What traits do successful business owners have?

By Chemeketa SBDC

What does it take to be a successful business owner, and why do some people seem to “have it” while others don’t? There are a handful of characteristics that set a high achieving entrepreneur apart from the rest of the pack, and the good news is that you don’t need to be born with these, you can learn them.
Look around at the successful businesses you know, chances are the owners will exhibit several, if not all, of these traits.
• First is the ability to self manage. This is the ability to train yourself to do what you don’t want to do. It’s self-discipline that you develop and that becomes a regular habit. It’s hard at first, but you can practice this until it is second nature. You won’t succeed unless you can manage yourself (and after that managing someone else won’t seem so daunting!).
• Along these lines is the ability to work hard. Putting in long hours, following up on details and commitments. It’s staying on the job until the job is done. Successful business owners make whatever sacrifices they need to in order to reach their goals. This entails making hard choices (and sometimes those can take a personal toll).
• Achievers are focused on where they’re going. They’re not idling along without a plan, they’re moving towards a goal at a good clip. They lock onto their vision and pursue it. They choose not to let distractions deter them from their destinations.
• And because they have this focus, they are able to be decisive. They ask themselves the question of whether an opportunity presented will get them to their goal or not. And they don’t take forever to make the decision either. Delaying action is delaying achievement, and so they act on opportunities and choices in a timely manner. Yes, sometimes the decisions don’t pan out, but indecisiveness is worse.
• The successful have a will to succeed that underwrites the above points. They are able to channel motivation into focused goals, and then drive themselves to achieve those goals.