10 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is a person who uses their creativeness and innovation to organize ideas before effectively managing the start of a business and eventually running the business in order to monetize their ideas.

So that's the definition of an entrepreneur, what makes up the characteristics of an entrepreneur?

What is it about these people who come up with all these ideas and make you look bad by eventually making more money then you ever will at your regular job? (No offense!)

In the case of Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook), Evan Williams and Biz Stone (Twitter), they were all college dropouts! So a high quality education isn't absolutely necessary to be a successful entrepreneur - so what is it about these people that made them them think that there are bigger and better things out there than the almighty diplomas and benefits of a job?

Here are the 10 characteristics of most entrepreneurs:

1. You are driven by motivation and ambition
2. Highly disciplined
3. Leadership, planning, and management skills
4. You are proactive and take initiative
   
5. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others
6. Realize that success is the only option
7. Willing to exploit new opportunities
8. Knowledgeable of the subject matter and willing to learn more
9. You prefer the excitement of risk
10. You are committed no matter the obstacles

I believe we can all be creative and innovative - the default characteristics of an entrepreneur I believe we all share. We are all different whether it be in our knowledge, intellect, situation, or skill level, but those differences are where we derive our creative and innovative ideas from. If we are not all different, we would all have the same ideas and be doing the same thing.

We all have the ability to learn. If you lack some of the characteristics of an entrepreneur, or anything in general for that matter, there are always ways to acquire them. For example, if you do not have management skills you can always take a management class or ask for more managerial duties at your regular job. Or, if you generally don't like taking risks, learn about what makes it risky and find more information on it. The more you know, the more you can manage the risk. It's all about your determination and how much effort you put in.

Eventually, an entrepreneur must also start up the business and run it. They will have a lot of work and responsibility and bumps along the way, but the sweet taste of success is much stronger than any potential roadblocks. You need to have an entrepreneurial spirit that burns with passion for success from the start of an idea to the establishment of the business.

Entrepreneurs also share an emotional trait - optimism. Being negative and pessimistic about things just does not get you anywhere.

So "keep looking up, cuz that's where it all is!"

If you think you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur and have doubts about starting your own business, check out this article on Six Reasons to Start your own Business.