1. You know all about money. Entrepreneurs have to know how much money is in their bank account at all times. Entrepreneurs also know a good deal when they see one because they know the value of things. Most good entrepreneurs have a lot of good debt (things that appreciate, like houses) and not a lot of bad debt (credit card debt). Everyone is going to have some bad debt in their lives, but good entrepreneurs generally have more good debt than bad debt.
2. You are competitive. Many business owners participated in sports when they were younger and they have a drive to win. Others might have been competitive with themselves, always trying to best their last grade, their last sprint time or their last video game level. Entrepreneurs are just competitive by nature.
3. You are productive much of the time. You have to believe “the early bird gets the worm” to be a good entrepreneur. Either that, or you must believe in burning the midnight oil. Whichever time of day is most productive for you, you must be able to be productive during a large part of the day so you can get things done. If you are a procrastinator that spends half the day on non-productive tasks, you’ll have a hard time running a successful business.
4. You are a risk taker. You have to be the type of person who trusts her intuition and acts on a hunch. You have to be willing to lose something to have just the possibility of gaining everything.
5. You are okay being a loner. As an entrepreneur, you won’t be able to hire your best friend as your CFO. You have to be able to work on your own and with people without being a social butterfly at all times. If you can’t work on your own to get things done and you’re always relying on other people, your profits will go down the drain. You also have to be comfortable not being your employees’ favorite person. You have to fire people and hand out discipline when needed.
6. Good entrepreneurs are flexible planners. If you don’t plan and make multiple backup plans for your main plan, you’ll have trouble running your business. You have to be flexible and plan for 89 scenarios that can pop up at any moment. If something comes up that you don’t know how to handle, you need to have a list of contacts to call on to help you out. There’s another plan that needs to be put in place.
7. Entrepreneurs love to work. You have to love what you are doing to do it effectively and successfully. You shouldn’t be looking forward to retiring. Many good entrepreneurs are sad when they retire, or they don’t retire completely. Do you feel like you could work for the rest of your life? Do you enjoy your work that much to devote a lifetime to it?
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