I’m a huge fan of people starting their own businesses. After reading The $100 Startup
(if you haven’t read it, go pick up a copy right now), I truly believe that anyone can start a side business and grow it into something substantial. I started a blog carnival submission service which became profitable within a few months and I’m always exploring other opportunities. I’ve reached a $10,000 side business goal several years in a row.
Have you been feeling the urge to kick your day job to the curb and start your own venture? Does you lay awake at night thinking about the possibility of starting your own business and being your own boss? I definitely have the entrepreneur itch, and if you exhibit any of the following symptoms, you should start thinking about launching your own business.
You’re Self Motivated
Self-motivation is the most important characteristic of a successful entrepreneur. We’ve all experienced the feeling on just not wanting to work for a certain period of time. But as an entrepreneur, you don’t have a choice. You are the boss and there will be no one standing over your shoulder barking out orders. But if you don’t work, you won’t make any money.
The fate of your business is left in your hands and your hands only. You have to be able to work alone and motivate yourself to do the not-so-fun stuff.
You Go Above and Beyond
If you spend extra time on projects without being asked or paid – you’re going above and beyond. Not having to rely on the direction of a superior is a good sign you’re ready to be your own boss. You want things to be done right because that’s how they should be done. If you start a business, nobody will care more about it than you will. You have to be willing to do the work when nobody else wants to so that it comes out perfectly, just like you imagined.
Entrepreneurs generally enjoy doing their work and doing it well. This sometimes means putting in extra unpaid hours to make sure the job is done exceptionally well. This is a superb trait to have as a small business owner.
You Like to Improve Things
Entrepreneurs like to improve things. They see the weak spots in products or services and formulate a plan to improve. If you’re constantly pitching ideas to your employer about how he could improve his business product, you may have the necessary skills to start your own thriving business. If you like tinkering and making things more efficient, you may have what it takes.
You Are Impatient
While patience is often a virtue, when it comes to business, being patient and lettings things happen to you instead of attacking them can be a curse. With my blog carnival business, I went out and found business. I guest posted, I emailed people I thought could use my service, and it worked perfectly. Had I been patient after an initial slow day, I would have shut the business down and considered it a failure after months of nobody signing up.
Every business faces their own set of unique problems. It’s how you deal with those problems that sets you apart. Entrepreneurial spirits don’t let small hiccups gets bigger. They fix them immediately so that they don’t grow.
You’ve Found Your Calling(s)
If you’ve found work that you are absolutely in love with (and that is somewhat profitable), your ambition alone could fuel the fire for success.
Something magical happens when you do work that you enjoy – you begin to excel and gain momentum. You put in those extra hours to perfect your craft and therefore establish an incredible reputation for yourself.
If you’ve found something that you love doing then you’ll probably be committed to putting in the initial time investment that often goes unpaid. When I started this blog, I put in 30-40 hours a week without even realizing that I could make money. It wasn’t until 8 months later that I made my first $50 and it’s sort of blown up since then.
One Word of Caution
If these five signs fit you to the letter, then yes, you probably are cut out for entrepreneurship. However, this doesn’t mean you should just up and quit your day job without the means to support yourself financially. Ease into entrepreneurship and try building a business in your spare time, in evenings and on the weekends. Save up some money and start your own business with firm feet on the ground. Small steps in the right direction can lead to something big over time.
Put in the work to fuel your entrepreneurial life and with time you’ll get to where you want to be. There’s no better place to get started than here and now.
Are you cut out to be an entrepreneur?
I like this post a lot. I think it brings together a lot of qualities that are likely found in successful entrepreneurs. The only item that I found which is noticeably absent is a tolerance for risk. Becoming an entrepreneur will involve taking on some level of risk, often substantial, and you have to be able to tolerate that. For me, this was probably a show stopper.
That’s a really good point, it’s probably why a lot of the successful entrepreneurs are fairly young or fairly wealthy, where the downside is smaller. If you’re 35, married and have kids, taking the risk and not bringing in as much income for a few years while you attempt to make something big is a much larger drawback than it is for the single 25 year old.
Great post! I have not heard of The $100 Startup but it looks like a good book. Thanks for the recommendation! And good luck with your goals for this year and next!
An additional useful trait for entrepreneurship is a high tolerance for rejection / failure.
Every failure is an opportunity to learn, and one step closer to success. But you have to have the mindset to pick yourself up and soldier on, or it will surely defeat you.
I hope so. Have done it for 4 years now and it’s been a sweet ride. Even if you don’t have all the qualities, hard work and determination are really helping
I am a big fan of trying something before you leap. I made sure I loved my online work before I gave up my “real” job. When it was obvious that I could do it for the long haul and make more than enough, I let go of the other branch. Yep, I am a monkey when it comes to money…don’t let go of one source branch before making sure the other one is solid.