How Do You Know If You Have What It Takes To Succeed as an Entrepreneur

Both Mario and Luigi want to start a business:

Both of them know that the first step in getting started is to determine if their idea is really worth pursuing.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web.
• Mario calls a few friends to meet them and ask for opinions.

Both know it’s a good idea to have a plan of action.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web for business plans.
• Mario gets a notebook and starts getting his ideas together.

Both know they need to validate their ideas.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web to find sales strategies.
• Mario goes to his target customers, and offer them a prototype product at a super-special discount.

Both know they need some legal advice.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web for legal strategies.
• Mario goes to friend who is an attorney to ask for advice.

Both know they must come up with some branding strategy.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web for branding ideas.
• Mario finds an available domain name and makes a decision.

Both know they need to incorporate their business.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web to get incorporating information.
• Mario goes to a friend and asks him how he did it and gets it done.

Both know they need a workplace.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web to find an office.
• Mario goes to apply to his local accelerator program to get started.

Both know they need to prove their business model.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web to study about business models.
• Mario goes to his beta–customers to prove his value proposition.

Both know they will need to scale the business.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web for examples to scale a business.
• Mario starts designing operational strategies.

Both know they may need to raise some capital.

• Luigi goes home to surf the web to study how to talk to VC’s.
• Mario goes to his friends and family members and shares his vision.

To answer the question, how do you know if you have what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur,

TEN characteristics of successful entrepreneurs:

1. WARNING: A good entrepreneur is NOT someone who NEVER fails — ALL entrepreneurs fail!
2. A good entrepreneur is NOT a dreamer, but a doer.
3. A good entrepreneur is someone who tackles one problem at a time WHILE making progress.
4. A good entrepreneur is full of FAITH, hard work and disciplined dedication.
5. A good entrepreneur is FLEXIBLE and adaptable.
6. A good entrepreneur is moved by an unshakable PASSION which is the source of his/her motivation and relentless tenacity.
7. A good entrepreneur is CUSTOMER-centric.
8. A good entrepreneur has CONSERVATIVE money management skills.
9. A good entrepreneur knows they can’t do it alone and always ASKS for help.
10. A good entrepreneur is a great TEAM player.