It is widely known that many venture capitalists would rather invest in an excellent entrepreneur with a mediocre idea, instead of a mediocre entrepreneur with an excellent idea. This is because they know that it is more important to invest in the person than the idea.
However, what makes an entrepreneur excellent? If a person is essentially the sum of his habits, it would make sense to find out what are the common habits of a successful entrepreneur.
1. They are constantly selling something
A company can only grow as fast as their sales figures. And for a start up, the majority of its sales are typical done by its founder. As a result, you would soon notice that a successful startup that is growing rapidly is almost always helmed by an entrepreneur who is able to sell.
Successful entrepreneurs are always selling something. They can be pitching their product, casting their vision, up-selling their company, pushing their job openings or doing all of them at the same time!
How else can an entrepreneur convince investors to buy into their company or persuade a customer to select their products? Even asking great people to take a pay cut to join your start up team requires a great deal of selling!
If you’re looking to be an entrepreneur, sales is the one skill set you cannot afford to ignore. And if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you first need to be an excellent sales person.
2. They are learning new things regularly
Entrepreneurs are daredevils that are willing to go where no one has gone before. That is what makes them entrepreneurs in the first place. They open to try and learn new things, challenge the status quo.
The successful entrepreneurs are usually those who keep these streaks even when they become successful. This is why Steve Jobs decided to challenge the cell phone industry or why Sir Richard Branson is involved in services that ranges from aerospace transportation to gym memberships.
These people just never stop learning!
3. They are able to balance a long term vision with short term execution
There are three types of people in this world. There are the planners and the doers. And then there are the entrepreneurs, who can plan what they want to do, and then do it.
Entrepreneurs that are too focus on planning usually never start off with their business eventually. On the other hands, entrepreneurs who are doers usually find themselves behaving more like a self employed instead of running a business.
Successful entrepreneurs are able to execute their plans to take the business live in the first place, while at the same time think of ways to automate the system and remove themselves from the business so that it can run without their involvement.
4. They are able to build and surround themselves with great teams
Great entrepreneurs know that huge success can only be found in the presence of great teams. Any entrepreneur with a big vision knows that it is absolutely essential to be able to find the right people to bring it forward.
5. They are not afraid to delegate tasks
With teams in place, a successful entrepreneur also plays the dual role of a leader. They delegate and manage the workload of themselves and their people carefully so they do not get burned out, and neither do their hires.
The mediocre entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of attempting to do everything alone at the start. When they finally conceded that it is impossible to continue doing this in the long run, they would then hire someone else and throw everything onto them!
However, given the steep learning curve, it would be no surprise to anyone that the new hires would usually mess up slightly at the initial stages. Soon after, you will see the entrepreneur regretting the hire and decide to take back the work load, causing the entire cycle to repeat itself again.
6. They do not shun responsibility
As a company grows, mess is bound to happen. However, a good entrepreneur does not hide from his mistakes. He takes ownership and responsibility even if he was not the individual that created it. This is because he knows that every mistake at the incubation stage of the company may prove to be fatal.
Entrepreneurs who are not ready to take up responsibility will prefer to return to employment which allows them to hide behind company policies and bureaucracy.
7. They dare to make the tough decisions
At the end of the day, entrepreneurs are faced with many tough decisions. Which route of expansion should they pursue or which business opportunity should they pick up or decline? A successful entrepreneur does not flick from making the tough and unpopular decision such as closing down a department or rejecting a business deal.
*This post originally appeared on wealthmastery.sg