Do You Have What It Takes To Succeed In Business?

Starting and running a successful business involves a lot more than just finding your passion and being paid for doing what you love.

The time, effort and persistence that go into creating and running a business in a field you are passionate and knowledgeable about, have a greater bearing on your level of success than the external factors affecting the economy as a whole.

This helps to explain why two people in the same town or city and in the same trade will experience different results, one a success, and the other a failure.

Although there are no real shortcuts to wealth, owning a successful business is one of the most certain ways to get wealthy.

But the question is, do you have what it takes to succeed in business?

Here are three important qualities without which your attempts at any business venture will prove futile.

1.  Persistence

Getting started in business takes an unusual person, one who is ready to do what needs to be done to rise above their circumstances without caring about what the rest of the world thinks.

This involves making tough decisions about friends and family who persistently throw mental darts at you, rip your ideas apart and tell you why your decision to take the path less travelled will end in financial destitution.

Once you enjoy a little success as an entrepreneur, and realize you can make it on your own without a boss, you become unemployable, and it becomes easier to stand up to your colleagues who can’t wait to rejoice in your failures.

When things do not work out the way you believe they should, you will find yourself becoming despondent.

Persistence plays an important role here by allowing you to eliminate the thoughts that are not supportive to your current or future goals.

Train your mind to resist any thoughts of defeat as they creep in.

2.  Belief in yourself and in your abilities

One of the most common entry points for employees transitioning into business comes after they are involuntarily kicked out of formal employment.

However, the loss of self-esteem that goes with losing a job makes you desperate in a business situation where showing a lack of desperation can invariably boost your negotiation power.

Your ability to maintain control over a sale when pitching a product or service that could earn you a substantial amount of money has a direct bearing on your self-esteem.

People who don’t believe in themselves make the all too common mistake of doing something they don’t enjoy, in order to earn money, with the hope of doing something they enjoy after their financial situation gets better.

One of the keys to success is being clear on what you are not going to do to achieve your goals as this cuts down on your options and saves you the trouble of choosing a path to your destination that could potentially take you down a rabbit hole.

3.  Ability to focus on your strengths

In the early stages of a business, you will find yourself doing everything. However, you will soon notice there are some activities you are not good at, and you will be tempted to figure out how to turn your weaknesses into strengths.

This will take your focus away from your strengths and soon you will find yourself overwhelmed with innumerable menial tasks that take up too much of your time without returning any meaningful benefit.

A good starting point to avoid this pitfall is to ask yourself whether the task you are working on right now is the highest and best use of your time, and if accomplishing it will get you closer to anyone of your goals.

As the saying goes, focus on what you do best, and outsource the rest.

Many entrepreneurs struggle because they lack the knowhow, and the guidance on how to achieve this elusive accomplishment.

To succeed in business, you have to take into account the compound effect of relentlessly pursuing a single purpose over time, while maintaining a positive expectation of achievement.