What drives the world’s top entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs drive the economy, even in tough times. Entrepreneurs push through economic slumps, using drive, creativity, initiative and, crucially, talking to the right people, to start their businesses.
As entrepreneurs, we face adversity, criticism and regulatory barriers. Those of us that succeed treat these as challenges, not problems. We leap over them and don’t give up, even if we are knocked back the first time. Or the second time.
Building demand for our products or finding that gap in the market, whichever route we take, we know that we’ll overcome. But what is it that continues to drive successful entrepreneurs, when so many give up?
While anyone with an idea can take it to a seed funding business like Rosemont Group Capital Partners and Rosemont Group Foundation, throwing money at an idea won’t make it a success. There has to be the innate talent of the creator there too.
When we think of entrepreneurship, it generally follows certain phases:
- New business stage – the start of it all. Innovation, creativity and drive marks this phase. Seizing opportunity even when there may not be an obvious route through is key.
- Structured phase – there’s a bigger focus on service, a slower rate of growth and innovation, decision making by more people and a team approach. This is where the entrepreneur shifts gears from the high of the initial phase to managing a company. Delegation, communication and team work becomes the focus.
Both phases have different demands for the entrepreneur – but they overlap in many cases. Building and maintaining relationships is always vital for the entrepreneur, whether to get the idea off the ground, or to shift the focus onto the future in the later phase.
How the entrepreneur responds to the demands of his or her start up will separate the successful from those that fail. This comes down to a mix of knowledge, experience and skills, as well as innate talent and ability.
And while dreams of success drive top level entrepreneurs, I’ve identified seven drivers that the world’s top entrepreneurs inhabit. Follow these tenets and you too could see yourself making a success of your dream.
- Understand your brand – successful enterprises are clear about who they are, what they can offer and they are able to communicate this to others. Crafting the persona you want other people to see as your brand and your start up is invaluable for your success. This personification of your brand will allow you to connect with investors, customers, suppliers and employees. You need to influence and motivate.
- Jump into challenges – you will have to constantly shift your thinking as challenges jump out at you along the way. There is always a risk in starting your own venture. Successful entrepreneurs innately understand the world they are launching into, are able to be flexible, deal with ambiguity and sometimes little resources. These are exactly the factors that put people off. Successful entrepreneurs turn towards these challenges, they seek them out and they understand that to win, they have to faced them.
- Think ahead – creative thinking beyond what already exists marks out a successful entrepreneur. Something hasn’t been done before? Good! That means there’s a gap for it to be done. Stretching the imagination and constantly looking at a product or service over and over with new eyes every time separates out those that succeed.
- Inhabit your brand – this is about communication and PR. The most successful entrepreneurs are their brand. This increases their chances of persuading the unsure, promoting their business and communicating their success.
- Retain focus – the most successful entrepreneurs judge every decision they make as a yes or no based on the possible effect on profit. They set their goals and they stay focused on them. No matter what.
- Never stop learning – the best and the brightest entrepreneurs know that they can always learn something new. They’re active and preoccupied students of their own business and constantly strive to get more input.
- Early stage self-reliance – in the start up stages, entrepreneurs find themselves taking on every duty you can think of. The successful among them are prepared to muck in and do whatever it takes. This sense of personal responsibility is what drives success. There is then a point where the self-reliance must shift to delegation, or the business will stall.
- Work on relationships – constantly building relationships is so important when it comes to building a business. You will have to interact with all kinds of different people at every stage. Winning entrepreneurs understand this and have no qualms about building relationships enthusiastically and effortlessly.
