With so many businesses in the limelight for coming out of seemingly nowhere and gaining million or billion-pound valuations, the idea of being an entrepreneur is so much more enticing compared to 10-20 years ago. While many of us grew up expecting and aiming to go down the traditional higher education route followed by getting a well-paid, secure job, nowadays it seems almost fashionable to be doing the opposite. Being an entrepreneur is now almost a status symbol and the idea of being your own boss is more attractive to a generation who have grown up using social media and seeing people get very wealthy, very quickly and at much younger ages. If you are dabbling with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, look for these 5 signs that it could be the right path for you.
You are very persistent
If you are running your own business and all responsibility is solely on your shoulders, you better have some persistence about you or honestly, don’t bother. You will encounter so many issues and hurdles that will require solutions that only you can provide. Persistence is a hallmark of all successful entrepreneurs – for example, Steve Jobs was fired from Apple and hired back, J. K Rowling was rejected from a dozen publishers before Harry Potter was accepted. Without persistence, so many of the world’s largest companies would not exist today.
You are no stranger to hard work
Again, when everything rests on your shoulders, you will have no choice but to work hard to become a success. Longer hours than a regular employee, putting your fears and insecurities aside to talk to people and network for the benefit of the business, are just a few things that you will need to get stuck into yourself. If you start a business expecting it to be a quick and easy stream of income with minimal effort, 99.99% of the time you will fail. The hard work needs to be combined with smarts, but neither alone will lead to success.
You can think creatively
The whole journey of entrepreneurship will see you encounter a whole host of issues that you will not see coming. This means that you will be required to think of creative solutions to problems, or in general situations that are unique to your business. Being able to think creatively is one of the hallmarks of a great entrepreneur.
No one foresaw the effects of the Covid pandemic and the effects it would have on human interactions and the workforce. How would an entrepreneur have dealt with this? Well there is no right answer but some invested in AI and room booking systems to minimize the risk to great success, while others settled with shutting down the business temporarily or permanently. Being able to think creatively combined with being proactive are signs of a potentially successful entrepreneur.
You don’t care what people think
While it is important to consider feedback from others (friends can make you see the light if an idea is a non-starter), at the end of the day the decision is up to you. While you have every right to take feedback into consideration, the most successful entrepreneurs have been so because they didn’t listen to naysayers, believed in themselves and simply made it happen. If you really believe in your product/service and vision, then by all means go out and ensure you chase it, no matter what others say.