8 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

According to the Small Business Administration, one third of all start up businesses fail within two years. Because of this fact, it's important to know what it takes to be a successful businessperson. Many people want to start a business but never take the time to learn what it takes as far as human traits to be a success. The good news is you do not have to be born with these qualities. You can learn them as part of your personality. You just need to know what they are.

Trait 1 - A take charge attitude. The successful entrepreneur has the initiative and drive, maybe even a compulsion, to run their own show. Even if they were an employee, they wanted to do their thing their way and not be told how to do it. They would take orders, but they preferred to give them.

Trait 2 - An ability to "think outside the box". While this is probably the biggest cliché of our time, it is true. The person who can see opportunities that others miss is at a great advantage in the world of business. Innovations would not happen without the innovators seeing things differently that the rest of us.

Trait 3 - Must be comfortable with mess. We aren't talking about a dirty desk or messy room here. We are referring to the concept of chaos. Life and especially the business a person starts will throw them many curveballs. The successful ones not only know that chaos and mess will happen, they like it.

Trait 4 - Genetically gifted with an entrepreneurial spirit. While there is not really a gene for an entrepreneurial spirit, the business person who succeeds seems to be born with this knack for business. Maybe they sold lemonade as a child, had a newspaper route, put on magic shows, whatever. Many entrepreneurs can remember back to their childhood's business endeavors.

Trait 5 - Are very tenacious. You may want to think of this ability as that of being persistent and having passion. When you start a business, there are a never ending series of problems and hurdles that crop up daily. The only way to complete the process of starting a business is to have the tenacity of a Pit Bull; another cliché.

Trait 6 - Be very self-confident. While many entrepreneurs have modest goals for their business, they have unending confidence that whatever they dream their business will become, they will pull it off. They believe that they are offering the world something of value and that the world will be a better place with their product or service.

Trait 7 - Learning from their failures. Let's face it, we all fail at times. The business person who learns from their failures is the business person who will succeed. They know success does not come without failing. The only failure they know is the failure of not trying.

Trait 8 - The dream but they are also practical. The entrepreneur is well aware that their dreams will not come without plenty of hard work and lots of research. They are not afraid to do plenty of both of these tasks.

There you have the eight traits of successful self-employed business people. Now that you know what it takes personally, are you willing to change your view of the world? Are you willing to improve in the areas you are deficient? To state another cliché, whatever you do, it's up to you!