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Core attributes of an entrepreneur

What accounts for desirable attributes of entrepreneurs?

Let me highlight some characteristics that are recognised to favour entrepreneurial behaviour. These are not mutually exclusive, and it merely indicates what attributes and behaviours are mostly associated with successful entrepreneurship. For clarity, I will group these characteristics into seven core attributes with a brief discription of each:

  • Commitment and determination – Able to commit quickly and re-commit if needed, persistent in solving problems, disciplined, focused and willing to take personal sacrifice.
  • Courage– Open to experiment, morally strong, do not shy away from conflict or failure and are very curious in the face of risk.
  • Leadership – Self-starter, team builder, inspires others and treats others with respect, willing to share the wealth with those that helped to create it, practise fairness, is honest, reliable and builds trusting relationships, superior learner and teacher, are patient and have urgency.
  • Opportunity obsession – Usually have intimate knowledge of customers’ needs and wants, help shaping the opportunity and are market driven, are obsessed about value creation and enhancement.
  • Tolerance of risk, ambiguity and uncertainty – Like to calculate risk to minimize and share risk, manage contradictions and tolerate uncertainty and a lack of structure, handle stress and conflict better, and are able to resolve conflicts and integrate solutions.
  • Creativity, self-reliance and adaptability – Open-minded and non-conventional, usually lateral thinkers with helicopter minds, do not sit well with the status quo, are creative problem solvers with the ability to adapt and change, quick learners with no fear of failure. Are able to think conceptually focusing on detail.
  • Motivation to excel – Goal and result oriented with high, yet realistic goals, are driven to achieve and grow, have a low need for status and power, are aware of their own weaknesses and strengths, have perspective and a sense of humour.

In light of these attributes, I would like to conclude our basic entrepreneurship journey with a brief reflection on was shared.

 So then, why entrepreneurship?

Showing what entrepreneurship is, and how it brings value to a society, hopefully, brings a new appreciation to the uniqueness of entrepreneurship and all that the concept embodies. Although this module only scratched the surface of entrepreneurship, the aim was to inform and clarify the different layers that entrepreneurship occupies within society, and to grasp where entrepreneurship starts, what entrepreneurship entails and how entrepreneurship develops with the focus on new venture creation.

The entrepreneurial process and the business model surely requires more depth, to clarify underlying assumptions and to illuminate the theory and principles that ground these processes. Only then a clearer understanding can be developed to appreciate its significance and relevance to entrepreneurship.

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