| Being an entrepreneur is tough business. In almost | | | | persistence to find people who are willing to listen to |
| every industry, becoming an entrepreneur means | | | | them. They sell the vision. |
| that you take on a ton of risk without being able to | | | | 3. Ability to Sell. You must be able to sell your idea to |
| have a clear path of where you are going. In the | | | | get funding. You must be able to sell your company |
| internet startup and internet marketing space, it is | | | | vision to attract top tier talent. You must be able to |
| not nearly as romantic as it sounds. You often hear | | | | sell your product in order to get revenue. Everything |
| about garage entrepreneurs who start businesses in | | | | in the business world is a value exchange. If the value |
| their house, eat nothing but ramen for 6 months, and | | | | I give you in my product has a perceived value equal |
| become full fledged successes. What people don't | | | | to the money you give up for it, a transaction is |
| know is that a lot of those over night successes | | | | made. |
| were 5-10 years in the making. It take a special | | | | 4. Leadership. You must be able to communicate |
| individual to succeed as an entrepreneur: | | | | your vision to the people who work with you. More |
| | | | and more corporations are realizing the importance of |
| 1. Tenacity. You have to be able to feel and the fear | | | | leadership especially in the middle manager ranks and |
| and do it anyways. Whether it is making that cross | | | | are looking to the army reserve to fill that void. |
| country trip to meet with top tier investors, Cutting | | | | 5. Hustle. This is another name for street smarts. You |
| your staff by 50% because you didn't make your | | | | have to be informed and be able to take limited |
| numbers, or closing a sales account, you have to be | | | | resource to create miracles. The majority of the time |
| able to move in the face of rejection. Entrepreneurs | | | | you will be underfunded, understaffed, and |
| have to constantly be able to pivot. Truth is, most | | | | undervalued; the mark of a great entrepreneur is to |
| businesses don't end up how they first envision it. | | | | make value out of something that wasn't there |
| Microsoft started out selling a programming language | | | | before. |
| and only after landing the DOS contract with IBM | | | | When you look at the great entrepreneurs of our |
| were they on the path to where they are today. | | | | time; Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and |
| 2. Persistence. This relates to tenacity. Entrepreneurs | | | | Jeff Bezos, you will see that they have most of |
| are often met with significant challenges that require | | | | these qualities. The thing that makes them great is |
| them to push through by pivoting and finding creative | | | | that they had these qualities and were also involved |
| solutions to difficult problems. First time entrepreneurs | | | | in great markets. They were also able to recruit the |
| who seeking venture capital know that it takes | | | | team to make it happen. |