Dec 20, 2021

Entrepreneurs are not made in Heaven; they are Man-made

One old saying is “The mind is its place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven”. How would we describe this proverb? No scholarship is needed for this. Yes, when one is daydreaming with open eyes it needs a different approach by his subconscious mind. Often we have heard that dreaming big is fertile and the fruits of efforts bring us success in a given time, but very few people get a chance to reap the harvest which they dreamed of in the past so that a big success they can get in future.

Since I am a professional entrepreneur so I have to be there with the same line of philosophy. In this line, we heard that in the same industry one goes IPO and the other goes bankrupt. Thousands of examples are there to differentiate the logic of what is best in a man and what goes worst with the others. Here, today I am writing about an entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task but how we can find such differentiation which puts us in a different but bright candle.

If you say, creativity is the indicator of what makes you a successful entrepreneur, then what about that if you are a creative person, everyone in this world has some creativity to perform. Despite a small creature weaving a beautiful nest, he does not get the status of an entrepreneur. What then does it take to become a successful one?

Believe me, it is not easy to say that you are an entrepreneur. Yes, definitely this statement will hurt your ego deeply.  This is what makes our momentum a swing, this or another way our ego gives us a swing in our efforts.

During my tenure with previous employers, I worked with many businessmen.  Yes, they were successful businessmen but not an entrepreneur.  Does it mean a successful businessman is not an entrepreneur?  In my way, yes they are not.

They were good businessmen because they were very creative, passionate, Adaptable, full of Stamina, Ability to delay gratification, Curiosity about everything, Determination in planning, Competitiveness as regards to business, Risk-taker, they were Proactive learners, Authentic, Effective communicators, Selflessness i.e. no greed for money, Self-motivated, Optimistic, Empathy for people, so they were with great people skills, Active participant in various activities, Commitment, Good Networking skill, Open for help, Person of action, Never-ending improvement, Confident, Tirelessness, Bless Empowerment, Desire to learn, enough Grit, handle stress more effectively and report higher levels of physical and mental well-being, Adventurous, great Ambitious, fire like Desire.

Above 33 elements of characteristics make a successful businessman so what is needed to elevate to a throne of Entrepreneurship?

Let’s hang out for getting our desired answer.  Here are a few traits that will go in different directions and pace up towards conclusive and molded thoughts. Here are 17 characteristics that will let you towards entrepreneurship.

  •  Patience
  • Decisive
  • Clear Vision
  • Consciousness
  • Professionalism
  • Planning
  • Growth Mindset
  • Accepting Feedback
  • Goal-Oriented
  •  Discipline
  • Not Taking Things Personally
  • Leadership
  • Consistency
  •  Low mental switching Costs
  • Level Headed
  • Conclusion
  • Willingness to listen

 No doubt passion is one of the important qualities that a person should carry, enough energy is needed to carry a heavyweight passion. But, sometimes our passion leads us towards on a highway where we forget to put away our pressure from the accelerator and speed become crazy. So, here we must have control over our speed and we should continue with the speed which we can control. Patience drive that controls the mind and controls our emotions. You will see that Passionate people are emotional because they only think in a direction without thinking about the things they have on the left or right side. 

Out of 17 traits only 6 is needed to become a great Entrepreneur

  • ü  Patience
  • ü Clear Vision
  • üPlanning
  • ü  Discipline
  • ü  Consistency
  • ü  Willingness to Listen

 

Patience:  Your patience controls the madness & helps us to stay at a controllable speed. “Good things come to those who wait” might be the biggest cliché but it’s undoubtedly true that people who are willing to wait are claiming larger rewards and built our minds focused on our vision.

 

Clear Vision: Successful entrepreneurs possess undisputable vision. They identify opportunities, break new ground and disrupt industries. As true visionaries, they’re not afraid of taking calculated risks to achieve their objectives. Perhaps most important of all, they tend to carry a sense of purpose and unflappable self-confidence, ignoring the naysayers and accomplishing what no one else has done before.

 

Your intuition should be your compass, pointing you in the direction of possibilities that no one else has discovered. In the end, you have to be able to present your vision to employees and investors to collaborate to achieve the same goal.

