Obviously, the number of qualities and attributes needed to succeed in business is quite extensive. So does that mean that an entrepreneur needs to be a superhero to triumph in the business world? © Jonathan T. Scott and EFMD www.efmd.org Do You Have What It Takes? — The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Building a Successful Business
Few people are born with all the marvelous abilities that are needed to succeed in life. Yet successful business owners appear to get around their shortcomings by learning as they go, admitting their frailties, and shoring up their weaknesses – a process that helps overcome their fears. Fear is a common emotion that often manifests itself into excuses, procrastination, or inaction. Indeed, many psychologists say that fear is the root cause of most human problems. Listed below are four of the most common fears associated with starting a business.
Age
Exactly what age is too old or too young to run a business? Years ago, the owner of a sporting goods store in the USA celebrated his 100th birthday (he opened his enterprise in 1933). He was only working four hours a day, but he was still working, and introducing new products, and beating his competitors. Colonel Sanders, the man who invented Kentucky Fried Chicken, began selling his secret formula to franchisees at the age of 64. Ray Kroc, a malt-shake machine salesman from Illinois, bought four California hamburger restaurants when he was 52 years old and re-tooled them into the McDonald’s empire. And so it goes as the number of entrepreneurs over the age of 50 is expected to rise dramatically according to industry experts.
Lack of Money
There’s no doubt that having lots of capital makes starting a business somewhat easier. Yet a sizeable number of successful practitioners steadfastly believe that having a better-than-average amount of start-up capital has little to do with overall success. Indeed, quite a few hard-nosed entrepreneurs claim that it’s actually beneficial to create a business with as little money as possible. Their belief is that too many individuals, when starting with a pile of cash, waste it on things they don’t need – an office, a secretary, expensive computer equipment, and so on. On the other hand, having a small amount of startup cash teaches frugality and efficiency. If you’re not convinced by this argument consider the hundreds of thousands of folks around the world who began their businesses with little more than chump change and a burning desire to see their idea bear fruit.
Fear of Rejection
Most successful business owners readily admit that the path to prosperity is paved with rejection. Indeed, many hard-core entrepreneurs state quite openly that they often fail twice as much as others. So why do they end up succeeding? Because they try more. Instead of giving up, successful business owners learn to deal with failure and adversity and then move on. Take for example Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank who, in 1978, joined forces with co-worker Ronald Brill and founded Home Depot – after all three men had lost their jobs in a corporate buyout.
Lack of Education or Experience
There is evidence that suggests a college education does not guarantee business success. Indeed, it sometimes appears otherwise. Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, for example, founded Apple Computer after dropping out of college. Neither one of them had any entrepreneurial experience. Michael Dell, the multi-millionaire founder of Dell Computer, is also a college dropout. The same goes for Ted Waitt, who, after quitting school,