Characteristics of an Entrepreneur - Day 1

While researching the market for FullEmploy, I came across a claim that there are 16 Characteristics of a Business Owner. The majority of business owners are essentially entrepreneurs; so these became characteristics of entrepreneurs. The characteristics are:

1. Being Organised
2. Clarity
3. Communication
4. Confidence
5. Decisiveness
6. Delegation
7. Drive
8. Flexibility
9. Focus
10. Health & Fitness
11. Leadership
12. Open-mindedness
13. Optimism
14. Perceptiveness
15. Persistence
16. Risk Taking

The most recognisable characteristic is Risk Taking and the least recognisable one is, believe it or not, Leadership. When entrepreneurs start their careers few people believe in them let alone recognise them as Leaders. It's only when they succeed that people see them as Leaders - of innovation at least.

16 is a perfect square whose square root is 4. So in the next 4 days I'll be describing what these characteristics mean to me. On the 5th day I'll remove some characteristics that I think are identical and add more characteristics that I think are also relevant. So, I'll begin with day 1:

1. Being Organised - you can organise objects, activities, time, etc. This is akin to management e.g. management of objects is called Resource Management; activity management is called Project Management; time management doesn't have a posh name. You don't need to be a Resource Manager or a Project Manager as these can be delegated; you do need to know what's involved in order to control them. So when an entrepreneur organises activities, he/she has to know how they fit together and what the expected results are before delegating them to a Project Manager. When people see you as being organised, they see see you as being in control which inspires confidence and puts you in a Leadership position.
2. Clarity - you need to be clear on what you want to achieve overall, the Aims & Objectives i.e. the stepping stones on how to get there; and the methods of solution to achieve the Aims & Objectives. You also need to show that clarity to the people you delegate work to. This inspires confidence and is seen as a mark of Leadership. Clarity is also needed during negotiations which is not included as a characteristic. However, an entrepreneur needs to be a skilled negotiator in order to get their idea accepted let alone funded.
3. Communication - once you're clear on your overall vision and its constituent Aims & Objectives and techniques, you need to communicate them to the people who'll eventually do them. You must make sure that they understand what's expected of them. During execution the people who do the work will report on progress at regular intervals. This time you have to show them that you understand what they're reporting. With the best will in the world, sometimes resources and techniques don't work according to plan and you have to be prepared to be flexible. Clear, concise communications delivered confidently can inspire confidence and increase the chances of success. Maybe communications replaces negotiations as a characteristic.
4. Confidence - this has to be the result of delivering the other characteristics. It's easy to look confident when you know what you're doing i.e. when you're clear about your Aims & Objectives and the techniques of achieving them. However, expressing an air of confidence for the sake of it, can lull you, and others, into a false sense of security and, if the people you're dealing with eventually find out, you'll lose your reputation. Many people "fake it till [they] make it". This should be done as a last resort after everything else has failed. Confidence is a component of other characteristics:
   a) Communication: you need to communicate confidently as well as clearly
   b) Decisiveness: you must make decisions with confidence which shows the other parties involved that you're serious and that you know what you're doing.
   c) Delegation: when you give people work to do, as well as communicating what's required clearly, it needs to presented confidently.
   d) Flexibility: Although you may need to accommodate other people's ideas but you believe their suggestions are out of place, communicating these facts clearly and confidently will make them accept your methods more easily. I've always advocated involving the workforce from the earliest opportunity.
   e) Leadership: clarity, confidence, decisiveness, flexibility, etc together make a leader. One of these characteristics alone doesn't quite cut it.
   f) Optimism: this is almost synonymous with confidence except that optimism is descriptive whereas confidence is conveyed through body language and tone of voice.
   g) Persistence: being able to continue in the face of setbacks enhances other people's confidence in you.
   h) Risk Taking: your confidence motivates others to share the risk with you.

As you may have guessed, the words in red will be discussed later on. So until tomorrow, have a great time.