15 Ways To Know You Will Be A Successful Entrepreneur One Day

Every entrepreneur is after only one thing- success. Whether it’s business success, success in changing the world, or financial success, it is the end all for any startup. But how do you know you will be successful? The majority of entrepreneurs out there fail, again and again, before they either quit or finally reach their goals.

You can always tell when others will probably be successful mainly by their personality, but when it comes to yourself, it helps to have a checklist of sorts. Here are fifteen qualities that all entrepreneurs who will be successful must have; if you find some of these traits in yourself, chances are you are going to be pretty successful someday.

An entrepreneur is who they are because they are driven by a purpose that defines their lifestyle. It sucks to wake up early everyday, to push yourself to create while you live in less than ideal conditions, but you do it because you love what you do and it’s a way of life that ultimately brings you happiness. You won’t ever stop, and that’s what makes you successful.

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful is pure perseverance.” One of the most persistent entrepreneurs that existed, Steve Jobs kept pushing even when he was devastatingly ousted from his own company in 1985.  Every successful entrepreneur has this quality because on a long enough scale you will find success; it’s just a matter of pushing through all your failures until you’ve perfected your craft.

It takes discipline to stay productive when it feels like the weight of the world is holding down your body and mind- it’s hard as hell,  but it’s just something that needs to be done. As Jim Rohn says, “We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.” Which will you choose to endure?

In the face of financial ruin, risk and failure, an entrepreneur readily launches a venture because they aren’t afraid of failing. They have the balls to dare to be great and create something the world has never seen before especially when everyone tells them otherwise. Find out what you are most afraid of and never let it hold you back.

We are all either extroverts or introverts, but one fact is clear- as a successful entrepreneur, networking is a necessary skill. Going out to events, introducing yourself, having the charm to strike up a conversation and make connections is the minimum social requirement for any entrepreneur. Get yourself out there- you’ll never know who you might meet along the way that will change your life.

Keeping an open mind not only makes you a great leader when going over ideas, but it allows you the flexibility needed to change the course of your business if needed. Listening to the criticism of your peers and the feedback of your customers is absolutely something you want. As Richard Branson points out, “Entrepreneurial business favours the open mind. It favours people whose optimism drives them to prepare for many possible futures, pretty much purely for the joy of doing so.”

If you have an idea that can change the world, then you have to believe that anything is possible. Elon Musk co-founded SpaceX, which has their eyes set on getting to Mars. He co-founded Tesla, which aims to replace the majority of combustion engine cars within our lifetime. Most would have laughed at those ideas only a handful of years ago- they just didn’t believe.

The simple science behind this is that the more you hang around creative, intelligent and successful people, their qualities inevitably influence and rub off on you. As motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

You’ll never be successful if you don’t know what you want or you can’t make important choices when you need to. The best way to exercise this trait is to have a clear, detailed vision of what you want- then the only choices you have to make are how to get closer to that goal. Quit stalling and get it done!

Creativity is synonymous with genius in the field of innovation. Even if all your ideas fail, it just takes one to find success in experimenting with what works. Even one new idea can trump massive industries that stick with only one tried and true method. Innovation doesn’t take a massive corporation; it can take as little as a few young entrepreneurs tinkering in a garage.

Curiosity is sign of intelligence and being thirsty for knowledge either means you are going to be successful or a genius- neither of which are bad. Curiosity leads to knowledge, knowledge is power, and power is the ultimate form of success. All it takes is a one word question- “Why?”

This is the trait for perfectionists and those who want the best of everything- for themselves, their startups, and their accomplishments. While winning isn’t everything, it’s definitely a key ingredient to success when competing against other startups or products in the market. If you always find ways to increase efficiency and value, you have nowhere to go but up.

Strategic thinkers have that eye for opportunity- they know the world around them well enough to exploit opportunities for success. House of Card’s Frank Underwood is a strategic master and when he sets his eyes on something, he knows exactly what he needs to do to get it done before anyone else sees him coming.

Okay, we all care about money because we need it to survive, but living like an entrepreneur isn’t glamorous. If you have no qualms with living frugally to focus all your finances on your startup, then you’ll have what it takes to survive until you are successful- and rich!

If there is one trait that separates entrepreneurs from the rest of the barrel of brilliant people, it’s an element of insanity. Steve Jobs worked under the belief that only those who were crazy enough to change the world with their ideas could. A successful entrepreneur is crazy enough to have have big ideas and follow them no matter what anyone says.