What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur

Necessary Skills

Successful entrepreneurs have a range of beneficial skills, the lists provided by various sources can seem overwhelming. Therefore, we have stuck to a short-list of the most common associated characteristics.

• Innovative - Having new or different ideas and approaches
• Organised - Being able to successfully manage time and resources
• Risk-taker - Willing to take chances where you could lose everything
• Determination - Having the drive to follow through with ideas. Being willing to dedicate lots of time and energy into a project
• Leadership - There are different types of leader and you need to determine what works best for you and the business
• Decision-maker - Be able to make good and confident choices under varying amounts of pressure.
• Lucky - Quite often, luck plays a part in the success of an entrepreneur - although some would say it wasn't luck, but well-researched risk-taking.

What isn't listed above is the ability to determine your own weaknesses. This is necessary to ensure you recruit partners or employees that cover these areas on your behalf.

Exercise

Look at the skill list above. Think carefully, and truthfully, about your own abilities.

• Which of the traits do you have?
• Which skills do you lack, or which are your weakest?
• How could you counter this?
• Think about family and friends and try to identify who would be best to support your weaker areas?