Profile of the Successful Entrepreneur

Business come in all shapes and sizes. In western South Dakota as in the rest of America it is the small ones that contribute the most. According to the Small Business Association, entrepreneurial businesses account for 99.7 percent of our nation's employers, 54 percent of its employees and 52 percent of the sales. In fact our nation's buzzing hive of small businesses has been given significant credit for the United States' enduring economic boom. Realizing the importance of small business in our flourishing economy the question becomes: what makes a successful business leader?

If you aren't an entrepreneur yourself, you probably know someone who is. Their businesses range from accounting firms to bait and tackle shops, from landscape contracting to toy manufacturing. Each of these enterprises is the brainchild of someone. These "someones" share certain traits that include vision, tenacity, perseverance, self-assuredness and a tremendous tolerance for risk taking. They also must be able to zig and zag between success and failure without internalizing the stress.

The truth is that a person doesn't have to have an Entrepreneur's Degree to start a business. He or she doesn't have to become a journeyman or serve and internship. In fact, anyone, anywhere can hang out a shingle anywhere and join the ranks of the self-employed. Every day, thousands do just that. But it takes more than a good idea and financial backing to create success. It takes something special, something almost intangible.

The desire to understand the successful entrepreneur has fueled countless surveys and studies. Where are the nurturing grounds? What are the common traits? Who are the winners? Why? These are favorite questions of universities and business schools. The Small Business Administration, Dun & Bradstreet, even countries such as Japan, Germany and Italy expend enormous resources to find out what makes the thriving business founder function.

In scrutinizing the latest collection of reports, it becomes obvious that there are some distinct and consistent entrepreneurial characteristics. Sure, there are rogues who are more roguish than the rest, but for the most part the dissected small business owner has a heart (a little too small), a couple of lungs (the better to yell at you with), a lot of endurance and the following 10 characteristics:

• Entrepreneurs like to be in control. They like to make the decisions and reap the glories of their successes or take the rebukes of their failures themselves. They don't like being told what to do. This could be why many never graduate from college. In the past, there were countless stories of self-made millionaires who hadn't even finished high school. With the ever-increasing importance of technology however, that percentage is dropping dramatically.
• Those who succeed in their own businesses usually are not the best and the brightest, although they are close. They don't generally rank in the top percentages of their classes. Rather, they tend to fall in the middle to upper-middle sections. (See finding No.1)
• Successful business owners or founders have been that way since the get go. As children, many had their own small businesses such as lemonade stands, puppet shows or mowing lawns.
• As plentiful as small businesses are here in the United States, they aren't in other nations. Consequently, a high number of entrepreneurs tend to be children of immigrants who truly do see our nation as the "Land of Opportunity."
• Although money is a significant motivator, most successful business owners are fueled more by the thrill of success. The money is the score card, measuring that degree of success.
• The enterprising adult is most often the first born.
• Most think of entrepreneurs as high-risk takers. Not so. They do take risks but only calculated ones. They tend to see their business position from an overview. They know where it started, where it is and where it is going. Futuristic thinking is part of the daily process, not risk taking.
• Entrepreneurs love their work. They will work as long and as hard as the job at hand takes. Then they will immediately move on to another. They ten to be workaholics, putting in an average of 60 or more hours per week.
• A large percentage of business owners are married.
• Most entrepreneurs raise their initial start-up capital from friends and family. They finance the second round of growth with bank loans collateralized by everything the personally own. Thereby taking the risk of losing everything, home, cars etc.

There are other interesting commonalties. Most don't gamble on Las Vegas-type games or play the Lotto. Those who have held "real jobs" have been fired at least once. Rank and file entrepreneurs didn't enjoy participating in team sports or group activities when they were in school. Finally, most business owners tend to be stubborn, adventurous and have an adversarial relationship with their fathers.

Sound like someone you know? Sound like you? Don't take these generalities to be gospel. I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19 years old and I get along great with my dad. I always have. I'm also the third born. The truth is, I am one of the lucky ones. I have been doing what I love since the beginning of my working career. There are so many who can't say the same. For years they work in jobs that give them little reward. Would they be better off as entrepreneurs?

Think you got what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Find out by taking our quiz.