Want to become an Entrepreneur? See the Characteristics of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs

The types and roles of entrepreneur notwithstanding, all entrepreneurs possess certain
characteristics and are motivated to become entrepreneur due to certain factors.



The Core characteristics of Entrepreneurship are as follows:

Creative Activity:
Entrepreneurship entails innovations. It deals with product innovation, production techniques innovation while bearing in mind the market;

Dynamic Process:
Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process that has to bear in mind the dynamic business environment.

Purposeful Activity:
Entrepreneurship is an activity embarked upon for a specific purpose. This could be for profit making purposes, for humanitarian purposes or to bring a difference to the market.

Involves Risk:
Entrepreneurship is a very risky venture; entrepreneurial decisions can have far-reaching impact on the organization, people in the organization and even the economy. These decisions are critical, enormous and cannot be easily reverted.



Having seen the characteristics of entrepreneurship, let us look at some characteristics of an entrepreneur.


Risk Bearing Ability:
The entrepreneur must have the capacity to bear risk. This is because the new venture is created in an uncertain and risky environment. Di-Masi (2010, however, noted that although risk bearing is an important element of entrepreneurial behavior, many entrepreneurs have succeeded by avoiding risk where possible and seeking others to bear the risk. Basically, what he is saying here is that entrepreneurs bear calculated risks and are more than glad to let others bear their risk when it is convenient for them


Technical Knowledge:
Depending on the kind of venture created, the entrepreneur must have technical expertise about production techniques and marketing


Ability to Gather Financial and Motivational Resources:
Financial and motivational resources are needed for the creation of the new business. Sometimes the entrepreneur, asan individual may not have these resources but he/she/they should have the ability to gather it from those who have it.


Self Confidence and Multi-Skilled:
The entrepreneur must have self confidence and believe in him/herself. Self-confidence is an important characteristic that enables individuals to handle any situation without having inferiority or any other type of complex. The entrepreneur also has to be a jack of all trade and master of all. He/she must possess different skills unlike other individuals. For instance, assuming an entrepreneur is a marketer, the entrepreneur should not only possess marketing skills and interpersonal skills but also language skills i.e. ability to speak more than one language. This definitely will be an added advantage.


Confidence in the Face of Difficulties and Discouraging Circumstances:
The entrepreneur must be steadfast and resolute and be ready to move on even in the face of adversity. He/she should be a ‘never say never’ kind of person; everything is possible for the entrepreneur.

Innovative skills:
The entrepreneur may not necessarily be an 'inventor' but the one that can make a difference; he/she should be able to see what others cannot see and be able to carve out a new niche in the market place.


Results-Orientated:
The entrepreneur is one who knows how to get results under any circumstances either with others or through others. The entrepreneur does this by setting goals and ensuring that such goals are doggedly pursued by all concerned willingly and with joy.


Risk-Taker:
The business environment is dynamic and filled with uncertainties and risk. In order to succeed the entrepreneur has to take risk. Successful entrepreneurs take calculated risks and in some cases shift the risks to others.


Total Commitment:
Starting /creating a new business is a serious exercise that requires a lot of commitment and hard work. It is like bringing a child into the world and nurturing the child to adulthood. This requires commitment, dedication, hard work, energy and single- mindedness otherwise the ‘child’ (i.e. business) may die prematurely (Di-Masi, 2010).


Calm:
Entrepreneurs need to be cool, calm and collected. They have to remain calm even when exposed to stress, emergency or crisis situations.


Focused:
In getting things done and starting and maintaining a business attention has to be paid to a lot of details. Small things when not handled properly or noticed on time may lead to disastrous outcomes.


Tolerance:
The entrepreneur has to relate with people. People vary in terms of their perceptions, personality, motivations and attitudes amongst other things. The entrepreneur needs to be tolerant while not being weak, in order to get things done.


Balance:
Though, the entrepreneur is a human being, he/she has to be like a super human being in order for him to succeed. To this effect, he/she has to be able to balance all emotions and characteristics and remain focused and objective while having emotional or mental strength and resilience. Balance is important because too much of everything is bad.


Versatility:
The entrepreneur has to be versatile and be ready to learn and use information technology and other technology to the best advantage.


Seriousness:
The entrepreneur has to believe in him/herself and the business and get things done with total seriousness. As mentioned earlier, starting a new business is like giving birth to a child; it is indeed a very serious business.


Planning Ability:
The entrepreneur must be a planner; he/she must formulate goals and develop action plans to achieve them. Planning is important for he/she who fails to plan, plans to fail!


Prudence:
The entrepreneur must be versatile in financial management. This is because finance is the life-wire of the business. Also, to achieve the profit objective, the entrepreneur must engage in efficient and effective financial management, and have sound financial policies and practices.


Customer-Centric:
Businesses are created to satisfy unmet needs. A successful entrepreneur must be able to anticipate customers’ needs and satisfy them through his/her product offerings. To do this effectively, the entrepreneur has to adopt a customer-centric or customer-focused approach.


Team Player:
Creating a successful business is a one man business but maintaining and sustaining the business cannot be done by one person. The entrepreneur needs others to work with him hence he has to have a formidable or winning team. To this effect, the entrepreneur has to be an effective team manager and recruit the right team members but the entrepreneur’s most important team members are the customers for without customers a business cannot survive.