Why waste time when you can be your own boss. For those who seek success, entrepreneurship is the answer. Let us look at some of the qualities successful entrepreneurs have.
Successful entrepreneurs are empowered by determination and guts thus eliminating the chances of failure. They have strong mindsets and strong work ethics. Here are some examples of 5 great entrepreneurs, who started out small and ended up being millionaires.
Oprah Winfrey
At the tender age of 19, Oprah started her anchoring career for a TV station situated in Nashville, Tennessee.
From there, she pursued her dream and travelled to Chicago.
Not more than a month later, The Oprah Winfrey Show was born and talk shows were never the same again.
Surpassing other local networks, it was tagged as one of the best talk shows on national television.
Aside from being a host, Oprah founded Harpo, Inc. and O, The Oprah Magazine.
Bill Gates
As a billionaire dropout not finishing his education during his junior year at Harvard university, Gates is considered one of the most famous individuals of our time.
With the vision of personal computers emerging out of the mainstream, he teamed up with his colleague, Paul Allen who also studied at Harvard. Together, they left the university in exchange for a dream that led them both to their multi-billion dollar business, Microsoft Corporation.
Walt Disney
Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, Fantasia…need I say more?
The man behind the world’s most famous mouse used to be a Red Cross volunteer during World War I.
With his talent as a cartoonist, Disney made his 1st debut with Plane Crazy, introducing our beloved black and white mouse, Mickey. Riding with the flow of Hollywood revolution, he advanced from a silent cartoon to a talking Mickey Mouse.
Then everything followed. His enthusiasm made him sit on top of Disneyland garnering 26 Oscars.
Sam Walton
Does Walmart and Sam’s Club ring a bell? Thanks to the undying loyalty of Sam Walton to achieving a retail business not benefiting only himself but also his fellow Americans, everyone can live like everyone else.
Born to one of the wealthiest families, Walton pioneered the retailing business by putting up stores that reached the whole of America like a caravan. Thus, he was recognized as one of the most influential people chosen among many by Time Magazine.
Ray Kroc
Mr Hamburger guy here who once made a living as a milkshake man envisioned a fast food company that can deliver quality service in the name of chow time.
The rapid proliferation of McDonald’s franchises which were of reasonable costs generated massive income. Seeing this burger phenomena eat its way through, Kroc remained afloat with the priority of offering food and service perfection to customers worldwide.
Qualities Of A Successful Entrepreneur
As evidence, these renowned entrepreneurs above made everything possible just by living up to their dream of becoming someone everybody could appreciate and look up to.
Passion is the most significant characteristic that every entrepreneur has, and for obvious reasons. You need to be passionate about what you do in order to succeed. If you don’t enjoy what you do, you won’t want to work on it every day.
The other quality successful entrepreneurs have in common is a strong work ethic. While we are all relaxing watching TV at night, guess what they are doing differently.
Successful entrepreneurs have strong people skills, they are determined and competitive.
They are also creative and have strong people skills.
Successful entrepreneurs are self-starters and have open minds to new ideas and concepts.
They have normally started from scratch and ended up being self-made in the end without waiting for someone to push them there.
They are also usually natural leaders.
Most entrepreneurs have failed over and over before they have succeeded, so there is no reason to be scared of failure.
So, if you have these qualities, you too could be an entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur at that.
Point is, when you dream, dream big, really big.
Hey,
what an inspiring post! I enjoyed seeing that, different people from different backgrounds and different times have been able to achieve incredible success, even starting from nothing. It really seems like refusing to give up on your dreams and never quitting are the two most important success factors.
Can you suggest any tricks or training that help people who are starting out to improve these qualities?
It depends on what type of business you are in, but no matter what working on your mindset each and every day can make the world of difference. Try anything by Tony Robins or try meditating with a mindset app.
One of the persons in the list that I admire is Bill Gates, maybe because, I can relate to him as I use computers a lot. The other ones, I only hear about them, like Oprah. The common trait they have the I like is, they have leadership, something I need to develop as a business person.
By the way, I have this question that’s lingering on my mind for years now. I wonder, what if I am a student today and decided to drop out of school to do exactly what Bill Gates did, will I become a billionaire like him?
Well, that totally depends on you Gomer and how hard you are willing to work for it, and how much you actually want it.
Hi Michel!
Thanks for the examples. I actually never knew that Oprah got her start so young. Bill Gates has always been an inspiration to me. His work ethic was a bit insane in the beginning, but I think he calmed down a lot over the years and I think is a great example of someone who espouses enjoying life as much as working hard.
I think he’s doing a lot of good for the world right now through his non-profit. I hope to emulate even just a little bit of that success in my business. I didn’t know much about Ray Kroc until I saw that film “The Founder.” Have you seen that movie? I did a lot more research on him afterwards because it was such an interesting story. It shows you how intense business competition really can be!
Thanks for the heads up on ‘The Founder.’ I didn’t realise that there was a movie about Ray Kroc, and would definitely like to see that.
Sam Walton is a titan of industry. He truly changed retail forever and has left a lasting impact on the world. Some people don’t like Walmart because it’s a tough competitor, but that’s what entrepreneurship is about. Bring value, bring convenience, and be better than the next guy.
He certainly set his family up well, no one can argue that! Of course, now they have Amazon coming in, and the shift to eCommerce, so it’ll be very interesting to see how Walmart is able to fend off the attack. I’ve used their grocery pickup service and that’s been convenient, but I can’t help but think they’ll need a few more tricks to compete with Amazon. What do you think, do you think Walmart can fend off Amazon? Do you see any other up-and-comers that might give Amazon some trouble? Thanks for the awesome list.
Being from South Africa, I don’t have any experience with Walmart, but I believe both Giants have a lot to offer – Amazon for online shoppers and Walmart for people who love visual shopping.
Qualities that successful entrepreneurs share, excellent topic! I’m always on a quest for knowledge regarding how entrepreneurs succeed.
Determination and guts are definitely needed. Hard work pays off and bravery pays dividends.
Such an inspirational group of people you’ve referenced in Oprah, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, Sam Walton, and Ray Croc. I especially like the idea of starting from scratch and building an empire from nothing.
It’s important to point out the failure happens to most. And heck, even Amazon started out in a garage! Thank you for an insightful post here!
Thanks for the comment and visit. Failure happens more often than not, but as they say, you always learn from your mistakes, so failure is necessary for ultimate success.