So, I got thinking about business, and what makes one company succeed over another. My friend has recently set up a new online business selling jewellery, particularly focusing on vintage gold jewellery which is definitely a good idea in these tepid times!
Obviously what your business is selling is important, but why will one business succeed over another when they both sell very similar products?
While being involved in the highs and lows of starting up your own business due to frantic phone calls from my friend, I had a good think about other entrepreneurs that I know. I realised that all the most successful business owners I know have a lot of the same characteristics.
Here are the ones that stood out to me the most:
Risk-taker
Not being afraid to take risks is essential for growing your business. You may be able to make a small amount of money by playing it safe, but if you ever want to truly succeed you need to be prepared to take a leap of faith. As one blog states, “failure to fail, is failure”, pointing out that only the people who truly fail are the ones too scared to take a risk.
Resilient
The successful business owners I know are extremely resilient. Nothing fazes them. They don’t let anything, minor or major, frazzle them to the point where stress has a negative effect and bad decisions are made. Instead they take things in their stride, accept that things go wrong and move on. They are flexible and adapt well to change and are able to turn every experience into a positive one, and one from which they learn something valuable.
Extraordinary
Now, this characteristic is quite rare, as most people are not extraordinary, but it is still attainable. Being extraordinary means they think differently to other people. They are creative and excellent at ‘thinking outside the box’, and because of this they are brilliant at inspiring ideas and thought leadership.
Highly organised
This one’s pretty obvious, but it’s hard to ignore the importance of being organised. Research has shown that one of the major reasons why business fail is due to bad planning and organisation. My successful friends are very structured in their approach to their work and highly methodical when it comes to solving problems.
Loved by all
Ok, perhaps not all, but usually the most successful people are the nicest. If you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, where you treat everybody with the same respect, you will no doubt gain a lot of respect back and this will aid your business immensely, as people will be keen to help you succeed. Think of the C list celebs screaming “Don’t you know who I am?!”, yet George Clooney is supposedly the most charming and pleasant man to be around.
I am sure there are many more significant character traits that lead to people becoming successful business owners, but these are the ones that stood out to me most.
Are you a successful business owner? What has helped you the most during your rise to the top?