but rarely do they share identical traits, experiences or challenges along their journey. What defines entrepreneur personality traits, in action, is the ability to fuse their unique X-factor with an unforeseen blank space in the marketplace.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON TRAITS OF ENTREPRENEURS?

Though successful business people come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds and personalities, there are some common traits of an entrepreneur that many of these great innovators share.

1. Passion

As Tony says, the Entrepreneur Playbook “starts with finding something that you are passionate about more than just yourself. An entrepreneur that gets in the business just to make money rarely does.” When you follow your passion, you’re connecting your goal – to start a successful business – back to your ultimate purpose in life, whether that’s to impact your community, achieve financial freedom or have more time to spend with family.

2. Innovation

There are those who are born to lead and think outside the box. These are the people who always seem to have a vision no one else has yet imagined and can either develop the right steps to get them there or find the people who can. These are the people who are natural innovators. They know that if you can deliver more value than anyone else in your industry, you will build a brand and you will dominate.

3. Hunger

These days, the most successful entrepreneurs are not only found in Silicon Valley, nor do they necessarily work in tech, but they do produce products and services that help provide greater meaning to people’s lives. One of the traits of an entrepreneur that makes a difference is hunger. The hunger to succeed destroys your fear of failure by giving you resolve and fastening you to an outcome. When you have the hunger to achieve, nothing will stand in your way.

TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR

4. Drive

One of the important qualities of an entrepreneur is finding a way to persevere even when you want to quit. How do you align what people need and want with your own vision? Making a plan is a strong start, but plans change. Develop a purpose and a vision that’s bigger than yourself, then create a map to get you there – this is the essence of drive. When you have a motive greater than money, you’ll put in the work necessary to succeed without complaint.

5. Dedication

You can have all the traits of successful entrepreneurs but still not succeed if you have not dedicated yourself to taking an active approach in creating a visionary business. When you develop a plan for a talkably different company and understand how it will impact people and make the world a better place, you become dedicated to a goal you can visualize and make a reality.

6. Authenticity

Authenticity is one of the most overlooked qualities of an entrepreneur – but it plays a large part in business success. Why? It helps you build deeper relationships with both your clients and your employees, building rapport and increasing your influence. Most customers will smell a lack of authenticity a mile away. Yet the more authentic you get, the more results you will see.

7. Resilience

Tony says that, “The person that keeps getting up is always going to win in the end.” To gain this resilience, you need experience – and failure. The ability to take chances, fail, find the lesson and get back up again is an essential trait of successful entrepreneurs. They are able to draw on a deep belief in themselves to fuel the inner strength that’s required to keep going. Business is a sport for gladiators, not the faint of heart. Are you a gladiator?

8. Persuasiveness

At one point or another, all business owners need to be salespeople, which is why persuasiveness is one of the important entrepreneur personality traits. When you want to convince an executive to carry your new product or get through to someone to make them see your perspective on the market, being able to convince others that your vision is valid is a key to success.

9. Self-awareness

Organizations are only as strong as the psychology of their leaders. You must be aware not only of your strengths, but of your weaknesses, so that you can hire people who are smarter than you. You must know what your skills are and what your partners’ skills are so that you can build a team of rockstars who balance you. Only then can you become an owner, not an operator.

10. Preparation

Winter is always coming. There will always be a reckoning. Most businesses will get scared, and that will be your greatest opportunity if you are prepared. You’ll need more than a plan to get from point A to point B – there are always unknowns in between those points that can derail a traditional business plan. Instead build a holistic business map so that you have a flexible, in-depth plan for many different scenarios. If you can do well during the tough times, you will dominate the good times.

Examples of successful entrepreneurs

What are the common traits of an entrepreneur? Sometimes the best way to answer that question is to take a look at famous examples.

J.K. Rowling

In 1993, J.K. Rowling was not just another struggling author living in London; she was a single mother surviving on welfare, fighting poverty and profound depression. Barely able to afford heat in her home, she would take long bus rides and sit in cafés and, while her baby daughter slept, diligently write the fantasy story she’d conceived of seven years earlier. The manuscript for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone received so many consecutive rejections, Rowling even resorted to submitting under a male pen name, just for the chance to be considered more seriously. What kept her going was the hunger to succeed and provide a better life for her family – and that hunger paid off. Rowling is now a world-famous author and philanthropist who is doing her part to change the world.

