Motivation

Entrepreneurs are enthusiastic, optimistic and future-oriented. They believe they’ll be successful and are willing to risk their resources in pursuit of profit. They have high energy levels and are sometimes impatient. They are always thinking about their business and how to increase their market share. Are you self-motivated enough to do this, and can you stay motivated for extended periods of time? Can you bounce back in the face of challenges?

Creativity and Persuasiveness

Successful entrepreneurs have the creative capacity to recognize and pursue opportunities. They possess strong selling skills and are both persuasive and persistent. Are you willing to promote your business tirelessly and look for new ways to get the word out about your product or service?

Versatility

Company workers can usually rely on a staff or colleagues to provide service or support. As an entrepreneur, you’ll typically start out as a “solopreneur,” meaning you will be on your own for a while. You may not have the luxury of hiring a support staff initially. Therefore, you will end up wearing several different hats, including secretary, bookkeeper and so on. You need to be mentally prepared to take on all these tasks at the beginning. Can you do that?

Superb Business Skills

Entrepreneurs are naturally capable of setting up the internal systems, procedures and processes necessary to operate a business. They are focused on cash flow, sales and revenue at all times. Successful entrepreneurs rely on their business skills, know-how and contacts. Evaluate your current talents and professional network. Will your skills, contacts and experience readily transfer to the business idea you want to pursue?

Risk Tolerance

Launching any entrepreneurial venture is risky. Are you willing to assume that risk? You can reduce your risk by thoroughly researching your business concept, industry and market. You can also test your concept on a small scale. Can you get a letter of intent from prospective customers to purchase? If so, do you think customers would actually go through with their transaction?

Drive

As an entrepreneur, you are in the driver’s seat, so you must be proactive in your approaches to everything. Are you a doer — someone willing to take the reins — or would you rather someone else do things for you?

Vision

One of your responsibilities as founder and head of your company is deciding where your business should go. That requires vision. Without it, your boat will be lost at sea. Are you the type of person who looks ahead and can see the big picture?

Flexibility and Open-Mindedness

While entrepreneurs need a steadfast vision and direction, they will face a lot of unknowns. You will need to be ready to tweak any initial plans and strategies. New and better ways of doing things may come along as well. Can you be open-minded and flexible in the face of change?

Decisiveness

As an entrepreneur, you won’t have room for procrastination or indecision. Not only will these traits stall progress, but they can also cause you to miss crucial opportunities that could move you toward success. Can you make decisions quickly and seize the moment?

Entrepreneurial drive is something of an umbrella term for the wide variety of characteristics that compel an individual to pursue a unique and untested path relentlessly, regardless of the failures and obstacles. The characteristics below all overlap with drive in some way, shape, or form, to ultimately create a template for the entrepreneurial mentality:

• Vision: The entrepreneur must be able to create and communicate an easily understandable vision of what the new venture does in order to successfully launch a new business. This is accomplished while inspiring others to join you in your new enterprise.
• Creativity: The entrepreneur must be able to inject imagination and uniqueness into a new business venture. It takes skill and ingenuity to create a new venture equipped with strategies to outsmart the competition.
• Focus: The entrepreneur must be able to maintain the vision of the company with unwavering diligence. It’s very easy to get sidetracked, especially if you find it necessary to adapt the original vision. Ironically, there are many successful entrepreneurs who get bored easily.
• Passion: Entrepreneurs must have a desire to succeed in a business venture under their own initiative.
• Perseverance: The entrepreneur must be able to keep going even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
• Opportunistic nature: The entrepreneur must take advantage of an upcoming trend or unite unrelated processes to create a unique business venture. It helps, of course, to see the possibilities before they even exist.
• Problem-solving ability: The entrepreneur must thrive on coming up with solutions to complex challenges.
  Self-discipline: The entrepreneur must be organized and regimented in pursuit of a successful business venture. This includes frugality, which is knowing how to stretch every cent so that expenditures are as low as possible.