Is Entrepreneurship For You?

Starting your own business can be an exciting and rewarding experience that offers numerous advantages, such as the ability to be your own boss, set your own schedule and make a living doing something you enjoy.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires sound planning, creativity and hard work. It also involves taking risks because all businesses require some form of financial investment. To begin evaluating whether or not owning a business is right for you, consider the personal characteristics and qualities that can help improve entrepreneurial success.

Anyone Can Learn How to be an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs often have similar traits and characteristics. Here are some of the qualities that can go a long way in bolstering business success. If you don't have all of these traits, don't worry. Most can be learned with practice.

• Creative
• Inquisitive
• Driven
• Goal-oriented
• Independent
• Confident
• Calculated risk taker
• Committed
• Avid learner
• Self-starter
• Hard worker
• Resilient (able to grow from failure or change)
• High-energy level
• Integrity
• Problem solving skills
• Strong management and organizational skills

Businesses are built on ideas. In fact, the first step to starting a business is to come up with an original idea. Therefore, entrepreneurs must be open to thinking creatively. Are you able to think of new ideas? Can you imagine new ways to solve problems? Do you have insights on how to take advantage of new opportunities? Many people believe that some individuals are just born with creative minds, while others are not. This might be true, but you can learn to be more creative if you want to become an entrepreneur!

One approach to improving creativity is to research and learn as much as you can about the things that interest you. New ideas can come from reading or by talking to others who have the same interests. Another way to spark your creativity is to think about a problem and picture different ways to solve the issue. Once you have an idea, think it through and determine if it is a reasonable option. If it is, try it. If it isn't, keep thinking. Don't limit yourself. Be open to a variety of possibilities and your creative mind will naturally form new ideas.

To keep your creativity flowing, use these helpful hints:

• Look for new ideas in a variety of ways
• Keep the process simple
• Start small
• Try, try again

Courtesy of U.S. Small Business Administration