Business Owners and Entrepreneurs are NOT created equal!

Quite simply, business owners and entrepreneurs are not created equal.

Now, before you get all defensive on me, because, judge for yourself…..

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most proficient, rate yourself for possessing the following traits - that are in no particular order.

· Imagination ______

· Perseverance______

· Risk taking ______

· Creative and Innovation ______

· Try new things ______

· Balance ______

· Naps ______

· Possesses Character ______

· Inquisitive ______

· Forward Thinking ______

· Planner and Goal Setter______

· Maximizes Opportunities ______

· Evaluates Successes/Failures ______

· Positivity / Attitude ______

· Intuition ______

· Visionary ______

· Strong Communicator (of vision*) ______

· Passionate ______

· Drive ______

· Leadership ______

· Decision Maker ______

· Team Builder ______

· Rise above Detail ______

· Attention to Detail ______

· Commitment ______

· Capability ______

· Accountable /Responsible ______

· Seeks Advice/Mentoring ______

· Forever Student ______

· Financially Astute ______

· Technologically Advanced ______

· Self Aware ______

· Informed ______

· Self Reliance ______

· Strong Belief System ______

· Confidence ______

· Collaborator and Sharer ______

· Teacher/Mentor /Coach ______

· Urgency ______

· Persistence ______

How did you do? Did you rate yourself 5 and above on the majority of them? Did you fall just short of that on few or many of them? Were you honest with yourself? I mean, there are no right or wrong answers to this assessment it is merely to make you aware of where you are today and what opportunity you have going forward. Remember, knowledge is power and now you have both.

The majority of business owners that come to my seminars, workshops or speeches on this subject all raise their hand when I ask “Who in this room is an entrepreneur?” When our session is over and we revisit that question, about half of the room will realize that they are not, or at least not to the degree they thought they were. And you know what, that is okay. Self-awareness is an entrepreneurial trait, so they are on their way.

Regarding the above, some would argue that you need to be able to score high in all of these traits to be a true entrepreneur. If you were, the training and personal and professional development industry would be extinct since they would have no one to train. Others would argue that you must at minimum possess Commitment, Passion, and Leadership as the top 3 traits (results of a survey we did in Spring 09 and LinkedIn Discussions).

I myself would feel that the three ‘must haves’ are - Risk Taking, Accountability, and Creativity.

No matter whose opinion you want to follow the above are all traits that differentiate business owners and their businesses over and above others in their industry.

Call to Action:

-Assess yourself now with the above listing
-If you want a real picture, ask friends and business peers to rate you.
-Formulate a training and development plan that will allow you to develop any skills and traits that you may not currently master. I mean, we need to keep the training and development industry humming, don’t we!
-Assess yourself again in six months and see where you stand

Every business owner can learn and develop entrepreneurial skills. Though some will argue that entrepreneurs are born, I believe they are both born with some innate traits and characteristics while they also learn and are trained in other skills. The critical thing here is that they trained and developed themselves in order to gain the biggest advantage in starting, managing and growing their business (and many others).

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