 

Planning: As an entrepreneur, the most important step in running a business is planning. All will be a loose string without preparation, as they say, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Planning requires devising a strategy for the whole game ahead of time. It essentially adds up all of the tools available to you and allows you to conceive a structure and thinking process for achieving your goal. A business Model is an outcome of an idea or concept but planning helps it to make it an MVP. You can change the plan for making the strategies for better execution but cannot change the model. Planning leads to strategies, strategies help you live the thoughts in the market and run the model in a live case scenario. Every startup needs this kind of pace.  So, give a gestation period for every plan and execute the strategies in that period. See the result and align.  In a real scenario, if we are talking about retail business, any plan/strategy should be put to execution at least 6 months and reviewed and aligned for further action.

 

It is true that each strategy or planning has to pass through four tests i.e. Think, Plan, execute and review

But you have to decide the time gap between each of their sequence. A quarterly Review is advisable when you are going for the next level of business development.  Give a minimum of six months’ time to your planning.

 

Discipline:  This is part of Process and systems.  All SOPs prepared and implemented is part of discipline. Discipline is the first step to having anything or being anything you want in life. It’s the ability to wake up every morning and do what you said you are going to do that day, and do that every day. Having discipline will help you continuously grow your business in the long run.

 

Hence, the necessity for discipline implements in what are the characteristics of an entrepreneur list. Discipline is something you can fall back on when times get tough, fuels your daily actions, and will help you take small steps forward daily. Discipline also helps set the tone for your team and gives you power and ownership over your life. Every moment of the business cycle goes through this trait. Discipline makes a man perfect and for a successful entrepreneur, discipline is the foremost need. Take it and make it your daily habit.

 

Consistency:  What is consistency?  It is something that makes you habitual or helps your habits to make your discipline?  If you live a disciplinary life you are making things consistent. Without a doubt, another crucial characteristic of an entrepreneur is consistency. You have to consistently parent your business with the same tenacity parents grow their children. It requires commitment, investment, empathy, perseverance, and putting the goals of the business as a priority as a consistent goal. It might look like a tall order and it requires so much of an entrepreneur but is rewarding in the long term.

 

Consistency of decision is a must in business.  You can go for change your strategy just because of thoughts your mind is thinking day and night.  A businessman can do this because his nature of the business allows him to do but an entrepreneur never does this because he has to scale his business for larger prospects and for the benefit of his stakeholders.

 

Willingness to Listen:   I have seen many businessmen struggling with this trait because they do not listen to their managers, or stakeholders because of their own superiority complex.  I have seen leaders struggling to establish systems and processes in their organization because of the limited thought process they carry.  It is true that no one is perfect in this world and we cannot expect that multitasking is good for the organization.  No, it is not, why should we listen to our downline?  They are not in the organization to advise or teach us that how to implement and execute things.  Yes, a businessman does think this way but not an entrepreneur.

 

Entrepreneurs listen to their downline and the board members of their company, their stakeholders, and even their customers because solutions will come only from the horse’s mouth. After all, they have to execute and run their department and they know it very well. We cannot hire people to learn from us, we hire them to run the company in the best way they can do it with less effort.

 

Communicating with highly successful individuals in your industry will bring to your attention the importance of willingness to listen. People are lifelong learners when surrounded by people who can teach them new things. Being an amazing public speaker is a must, but the other half of effective communication is listening. Hence, entrepreneurs must leave egos at the door and be willing to be persuaded of alternate evidence and new ideas.

You will be surprised to hear that a Kirana Retailer (grocery retailer, Kiranawala) carries the above 50 features. And they are the true entrepreneurs in the true sense. The task I am giving you and please try to add all the properties and compare that these are suitable for the grocery retailers in the great ocean of knowledge. Since I am working with grocery retailers, I can match all the above traits and I can say that they are the true entrepreneur. No matter they are a small seller or a big, they are the businessman and his last survivable qualities make him a true entrepreneur.


I have seen people moving from a businessman to an entrepreneur and tried to know the difference between the two. I think one must go through the above 50 characteristics which will surely help you to increase your knowledge to reach the ultimate goal of the business pyramid and to see success through the lens of entrepreneurship.

Kindly write your comment on this article and how you find it suitable to vest the best part for yourself and forward others to their stupendous success.

Reference :  taken from https://enterpriseleague.com from their blog /blog/characteristics-of-an-entrepreneur/


Best of luck in your endeavor and stay in touch with me.  This is Balwant Singh Rana, Cofounder & Director - Kirana King, Jaipur (Transforming Grocery Retail in India). Write to me : email parjakalyanm@gmail.com

Article by Balwant Singh Rana on : 11.10.2020 and publish on blog : 20.12.2021





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