The entrepreneur conveys confidence, passion, and mission. They are leaders, motivators and customer champions. They make others drool. Whether you work for yourself or for another, there is an entrepreneurial spirit waiting to be awakened and realized. And, when you do, you will be glad because your life will be so much better and so will your business, whether as an owner or employee!
You make yourself an entrepreneur vs. being born that way by being fully responsible for your actions, results. You create your role not only with your customers but also with your company—whether you own the company or not so that you make a real contribution as you continuously grow.
Characteristics of entrepreneur:
1. Functioning in your position/your territory as if you owned the company. You may not be making the biggest bucks or rubbing elbows with the board, however, you own your actions. No excuses.
2. Because you own and are fully responsible for your actions, how you think and feel and what you create, you are the bottom line whether you’re talking about product/service sold including money spent to achieve those goals. It’s after you recognize this key characteristic of your own accountability that you can earn your customer’s respect, trust and business—not before!
3. You have a strong belief that no one owes you a living. You are the master of your own ship and the captain of your own trip!
33 qualities of an entrepreneur:
1. They believe in themselves and find opportunities to exhibit their spirit!
2. They respond vs react to people, situations, customers. The constantly evaluate their thoughts and actions to make certain they are moving towards what they really want vs. negative goal setting.
3. They have laser focus on what they really want and can block the “stinking thinking” from side-tracking them.
4. They know how to prioritize their life and then use discipline to focus on achieving the results they want rather than worrying about time.
5. They understand what their customers really need vs want. A customer must have their needs met but a want is always negotiable.
6. They are an expert in their field of endeavor (sales, customer care, marketing, etc) and if they aren’t, will take measures to make themselves such.
7. They are an industry expert through extensive reading, attending trade shows and conferences, not just as an exhibitor but as an attendee.
8. They continuously evaluate their customer mix in order to have more than 1 egg in the basket.
9. They continuously look for new business opportunities through networking and prospecting.
10. They are an “unpaid” consultant to their customers.
11. They reduce “emergencies” in their life and business so that can focus on what they really want. Process management is always being refined and reviewed.
12. They never stay stagnant but continuously move physically and emotionally towards what they really want.
13. They enjoy challenges and see these as opportunities to grow rather than personal assaults.
14. They know how to motivate themselves to achieve their goals. They don’t seek or enjoy parental coaching from sales manager or boss. They create an all star coaching relationship with their manager or coach vs. waiting till they must enroll in remedial coaching.
15. They are not motivated by fear, they are motivated by passion. They know that procrastination and threats from management are not sustainable for a successful future as these only bring resentment and anger.
16. They wake up each morning ready to create something wonderful. This acts as a self-motivator and instills leadership skills.
17. They can break down large goals into doable steps in order to minimize overwhelm.
18. They know the metrics and milestones for success in their business.
19. They evaluate their actions to make sure these are producing the results they want so they are not working harder, they are working smarter.
20. They do not change their goals in order to justify their actions.
21. They have a “Must make it happen” attitude and believe that attitude is 95% of success is aptitude is the other 5%.
22. They don’t make excuses or whine, they get out and find a way to make things happen.
23. They see problems as opportunities whether the problems are their own or their customers. Blame is not an issue and finger pointing never comes up.
24. They know what is at stake in each customer encounter and create a “team” of those they need for information and cooperation in order to solve the customer’s problem.
25. They easily adapt to change and see this as a way to grow rather than more work.
26. They know how to create customer outcomes that address the needs of their customers and gain conceptual agreement from those customers in order to be a priority with those customers.
27. They sell feelings and emotions not only to their external customers but also to their internal customers.
28. They are continuously identifying what is of “value” to their customers rather than trying to sell a product or service.
29. They are willing to learn new industry information, acquire new skills relating to their field and stretching themselves to become more, not only for themselves but also for their customers.
30. They acknowledge their feelings vs reacting to them.
31. They take risks—some small, some larger. They realize that some things will go perfectly and some things will need some re-adjustment and change.
32. They might get beaten but they never get beaten down. Tomorrow is always a new day and why wait till tomorrow.
33. They know that what they think and what they say and what they do must be congruent because this is how they truly serve their customers.
Linda Talley
Speaker and Business Coach