J.K. Rowling

Sara Blakely

Some brands become so fundamentally successful, they define their category in the minds of customers. Xerox, Kleenex and Starbucks have become colloquial shorthand for photocopies, facial tissues and coffee drinks. Now, as profiled in the WSJ, Sara Blakely’s Spanx has become the unlikely but unstoppable force redefining women’s undergarments.

Sara Blakely bounced from one entry-level job to another, working as a sales trainer during the day and performing stand-up comedy at night. By her own admission, Sara, “…didn’t know the first thing about the pantyhose industry.” While dressing for a party one night, she cut the feet from her pantyhose to smooth out her silhouette, but as the night wore on, she became obsessed with figuring out how to create a new form of undergarment that didn’t exist. With no background in fashion or retail, Blakely had only her idea and a singular drive to achieve – and little did she know that she was displaying one of the most important entrepreneur personality traits.

traits of successful entrepreneur

The initial concept burned through her $5,000 in savings over the next two years of research, planning and manufacturing as she simultaneously worked 9-5 at a day job to survive. From hawking her product at a folding table in the front of Neiman Marcus, to pitching live on QVC, to appearing on Richard Branson’s Rebel Billionaire reality show, Blakely battled her constant social anxiety to make brash, bold and industry-disrupting moves to get Spanx in front of potential customers and distributors. She even resorted to cold-calling hosiery mills directly, moving from one “no” to the next until landing on the one owner with daughters who immediately saw the brilliance in the idea. It was only drive, one of the traits of an entrepreneur, that kept her going.

Although she didn’t ultimately win on Rebel Billionaire, Branson was so impressed with Blakey’s remarkable, unstoppable spirit that he gifted her a personal check for $750,000 to fund a charitable foundation. Since exploding onto the marketplace into a billion-dollar business in over 60 countries, Blakely and her company have donated $17.5 million to empower young women in South Africa with educational scholarships.

Ursula Burns

In the summer of 1980, you would have found Ursula Burns bustling through the Xerox offices as an intern, eventually handling various roles in development and planning. She was making such consistent strides within the company that by 2000 she was not only named a Senior Vice President, but began a powerful partnership with then-present CEO Anne Mulcahy. This was a relationship that would blossom into a mentorship that would change Burns’ life forever.

Over the next decade, Burns dedicated herself to innovation and looked to Mulcahy as a role model for developing the traits of successful entrepreneurs. Burns not only reengineered the company’s supply chain and manufacturing, she also slashed operating costs by a third and overhauled product development – the very same department she interned in years before. By the time Burns made the product her primary focus, Xerox was bringing up to 40 new releases to market each year.

Having come from such humble and hard-working beginnings, Burns understood the power of people and the value of assembling, empowering and unleashing an amazing team. As the newly-appointed CEO, she developed and recruited a new generation of talent over the next decade and successfully transitioned Xerox away from a hardware-focused manufacturer to a more broadly-focused business services company. She embodied dedication – one of the most critical traits of an entrepreneur.

Not only was she dedicated to her vision, but she was also dedicated to her people and building a team that works. If you aren’t dedicated to those who help you achieve success, none of the other traits of an entrepreneur will matter. Successful entrepreneurs are not as concerned with what they get as they are with what they give – both to those who work for them and to the world as a whole. As Tony explains, “It’s not what we get, but who we become and what we contribute that gives meaning to our lives.”

What kind of entrepreneur are you?

Do you have these entrepreneur personality traits? Often, your number one strength is ironically the foundation of your most difficult challenge. Discovering what you will do, provide or create better than anybody else before you to provide the ultimate customer experience gives you an unbeatable edge – if you can overcome the ultimate test it manifests for you.

The traits of an entrepreneur place them above those who do not align more deeply with what creates success. These traits of successful entrepreneurs help them master meaning and create fulfilling lives as well as successful endeavors.

Entrepreneur personality traits may be a little different for everyone, but the above ten are very consistent when looking at the top entrepreneurs throughout history. When you are able to incorporate hunger, drive and dedication into your business map and use it to propel your success, you’ll supercharge your progress and become a true entrepreneur.

Ready to take the next step and become the entrepreneur you’ve always envisioned? Attend Business Mastery, a five-day live event with Tony that will provide the tools you need to succeed.

Ready to take the next step and become the entrepreneur you’ve always envisioned? Attend Business Mastery, a 5-day live event with Tony that will provide the tools you need to succeed.

Team Tony

Team Tony cultivates, curates and shares Tony Robbins’ stories and core principles, to help others achieve an extraordinary life.

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