Friday, January 27, 2012

What Does it Take to be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Many books and articles are written by and about successful entrepreneurs, with great information about what it takes to succeed. If it were possible to distill all of that information into a few words, it might be this: Being a successful entrepreneur really just boils down to solving problems and being resilient enough to find answer without giving up.

Persistence. Sweat. I was talking to my good friend and amazing real estate agent Jan McNulty the other day -- and we were talking about luck in business. Of course we both concluded that the harder that we worked, the more luck we had. (I think Jan got "lucky" over 40 times in 2011.)

As Thomas Edison famously said: "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward." Hopefully, you won't need 10,000 attempts to find the solution you're looking for, but many people give up after only a few tries.

Whether you own a new company, have been in business awhile, or are an employee with the desire to become successful, the next time you run into a problem, take the initiative to find a solution. Be persistent, and don't give up at the first sign of resistance. Yes, that is easier said than done. There are many entrepreneurs, but not nearly as many successful ones. Those who succeed are champion problem solvers and have the will to not take no for an answer.

1 comment:

stacie28 said...

I also want to become a successful entrepreneur someday. I absolutely love to read books written by or about successful entrepreneurs like Donald Trump or Yuri Mintskovsky. Their tips are very useful for me, but also for those people who want to start a business nowadays.