Are You A Business Owner Material

You may currently think you’re ready to start a business. Perhaps you have a great idea, high levels of motivation, and money to back-up your business plan. If you have these components, you may be more than ready to start a business. However, are you truly business owner material?

It’s crucial that you realize what it means to be a business owner, before you embark on your business endeavor. The realistic truth is, starting a business is not easy. Although it may seem like it, being a business owner is not glamorous.

It’s extremely important to understand what it takes to start and operate a business, before you invest your time and money. Being passionate about your business is number one.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. ~ Steve Jobs (Tweet this)

Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Successful Business Owner?

Before you embark on this journey, ask yourself why you’re doing it? What are you trying to achieve? It’s important that you’re starting a business for the right reasons. Now take a good look at yourself. Can you drive this potential business? The following traits and characteristics are common amongst successful business owners and entrepreneurs.

 1. You’re Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Being self-employed means that you will face many uncomfortable situations. There will be many ‘firsts’ that require you to put yourself out there. It’s important that you’re comfortable with trying new things; things that you’ve never done before. Many decisions will need to be made without financial security.

Although some decisions and experiences can leave you feeling less than comfortable, you’ll need to face them head on. It’s all about decision-making skills, confidence, and your willingness to take the next step.

Sometimes change can be uncomfortable, as you do not know what’s around the next corner. If you stick to what you know and do not venture out, how will your business grow? For instance, you may be starting a business from home. There will be many areas that make you uncomfortable, because they are new to you.

You may not be comfortable with taking a loan to build your inventory, but it will be a necessary step. It is all about learning new skills; growing and developing. If you are too comfortable in your role, are you truly pushing for positive change? Look where improvements need to be made, then focus on those areas. You will need to take some risks. Without risk, there is no reward. Some areas that may cause you to feel uncomfortable would be:

• Asking for referrals and testimonials
• Making sales
• Balancing your check book
• Improving customer satisfaction
• Learning new skills
• Buying insurance

You’ll need to embrace uncomfortable decisions, as you make the most out of each and every situation. This is where risk-taking comes into play. If you are not comfortable taking any risks, then you may struggle to evolve in the business world. There will also be many instances where you’ll need to adjust, based on customer experiences and feedback.

If negative feedback makes you too uncomfortable to take action – then being a business owner isn’t right for you. You will need to take feedback on-board, using it to your advantage.

The most valuable thing you can make, is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect.~ Adam Osborne

2. You Are Highly Focused

Being a business owner means that you’ll need to stay highly focused. If you get bored easily or become easily frustrated, then you will need to reconsider owning a business. For individuals that tend to waver on the direction they’d like to take, owning a business can be challenging.

If you are fickle minded for instance, it will be challenging for you to make a decision. You may be starting a health and beauty business, but you also have an interest in kitchenware. When you try and head in too many directions, your business ideas can become confusing for the customer. If you offer kitchenware one month, but then don’t the next month, your business will be too inconsistent. 

When starting and operating a business, you’ll need to be focused in order to achieve your goals. Someone who changes their mind everyday, can find that business ownership is extremely tough. Business goals require you to maintain focus, as you strive to achieve those goals.

As a business owner, you’ll need to be future focused. What does that mean? Well, you’ll need to be keen about upcoming plans. If your thoughts aren’t focused on the future, you’ll never progress. You will need to focus on the present, while making proactive decisions about the future.

3. You Have Tough Skin

If you have tough skin, than you will be able to handle all the unpleasant areas of owning a business. As mentioned, you’ll need to take risks. With risks, there’s often a sense of failure. This is how you learn, develop, and grow. If you give-up at the first sign of failure, than owning a business will be a struggle for you.

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.~Paulo Coelho (Tweet this)

When starting a business, you are instantly exposed to various risks. Will your business work? You are taking a risk the moment you launch your business, assuming that it will be successful. You will probably try numerous avenues to sell your products; which may not all succeed. If you are opening a gift store for instance, you may like to see how online sales will impact your business.

You could potentially invest in a website. If online sales aren’t profitable, you may lose money. However, it could open up a whole new aspect of your business, allowing you to sell more products than you could’ve imagined.

You need to take some risks, being comfortable with the results. If it brings positive change, great. If not, don’t feel defeated. Learn from it and push forward.

There will also be people that have a lot to say; both negative and positive. It’s always encouraging to get positive feedback, which will generally be the majority of your feedback. However, you will have a fraction of people that do not like what you offer. Your tough skin will allow you to make the best out of the situation. Instead of reacting poorly, you can use negative feedback to fuel your growth and learning experience.

4. You’re Organized

If you lack organizational skills, then you should must certainly address this area. A business owner is someone that’s organized, responsible, and logical. You will need to be good at getting stuff done. All of the following areas and more, rely on organization:

• Scheduling and meetings
• Staff
• Inventory
• Accounting
• Sales
• Customer support and feedback

When you are organized, everything is that much easier. You will have a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not. You can also organize what needs to be done, helping you continually strive for more.

5. You’re Able to Adapt

Nothing is certain, especially in the business world. Depending on the industry you’re interested in, there’s unexpected situations around every corner. You need to adapt to present demands, while planning for the future. Adaptability could mean the difference between success and failure.

Change is constant in the business world, so embrace it. Are you someone that welcomes trends? It’s important to stay on top of the competition. Perhaps you would like to open a window washing company, but one recently opened in your home town. How will you set yourself apart? What changes can you make, so that you stand out?

Some changes will be minor, while others will require you to take more serious action. You may have two staff members quit tomorrow, so how will you react? It is important that you are able to adapt to unexpected changes. Also, pay attention to what is trending within your industry.

Say you started a baking business. It is important to pay attention to the trends, adapting to the needs of your customers. Organic is a hot area right now, so you could offer all natural-organic ingredients in your baked goods. Focus on how change can positively impact your business.

Would you be able to adapt to this change in your plan? Think about how you would approach this situation. If you’re confident in your ability to tackle issues and changes as they arise, then you have the right attitude. There’s always ways to make your idea better. What could you offer that the competition doesn’t?

Conclusion

These are just some of the characteristics that are needed to operate a business. If you do not have all of these traits, don’t panic. You could still successfully run a business. However, you’ll need to embrace skills and habits that you’ll learn throughout your experience. If you think you have what it takes, it may be ready for the next exciting step.