The following articles were written by Emma Payton for a blog titled "Developing Your True Potential". All articles are copyright and may not be used without written permission from the author.


Attributes of a Successful Business Owner
Typical Skills and Abilities of Entrepreneurs
Collecting Information
Maxed Out - Need Mentor!
Creating a Network
Fruitful Enterprises

Being self-employed or starting a business takes hard work, patience and determination, but it is more than that. It takes entrepreneurship, dedication and commitment, but it is more than that. It takes someone who is organized, willing to learn from mistakes and keep going, even in the tough times.

Here are those characteristics again:

• Hard worker – the days will be long and busy
• Patient – the rewards may come slowly
• Determined – “I will make it no matter what”
• Entrepreneurial – Able to see opportunities and analyze risk
• Dedicated and Committed – able to follow through
• Organized – able to manage many tasks and responsibilities
• Willing to learn from mistakes – we all make them
• Able to keep going in the tough times

Other important characteristics include:

• Good health and emotional stability – able to work through sickness
• Self control – able to forgo a social event when the business needs you
• Self confidence – “I can and will do this”
• Far sighted and detail oriented
• Realistic – seeing things as they are and dealing with them

The transition from being an employee to being self-employed is a difficult one for some people. As an employee we may be used to:

• going in to work when we’re asked and leaving at the end of our day
• receiving a regular paycheque, benefits, sick days, holidays and other perks
• someone else worrying about where the money will come from

Being prepared for the reality of self-employment is crucial. If you look at these lists and assess yourself honestly, and if you don’t see yourself embodying most if not all of those characteristics, don’t do it – work for someone else.

There are many entrepreneurial self-assessment tools out there. Here is one for you to try:http://mvp.cfee.org/en/selfassesscharacter.html

From my observations, the successful entrepreneurs (and I don’t measure success solely by monetary compensation) consistently exhibit important skills and abilities. These are:

1. Self Discipline (very hard to “learn”, but not impossible)
1. putting at least 8-10 hours per day, 5-6 days a week into their business, especially in the beginning
2. working through the hard stuff (i.e. firing an employee, sending back bad merchandise, etc.)
2. Self Confidence (coachable)
1. the ability to stand up in a meeting and introduce them self and their business
2. the confidence that what they are doing is right and will be successful, even when there are down turns
3. Moderate Risk Taking (coachable)
1. the ability and confidence to take planned and calculated risks (i.e. borrow money to expand premises or take on a new product line, after much thought, research and calculation)
2. the ability to see those risks through, even when they are not at first successful
3. the ability to cut losses when all evidence indicates the risk is not working (even when you are emotionally attached to an idea)
4. Networking Skills (teachable)
1. the willingness to network. I can not stress this enough. Networking - regular, planned, conscious networking – is crucial to the success of any business. Your business may not fail due to lack of networking but it will be greatly enhanced and more enjoyable if you do.

As a potential entrepreneur, information gathering is crucial. I have seen many people start a business without appropriate information and it has almost always landed them in trouble – I know because I am often hired to help fix the problems later on. There are many types of information that you need to gather before starting a business, however, due to space limitations I will focus on one: Market Information (not to be confused with Marketing Plans).

Here is some of what you need to find out and some suggestions on how:

1. Determine demand for your product/service.  If there is a demand, determine the demand size.
1. Do a survey – the broader the survey, the more accurate the results
2. Do market research – use the internet, the library, the Chamber of Commerce, etc.
3. Talk to people in the know.

*If there appears to be little or no demand for your product/service, do not go ahead regardless. Consider modifying your product/service to fit any determined needs. If you decide to “create a need” your product/service, make sure you develop a solid business plan that aims to create that need – and anticipate a much longer return time.

2. Identify your potential customer.
1. Find out who wants/needs your product/service – age, gender, income bracket, other variables
2. Find out how much your target market will be willing to pay for your product/service
3. Find out how often they will purchase and under what circumstances
3. Analyze your competition.
1. Find out who you are competing with locally, nationally and internationally (if applicable)
2. Find out as much about your competitors as you can – length of time in business, successes and failures, relationship to their customers, products/services offered
3. As you analyze your competition, make notes about what you can and will do better than them and note any areas you will need to improve on before you begin (i.e. product knowledge, sales skills)

Whatever business you are considering, start your information gathering now. I currently have a client who does not plan to open her business for almost 2 years but she is actively gathering her market information – visiting competitors and analyzing them.