What makes an entrepreneur?

Building a business is not a sprint, but a marathon, with hills, headwinds, heat and dust. The entrepreneur who succeed is not necessarily the fastest or the strongest, but one who is able to endure the ups and downs.

Find following eight suggested characteristics that make an entrepreneur resilient enough to go the distance in their business venture:

1. Possession of a strong internal sense of control

Resilient entrepreneurs are disciplined individuals whose working hours, pace, workload and output are not controlled by something imposed upon them from the outside, such as an employment contract, peer pressure, a boss or the clock on the wall.

2. Ability to diversify and expand

The more entrepreneurial type of business owner will constantly look for new markets, product lines and clients so that they have more than one income stream to fall back on.

3. Development of strong social connections

Resilient entrepreneurs constantly cultivate their networks of clients, suppliers, peers, friends and family, not only to promote their business and to support them emotionally, but also to learn, source new opportunities and keep updated with changes in the market.

4. Attitude of a survivor, not a victim

Setbacks are a certainty for any business, and when they do strike, a resilient entrepreneur will get up, dust himself off and move forward. They have little time for self-pity, and while they may be quick to apportion blame, the focus is on the action needed to get going again.

5. Skill to learn from setbacks

Resilient entrepreneurs have the ability to not only focus on what went wrong, but also on how to improve themselves or their business in order to avoid a repeat of the same setback.

6. Frugal and cash-flow conscious habits

Resilient entrepreneurs tend to adopt low-key lifestyles. The frugality of resilient entrepreneurs is linked to their tendency to keep the cash flow through their business top of mind. They save and cut costs where they can, but they do so sensibly without choking the growth of their business.

7. Ability to look at the bigger picture

A resilient entrepreneur however has the ability to see the bigger picture amid all the chaos of running a business. They have a clear picture of where the business will be in a year’s time, or even three, five or ten years’ time.

8. Attention to detail

Paradoxically, entrepreneurs who survive also have the ability to focus on the minutiae of the day-to-day running of the business, even as they keep a constant eye on their long-term goal.

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