Have you got what it takes to be a successful business owner?
Below are the five most dominant traits found in successful entrepreneurs according to Billy Polson, founder and co-owner of DIAKADI Fitness Performance, voted the Top Gym and Top Trainers in San Francisco for 12 years by SF Magazine, SF Chronicle, and 7x7 Magazine.
Rate yourself 1 to 5 in each of the categories (1: No Match to 5: Perfect Match). Be honest with yourself when scoring. Being able to identify your strengths and weaknesses is a key step in building a booming business!
The Leading Five Traits of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs
1. COMPETITIVE:
What’s the point in competing if you aren’t going to win? Contests are your thing. Whether it comes out at work, in sports, while driving on the highway, or even in how amazing your family holiday cards turns out, your focus and goal is to WIN. A defining question for you: In a Parents vs Kids soccer game, would you ever let the kids win?
2. SIGNIFICANCE:
Never settle for anything less than extraordinary. In your mind, there is always a way to do it bigger and better. You have no idea what it means to ‘rest on your laurels’. You crave a life filled with goals, achievements, and qualifications which set you apart from the rest. Your motto: Aim high, climb higher, then keep climbing.
3. RELATOR:
You have a well balanced emotional quotient and intellectual quotient. Your innate ability to recognize your own, as well as others emotions, enables the creation of open communication and deepening relationships with those closest to you. You want to understand the feelings, goals, fears, and dreams of those around you and you want them to understand yours.
4. ACHIEVER:
You judge every day based on the quantity and quality of what you are able to achieve. This holds true whether you are at work, spending a weekend day at home or even on a tropical beach vacation, you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. Even days of rest without some form of achievement leave you feeling dissatisfied. Favorite pastime: Checking items off your to do list.
5. RESPONSIBILITY:
Your word means everything. Once you commit to something, no matter what it is, you consider yourself bound to the completion of the task. You stake your reputation upon it. You are reliable, conscientiousness, and utterly dependable.
How did you do?
Total your scores in the five trait categories, with a maximum score of 25.
Score 20-25:
Way to go! Looks like you were born to be an entrepreneur. Running your own business is a lot of work, but you're probably up for the challenge. Read our tips below to make sure you stay on track, reaching your full potential in every category.
Score 15-19:
You got this. It looks like you have built the foundation, you just need some fine tuning in key areas. If your scored evenly across all five categories, it sounds like you just need to dig in and continue putting forth the effort to maximize your potential. If there are 1-2 categories where you are falling behind, you may want to also consider the idea of finding business partners to complement your strengths and weaknesses.
Score Below 14:
Every entrepreneur will tell you that opening your own business is a process, and it sounds like you are in the beginning stages of the operation. Look to your mentors and coaches to help build your strategy for fully developing all five of these areas in both your personal and business life. Stay focused with your eyes on the prize. Grit and drive are fundamental concepts in the journey of the successful business founder.
Start now to improve your score in each category:
Is your score lower than you wold like? Start with the traits where you have the weakest scores and build your way up with daily practice and clear action items towards improvement.
1. COMPETITIVE:
Based on your niche market, research your competitors to see what they are doing well, where they are failing and where the missed opportunities are in their businesses. Look at your local competition as well as the global 'bar setters' for your industry. Become a secret shopper or client with them to study their process, their product, their service. Comb through their reviews on Yelp, Google, Amazon, or wherever you can find them. This information will give you the exact first steps for competing against them to win.
2. SIGNIFICANCE:
Start a ‘dream big’ list of all of the things you would like to accomplish in your personal and business life. This will become a living, growing list that you will refer to for the rest of your life. Look to the leaders, mentors, and over-all risk takers in your life for inspiration. Raise the bar of possibility for yourself and your business. As you check one item off the list, look to go bigger and better the next time.
3. RELATOR:
Come up with two life questions that you will ask those closest to you at work or in your personal life. Come up with deep questions which will allow them to open up to you while also revealing a deeper aspect of yourself.
4. ACHIEVER:
Every week, first thing Monday morning, compile your list of deliverables that you need completed by the end of the week. Star the items that are your first priority and take care of these first. As you move through the week, enjoy the process of checking all of the items off the list. Transfer all incomplete items to the following week’s list.
5. RESPONSIBILITY:
As you commit to appointments, tasks, or deliverables, use a calendar with alerts/reminders to store these commitments and their due dates. Schedule a pair of reminders for each responsibilty: one several days in advance and the second for the morning of the due date. There is no trait more valuable than reliability.
Looking for BIGGER improvements? Let us help you increase your score at The Business Movement entrepreneur’s summit on January 21, 2017 in San Francisco. If you have ever dreamed of running your own business or you are looking for insight to progress your business above and beyond your current successes, let us help you build the vision and strategize the plan.
For information on REGISTRATION, click here.
