Essentials of Entrepreneurship: A Practical Approach

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Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

Many people have described key characteristics and attributes of entrepreneurs. The video tape “The Entrepreneurs”1 includes brief stories about entrepreneurs such as those listed below:
 

Entrepreneur/Intrapreneur

Company or Idea

Thomas Edison

Edison Electric

King Gillette

The Gillette Company

Charles Darrow

Monopoly sold it to Parker Brothers

Wally Amos

Famous Amos Cookies

Robert Pittman

MTV within Turner Broadcasting

Margaret Rudkin

Pepperidge Farms

John Johnson

Ebony Magazine

Wilson Greatbach

Pacemaker for heart

Some characteristics of these and other entrepreneurs include:

  • They could recognize opportunity

  • They had passion and commitment to the idea

  • They wanted to do something worthwhile for society

  • Precipitating events sometimes sparked the entrepreneurial spirit

  • Optimistic

  • Determined

  • Tenacious

  • Persevere

  • Hard working

  • Low fear of failure

  • Focused

  • Visionary

  • Ambitious

  • Embrace new ways of doing things

  • Technologically savvy

  • Recognize demand for a product or service

  • Socially intelligent -- use their relationships and networking

  • Committed

  • Willing to take risk

  • Timeliness

  • Action oriented

  • Good listeners

  • Good learners

  • Promoter

  • Have experience

  • Willing to sacrifice

  • Self confident

In addition to these characteristics and attributes, Bob Reiss mentions these additional key attributes of successful entrepreneurs:

  • Curiosity

  • Work ethic

  • Energy

  • Flexibility

  • Balance

  • Mental toughness

  • Egotism

  • Greed (in small doses)

  • Integrity

Additionally, Reiss emphasizes the following skill sets that are useful to entrepreneurs: Creativity, communication skills, salesmanship, and decision making ability.2

References

1 “The Entrepreneurs,” Enterprise Media, Boston, MA, 1986.

2 Reiss, B., with Cruikshank, J. L., Low Risk, High Reward: Starting and Growing Your Business with Minimal Risk, New York: The Free Press, 2000, pp. 11-44.

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