Are You an Entrepreneur?

“If you can dream it, you can do it!”
– Walt Disney

Several people asked me how to become an entrepreneur?

Attending seminars, short courses and trainings in Entrepreneurship add knowledge of what I have learned through experience. Promoting entrepreneurship through our former radio program “Una sa Lahat Pinoy”, in our Business magazine and blogs reinforce more the knowledge and skills. Aside from the excitement and interest in interviewing entrepreneurs and business people like Richie Cuna of Fiorgelato/ Fior Café, Rhodora Hizon of Center for Small Entrepreneurs, Antonio Y. Ortiz of Technology Resource Center and Atty. Alfeo Vivas of The EuroCredit Group, we have learned easy-to-understand entrepreneurship and insights about their chosen business.

According to Marlo Sanchez of his book Start and Manage Your Own Business, “Entrepreneurs are different breed. They seem to stand out from the crowd. They walk and talk differently from non-entrepreneurs.”

Based on research, here are the common traits of successful entrepreneurs. Find out more if you have these characteristics and qualities:

• Passionate and experience. Meaningful and related experiences either in your chosen industry or using your type of skills may help in setting up your own business. Getting into business that you love and that suits you will definitely command success in your endeavor. An entrepreneur is full of enthusiasm about his/ her dreams, products and company.
• Vision-driven. A clear picture of what you want to do to your enterprise for a certain period of time.
• Self-confidence. Believing in your abilities, your business and whatever you set in your mind.
• Risk-Taker. Are you willing to take risk of your present job/ career or your money?
• Focused. The ability to do what you really want making you more decisive in pursuing your vision, whatever it takes.
• Willingness to plan. Devising a road map to achieving clear set of objectives to study the market, competition and operations of your chosen business is a tool to achieve progress, the same way as examining the challenges too.
• Positive Attitude. An entrepreneur always sees opportunities and solutions while others see obstacles and problems.
• Dynamic and effective leaders. Entrepreneurs are decision makers and forward looking leaders.
• Flexibility and adaptability. In business, as in our life, change is inevitable. In these hard times, as an entrepreneur we have to adjust in order to cope with the changing business environment and conditions.
• Ability to overcome the fear of making sales. Every business owner must not be afraid to become a sales person. Cultivating customers, motivating employees and nurturing suppliers are part of the skills to learn in order to stay in business.
• Willingness to work hard. There’s no short cut in working hard. It is the ability to do what it takes to achieve success. A former high school classmate Margie de Guzman-dela Cruz is one example of a hard working well-rounded individual who wears several hats as mom, a wife, a professor in Wesleyan College, a president of Arellano High School (Manila North) Alumni Association this year, and a business woman in her dental whitening material and travel agency firms.
• Obsessed with quality. Would it be quality of service, quality of product and quality of project, entrepreneurs are committed to excellence.
• Creative and innovative.

Other traits that you have to consider are the following: Being task-oriented, have a sense of urgency, a good administrator, a good communicator, a good negotiator, a specialist, a generalist, a team player, an achiever, aggressive, competitive, courageous, customer-oriented, determined, disciplined, efficient, friendly and happy, helpful, industrious, patient, persistent, resourceful, trustworthy and versatile.

Entrepreneurship is an attitude they said. According to Entrepreneurship book compiled by the Center for Small Entrepreneurs, “The entrepreneur has a vision that he would want to achieve. His motivation in going into business is not profit or money but a need for achievement and to be of value to himself and to his customers. He is the prime mover of the business. He is the heart of the business…It is beyond profit and money.”


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