What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur

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Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. And not everyone can be an entrepreneur. Many people aren’t ina situation that allows them towork 80 hours a week with no guaranteed income. But if you do want to be an entrepreneur, what does it take?

While researching my book, Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams, I interviewed 70 entrepreneurs. To my amazement, I found that their parents all raised them with what turned out to be the specific qualities of successful entrepreneurs. 

What are the qualities that it takes to be an entrepreneur? 

Resilience: 

Entrepreneurs learn to get back up when they get knocked down. They keep going. They don’t get discouraged when things are hard. And when things aren’t working out, or when people suggest they should quit, they adapt, pivot, and try a diffferent approach.

In his commencement address last May at Dartmouth, tennis great Roger Federer said that although he won 80% percent of his matches, he lost almost 50% percent of the points he played. He explained that the key in tennis — and in life — is not to dwell on a mistake, but to determine what you learned from it and how you could do it differently, and then to move ahead and use that knowledge in your next opportunity. 

Sweetgreen co-founder Jonathan Neman told me, “My entrepreneurship journey is all about resilience. We keep going. We fail, we try and try again, we fail, we try and try and try. Eventually, you make the shot. I’m not smarter than anyone else, I’m just more persistent.”

Grit: 

Entrepreneurs are willing to work harder than most people. They know that how hard they work and how much effort they put in will make the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. They know it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And they will work longer, harder, more consistently, and more intently than those around them. And they know that’s what it takes to succeed.

I Am That Girl founder Alexis Jones told me “I worked for a while in the entertainment industry. When I auditioned for a role, I’d tell them, ‘You can find prettier, you can find more experience, but you’ll never find someone who works harder than me. I will be the first one here and the last one to go home.’ I got cast for everything. By sticking with activities I loved and working harder than anybody, I’ve been fortunate to achieve a lot of success.”

Risk Taking: 

Entrepreneurs are risk takers. If you’re not willing to take risks, you won’t try something new — which is the definition of entrepreneurship. But you won’t take risks if you’re afraid to fail. Entrepreneurs view failure as a learning lesson. As Billy Jean King says, “We don’t call it failure, we call it feedback.” 

Other professions attract people who are risk averse — doctors, lawyers, accountants, government employees don’t want to fail. But entrepreneurs know that they have to take risks to achieve greatness, and that some of those risks won’t work out. And they’re okay with that. They don’t blame their employees when they fail, just as they don’t dwell on their own mistakes. They ask everyone to determine: What did we learn? How can we do it better next time? They know that innovation is the key to sustained success, and that you only innovate if you’re not afraid to take risks.

Netflix founder Reed Hastings has written that he believes in creating a culture of innovation and experimentation. Netflix provides a “freedom and responsibility” policy to its employees, to enable them to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

Curiosity: 

Entrepreneurs are always thinking of new ways to solve problems or to try different approaches than were tried before. They are always asking, How can I make this better? Why does it have to be this way? How can I fix this…change this…add to this…adjust this? What’s missing? What could be improved? Almost every new product or service comes from a belief that an existing product or service can be done differently — and better.

Serial entrepreneur Eric Ryan started the cleaning products company Method, which had revenue of $100 million before it was sold. Then he started the vitamins and supplements company Olly, which had $100 million in sales before it was sold. His latest is a band aid company, Welly. He said he likes questioning areas that need disrupting and asking himself how he can bring a consumer space into the current culture. Eric told me, “I like the idea of going into what appears to others to be a boring category and finding a way to do it differently.”

Compassion: 

This may not be a trait people normally associate with entrepreneurs, but it came up over and over again in the interviews. Most entrepreneurs are successful because they want to improve other people’s lives. They aren’t thinking, How can I make the most money? (Although that’s often the result.) They’re asking, If I make this software… create this drink… produce this detergent, will people’s lives be better? And they become effective founders because they’re thinking of the well-being of their customers, their suppliers, their community, and their investors. And, of course, they care about their employees. They maintain a positive work environment. 

Many Millennials and Gen Z employees want to work for a company that is contributing to the world in addition to making a profit. TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie talks about the importance of having a “double bottom line.” TOMS’ one-for-one model is so common today that it’s hard to remember it was the first company to donate a product with every purchase. But Blake devised that model because he wanted a way to get shoes to poor children without spending all his time writing grants and asking for donations. 

There are of course other important characteristics of successful entrepreneurs: They’re willing to pivot when things aren’t working out… they aren’t hung up on sunk costs… they get started more quickly than people who go into other professions… they don’t agonize and put off decisions while they keep re-thinking an idea… they’re constantly looking for ways to improve… they aren’t satisfied with the status quo. And they’re filled with gratitude. 

This guest post was authored by Margot Machol Bisnow

Margot Machol Bisnow spent 20 years in government, including as an FTC Commissioner and staff director of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. For the last 10 years, she has spoken to parent groups about raising creative, confident, resilient children who achieve their dreams. She served as an Advisor to EQ Generation, an after-school program in New York City that gives children the skills to succeed; on the Advisory Board of the MUSE School in Malibu, that prepares young people to live consciously through passion-based learning; and on the Board of Spark the Journey in Washington DC, that mentors low-income high school students to achieve college and career success. Her new book is Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams – 99 Stories from Families Who Did. Learn more at raisinganentrepreneur.com.