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What Does It Take To Be A Successful Entrepreneur?

What Does It Take To Be A Successful Entrepreneur?

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Being your own boss is the new punk rock. You get to do whatever you want, make your own hours, and steer the ship wherever you want it to go.

You will have economic freedom as well as creative freedom. You'll get all the perks and still get to listen to all the good bands. 

The reality, however, is that starting your own business is not easy. 

Starting your own company and becoming an entrepreneur is an arduous and challenging yet rewarding journey. You will most assuredly have to go through hell before you get to paradise. 

Despite the startups you might see on tv shows where a group of buddies get together and start a million-dollar company overnight, most of us aren't that lucky. In fact, contrary to popular belief, luck has nothing to do with it. 

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What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur? 

While starting a business can be difficult, there are a plethora of guides and tips one can access to help them along the way. You will need a business plan, perhaps loans, and all that, but I don't want to spend too much time on those aspects. The truth of being able to give rise to a successful company is psychological. 

You do not need to have a revolutionary idea. You do not need to be the most intelligent, charming, creative, and interesting person east of the Mississippi. You don't need rich parents. You don't need to be a badass that can talk a dog off of a meat truck. You don't need to be the next Wolf of Wall Street.

All those things may help you, but they are not necessary. 

The one element of successful entrepreneurship is, without question, tenacity

Be prepared to get your ass kicked 

Why is tenacity the one key driving element of a successful startup? Because make no mistake of it, you will get your ass kicked, many times. If you are not prepared for war, then don't engage. 

Most businesses will fail within their first year. Many more will fail just a couple of years after that. A few will survive and live on. 

Yes, you need to implement good ideas, have good leadership, and have a good team of people who are smarter than you are, but in the end, it is all about how you deal with failure that will make or break you. 

Industries are constantly changing. Markets are constantly changing. Curve balls and roadblocks are the norms. If you get easily frustrated with the stress and anxiety of facing daily disruptions to your otherwise homeostatic life, then failure may be a short route for you.

However, if you can develop a thick skin, endure some bruises and scars, and still maintain your composure while learning as much as possible and always desiring self-improvement, you may be on your way to living your entrepreneurial dream.  

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, you may have a fresh start anytime you choose. For this thing that we call failure is not the falling down, it is the staying down." -Mary Pickford. 

Having the necessary resilience and tenacity isn't just about foolishly sticking to a concept that doesn't work. It isn't about being headstrong and stubborn either. It is about simply learning how to take a licking and keep on ticking. 

Know When To Jump Ship And Start Something New

You will need to have the inner strength to abandon something that doesn't work, even if you love it. You will recreate yourself and your business dozens of times before you find that perfect, optimized project that you can be proud of. 

You will also need to be fearless in exploring new grounds. Markets will evolve and change rapidly. In fact, all existing industries today are a red ocean, meaning that they are all currently known and competitive.

You may need to expand into new territory, sometimes into completely new terrain that you might have never dreamed about. Perhaps even into previously unexplored "blue oceans". 

Some entrepreneurs start out selling jewelry on Etsy, then years later find themselves investing in resorts in the Caribbean. Some may start with a mobile dog grooming business or an at-home hair salon, and wind up developing their own social media company or restaurant empire. 

Never back down from a challenge that could take you to amazing new places.

So, in conclusion, before starting your own company, make sure you have these qualities or are ready to obtain them. Once you understand this very simple philosophy, realizing that it is all about spirit and mindset, you will be on your way to the more technical, business end of entrepreneurship. 

Fortune favors the brave. 

If you enjoyed this article, check out Risk-Taking And Gambling Are Not The Same Thing. 

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