Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2014. Its figures are from 2014: 90,000 US companies with 100–499 employees, 18,000 with more than 500, and more businesses closing than starting “for the first time in history”.
Only 5 in every 1,000 people have the potential to become a Richard Branson or a Mark Zuckerberg, according to a recent Gallup study featured in a CNBC interview, which sets out some of the traits needed to build large companies valued at more than a billion dollars.
Because of its entrepreneurial culture, the United States is home to the vast majority of these big entrepreneurs with the traits, or ingredients, needed to create companies like these.
According to CNBC, there are currently only 90,000 companies with between 100 and 499 employees, and only 18,000 with more than 500 employees, in the United States. The report also highlights that in the US, as in other parts of the world, more businesses are closing than are starting, for the first time in history. But the companies that do succeed are also much bigger and have more potential than ever before.
There are 10 traits that define entrepreneurs like Branson or Zuckerberg, such as business focus, confidence, creative thinking, the ability to delegate wisely, determination, independence, relationship-building, a hunger for knowledge and risk-taking. But one of these traits is essential, because if you lack it, the rest are of no use.
To find the trait that separates the profile of a successful entrepreneur from that of someone who is not on track to succeed, the study took a sample of the entrepreneurs who make up the “pool” of companies of Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500.
What was the trait they found for business success?
You can be smart, highly qualified and even have all the support you need, but if you are not a risk-taker, you are destined, if not to fail, then certainly not to succeed.
Taking risks: that is the most important trait of successful entrepreneurs. Starting a business is a risk; expanding it means taking more risks. If the new companies valued at more than a billion dollars have shown us anything, it is that you have to take a lot of risks and have enough determination to launch yourself in pursuit of success, or of failing fast.
(Read: If you’re going to fail, this is the way to do it)
The next most important trait is a strong business focus, being very clear that we are not setting up a charity. An entrepreneur must always pursue profitability, something many forget when they distort those newer messages saying that “money isn’t everything”. That is not true, because a company survives as long as there is money. If the business isn’t profitable, the company closes.
These entrepreneurs work hard and focus on making their companies profitable, and, as a secondary aspect, one way to make a business profitable is to give customers good service and sell something that meets a need. You can be profitable while making a positive change in the world.
(Read: Probably the best businesswoman on the planet)
Above all, and though it may sound like a cliché, these entrepreneurs never give up. They won’t take no for an answer when they are pursuing success. If one road is closed, they will look for another, and if the doors are shut on them, they will climb in through the windows and open the door from the inside.
They all share a strong focus on controlling their own destiny. They know that their future depends directly on what they do today. They are aware of adversity, just as they are aware that adversity can and must be overcome. They have prepared themselves to overcome it.
And what’s the good news for entrepreneurs like you?
It may seem that these great entrepreneurs were born with these traits, but the truth is that we are born with many standard parts, and as we go through life, if you can develop a skill nobody is born with, which is none other than learning from mistakes (being resilient), there are many areas of our lives we can learn to handle, many behaviours we can change and habits we can adopt. So we can acquire the traits needed to become the next Richard Branson.
But to do that, as we mentioned when discussing the famous Lewin’s equation, we will sometimes also need to change our environment to get a different view of the situation. That way we can more easily get rid of harmful beliefs and bad habits, making room for new habits and a different outlook.
How do you go from zero to Richard Branson?
Once we can see more clearly what habits successful people have in common, and we are clear that we want to be like these great entrepreneurs one day, we will have to unlock the first trait in order to climb the ladder: you must be willing to learn everything these people learned in their day.
We can all develop a talent. We should be clear that, however hard we work on certain talents or skills, we will never outdo someone who was born with that particular talent. But by working harder than the talented person, we can get better results than they do.
As the well-known saying goes: “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Likewise, success does not depend on a single talent, but on a combination of small skills and talents. That is why there are many more talented people who fail than untalented people who succeed.
However, remember that to succeed in business, as a general rule, if you have the drive and the acquired skills, and you are clear that you are willing to work hard, you can always hire or partner with someone who has the talent you lack. That is how great companies are born, because another vitally important trait of these entrepreneurs is that they know their success depends on the people who work directly with them.
Further reading
Featured image: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
,_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views.jpg){kind=link}