Module 1 • The entrepreneur 1.4 Personality traits, skills and values of the entrepreneur


1.4.1 Personality traits The personality traits of an entrepreneur can best be described as someone who is:


1 Outgoing (an extrovert) An entrepreneur needs to make other people believe in him or her and in the business idea. Selling the idea and later on the products to the market requires a person who enjoys being in the public eye and who does not mind standing up and talking about it.


2 Willing to take calculated risks Starting a business is risky. A personality trait helping a potential entrepreneur is the ability to regard the risk as a challenge and then to take up that challenge.


3 Optimistic


Entrepreneurs are optimists. They must believe it can work and that they can make it work. This will often be against the advice of their friends and relatives.


4 Self-actualisation


Entrepreneurs have a very strong drive to achieve. They want to be successful within themselves, sometimes against all odds. Furthermore, it is not always important to get recognition from other people.


5 Meticulous


Entrepreneurs pay special attention to detail. They need to focus on all the different aspects of the business. When starting a business, often you can only rely on yourself. There is no- one else. Forgetting about something or not double-checking your calculations or making sure that the correct quantity was delivered can result in disaster.


6 Creative and innovative Creativity and innovation is one of the most important personality traits of the entrepreneur. Identifying a good business idea requires creativity and innovation. One of South Africa’s most successful innovations is the Kreepy Crawly pool-cleaner.


7 Leadership qualities Entrepreneurs are often natural leaders. People believe in them, are prepared to follow them and work for them. They command respect for what they do. However, when the entrepreneur starts out, he has very little standing.


1.4.2 Skills


The three essential skills an entrepreneur should have was discussed earlier. But what does this mean? “Do not start a hairdressing salon if you don’t know how to cut hair” is a very obvious remark, but what are the reasons? • You would probably not know where to start. • You will not recognise the pitfalls. Learning as you go can be very costly. Your business can fail even before you start.


PAUSE FOR THOUGHT


• You will not know how well your employees do their jobs.


• You cannot train your employees yourself. • It is difficult to rectify mistakes if you do not have the expertise.


The advice is to start something you know well and for which you already possess the necessary skills. Stick to those things you know.


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