If you knew the personality traits that most successful entrepreneurs shared, how would that change the way you showed up as the CEO of your own business? Would having this insight be the catalyst for making changes to your attitude, your mental headspace or your actions? Could this information put you at ease in knowing that you are on the right track?

Entrepreneurship is not the right profession for everyone. In a recent conversation with Laurel Douglas, CEO Women’s Enterprise Centre, she shared that statistics show that 50% of businesses do not make it past the first five years of operation, and that 70% of mentored small businesses survive five years or more – double the rate of non-mentored entrepreneurs.

Do you know what it takes to start and sustain your own business over the long term?

In British Columbia, we just celebrated the 21^st Annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards. BC Business Magazine featured an article with 30 entrepreneurs and their impressive stories of business achievement. From the article, one particular question that was asked in each of the interviews caught my attention: “what is the most underrated trait of an entrepreneur?”

Top 10 Must-Have Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur:

1. The ability to be teachable. If you can’t learn from others and from your mistakes, you don’t stand a chance.
2. Belief in yourself. The ability to act on what you believe is the right thing to do, and to have confidence in your decision-making process.
3. The ability to turn No into Yes. Being solution-focused.
4. Maintaining a high sense of urgency, and taking persistent action.
5. Acceptance of failure and being wrong.
6. Eternal optimism. Don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of your ability to fulfill your dream.
7. Ability to adapt to changes. A stubbornness to keep moving forward, no matter what.
8. Giving back to your customers and your staff.
9. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Consistency is key.
10. Even though you want things to happen quickly, others have their own schedules and priorities.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not rocket science, although there is an art and a science to it. Tony Robbins has revealed to us that 80% of success is psychology and 20% is mechanics. When this rule is applied to business, I believe that 80% of business success comes from our mindset and how we show up in the world through our thoughts, attitude, energy, non-verbal communication and the words we use. We will continue to bump up against our own glass ceiling of mindset blocks, never exceeding our own level of personal development (i.e. self esteem, confidence, fear) unless we take proactive steps to ‘work’ on ourselves from the inside out.

What steps will you take today to recognize and change the personal roadblocks that are getting in the way of reaching your full potential in business?

Book your 45-minute business strategy session with me to discuss how to create a strategy around what you’ve discovered, so you can take measured action toward your goals.