Using your character traits to help you succeed in business

Entrepreneurs like Lord Sugar, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and the like are few and far between. Their autobiographies and biographies are required reading, and business magazines regularly publish lists of the latest ‘must read’ inspirational books that’ll set you on the road to equal success (or so you hope).

But there is no easy template to download and follow. With the best will in the world, even if you had an identical upbringing to any entrepreneur, with the same opportunities they had, the likelihood is that you wouldn’t recreate the same success. And the challenges they faced won’t be the challenges you face. So there’s no need to even try to emulate, say, Lord Sugar (and you’re probably too late to get your first job at the age of 12 boiling beetroot for a local greengrocer anyway).

Be yourself

Perhaps Richard Branson’s advice to “do things your own way” is the best (and shortest) business advice on offer. In fact, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania would back this up, having found that ‘being yourself’ helps raise your levels of life satisfaction and well-being.

What does ‘being yourself’ look like in entrepreneurial terms?

Generally, successful entrepreneurs tend to share four personality traits. If you’re someone with a passion for what you do, you may not like the first one…

1. Entrepreneurs are generalists, not specialists – to run a successful business, you have to manage across a wide range of disciplines. If you’re going to spend all your time working on the minutiae of your life-long passion, you’re simply not going to have the time to look after the business as a whole.
2. Entrepreneurs are conscientious – how conscientiousness an entrepreneur is tends to be a very good indicator of how successful they can become. If you can plan, organise and take care of your responsibilities, you’re more likely to survive in business.
3. Self-confidence is not an issue – how resilient you are is a major part of how successful you can become. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have an almost delusional belief that their enterprise will succeed against the odds. This ensures that they’ll come back fighting after every knock-back, however frequently they happen.
4. Entrepreneurs are disagreeable – it’s nothing to do with being unlikeable, but if entrepreneurs don’t feel the need to seek social approval, they’re more likely to take greater risks.

If you are looking for a serviced office in the centre of Hertford from which to ‘be yourself’ in business, click here to find out more about the UOE Hub.