Discuss and Critically Evaluate the Most Commonly Cited Characteristics Found in Successful Entrepreneur?

What do entrepreneurs do that distinguishes them from any other person involved in business? Why is it that personality characteristics may be good predictors of who will be a successful entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise (Merriam-Webster, n.d). Some characteristics of an entrepreneur are, the willingness to work hard, the desire for responsibility and the confidence in their ability to succeed. The person that I chose to interview for this paper is, Adama Kuyateh.

“The fact that most new businesses fail is hardly a secret”(James Surowiecki). In this quote, Surowiecki is saying that all entrepreneurs know that when they start a business, it can either prosper or fail. Building a successful business takes time and money. However, it also takes a lot of commitment. One has to be focused on his or her goals, and they must do whatever it takes to accomplish them. The most important characteristic of an entrepreneur is determination because it can help a businessperson accomplish any goals they set and build a successful business.

First, in the chapter six assessment we learned about managing small business startups. This “Do You Think Like an Entrepreneur?” assessment measures the likelihood of me becoming an entrepreneur. The self-assessment questions to some aspect of improvisation, which is a correlate of entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial improvisation consists of three elements such as creativity, ingenuity, and the ability to produce novel solutions under constrained conditions. Successful entrepreneurs also have the ability to work well under pressure while also having action, persistence, and the determination to achieve goals and solve problems in the moment. Based on my personality, I would have assumed that I would was not fit to be entrepreneur because although, I am always

Based on Knight’s economics view (1921), risk-taking is crucial to entrepreneurism. This view is supported by many classical theorists like Cantillon and Richard (1755) who explore that entrepreneurs bear risks or uncertainty to keep supply-demand balance. Phan (2008) also support this positive relationship and assert that entrepreneurs are risk-takers, not gamblers. However, Bula (2012) argues that

Many people have a complete misconception of what, exactly, makes someone an entrepreneur. Pop culture has bombarded us with the image of the money hungry businessman out to make a profit at whatever cost to his personal life and relationships, not all too far from Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg in 2010’s Social Network. However, having spent the last semester in my first entrepreneurial studies, it is clear that the real entrepreneurs of our society have qualities that go much deeper than a lust for money or fame. Entrepreneurship is defined by Bruce Barringer, of Oklahoma State University, as “the process by which individuals pursue opportunities without regard to resources they currently control,” and in order to fulfill this role an entrepreneur must possess the qualities of a leader as have been discussed in our time in Project LEAD thus far. Specifically, they must possess a mix of traits that has come to be known as emotional intelligence. The need for emotional intelligence can be clearly seen when analyzing its key components and how entrepreneurs use them.

In the business world, higher risk means higher earnings. Therefore, studies show that intrapreneurs who are more risk averse are less financially rewarded compared to independent entrepreneurs who are more risk-tolerated. Intrapreneurs attend to take less risky projects as opposed to entrepreneurs who are more willing to take full responsibility for their projects and care less about the consequences in case of failure. Intrapreneurs sensitivity toward risk taking can be accredited to personality traits

The Entrepreneur I have researched and written my report on is the world famous Walter Disney.

Entrepreneurship is a term often used to describe a person who owns and operates their own business, but the 2009 World Economic Forum report describes it, “The pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you currently control” Stevenson (1983, 1985); Stevenson and Jarillo (1991) and the 2008 European Commission published a framework definition derived from representatives from ETF, GIZ, ILO, UNESCO and UNEVOC that states, “Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action…”. But no matter how you define it, the most important skills, traits, and characteristics needed to be successful are vastly analogous. Along with this week’s reading, I conducted internet searches for the top characteristics, traits, and skills for entrepreneurship and my findings were surprisingly similar. The most common result that I found was determination (willpower, self-discipline, drive, motivation). In this submission, I will identify a successful entrepreneur and describe the their type of innovation or business, what characteristics or traits they have, how they got started, and what they did in order to become and remain successful.

Explaining the importance of small business in our society and the basic characteristics of entrepreneurs is essential to define the position that these two play in today’s economy. To define the importance of small business and entrepreneurs we need to understand 3 main points, the definitions and examples of each, the position that they play in the economy, and the benefices that they bring to society. Even though some people still believes that big corporations are the big part of the economy, small business and entrepreneurship are vital for the US’s economy.

There is a distinct difference between entrepreneurs who are successful and ones who are not. The successful ones seem to have a better cognitive ability, and this skill helps serial entrepreneurs to identify further opportunities (Baron & Shane, 2008).

Entrepreneur plays a vital role in the market, for a successful business entrepreneur one should have basic values & perceptions. The following are the qualities or factors leading an entrepreneur to a successful journey in the business

ONE: What kind of person tends to be successful as an entrepreneur? In the book Small Business Management: An Entrepreneurial Emphasis, the authors portray an entrepreneur as confident of his or her abilities, as a "risk taker" because often they use their own cash, because if they have left a secure position with a company they are placing their family at some risk albeit the kinds of risks an entrepreneur takes is considered "moderate" (Longenecker, et al, 2005, p. 16). Moreover, the authors offer six categories to describe the traits, skills, and other aspects of the proto-typical entrepreneur. Those six categories include: a) commitment and determination ("entrepreneurs are tenacious, decisive, and persistent"); b) leadership (entrepreneurs are "team builders" and they are honest in their business relationships); c) "opportunity obsessive" (entrepreneurs are acutely aware of customer needs and market realities); d) "tolerant of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty" (see "risk-taker" above); e) "Creativity, self-reliance, ad adaptability" (being flexible, open-minded, and uncomfortable with the "status quo" defines an entrepreneur); and e) motivated to excel (being goal-oriented and fully aware of their own flaws and weaknesses is important) (Longenecker, 16).

A person belief their ability to successful in the specific task is called self-efficacy. People estimate of their basic capacity to adapt, perform and be successful and was found to be positively identified with occupation performance. Generalized self-efficacy is implied significant to impact an entrepreneur in taking part in inventive activity, adopting a proactive position and taking risks. Such capacity is frequently developed slowly through experience and is strengthened by past achievements. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is the degree

Ability to establish, run and successfully conclude projects: An Entrepreneur’s key trait is passion and dedication. These abilities help Entrepreneur to be able to create and control a business. Skills like Organization, interpersonal, marketing, management, financing and administration are very important for an Entrepreneur. This is the most important for build self-confidence and avoids risk.