Building a business empire is a vast undertaking. Most people who try their hand at it fail for any one of many reasons. The business world is unbelievably competitive. It takes a great idea, perseverance, and luck to succeed, but it also takes some particular personality traits.
Not everyone has these naturally. But some people do. And if most of these come naturally to you, you’re in the company of some big names; names like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Drew Houston, and many more.
So how do you know if you have the personality to succeed in the world of big business? If you have big ambitions for your future business empire, you might wonder if you have what it takes.
Here are 15 signs that you might be a business empire builder in the making:
1. You Love Being Your Own Boss
Some people thrive in a traditional work setting where they get directions from the boss and then carry out specific tasks. But people who have the makings of an entrepreneur often chafe under these conditions. Instead, they want the freedom to choose the direction of their day. This is a personality trait of someone who might have a future in building an empire business.
This kind of work is radically different from the traditional 9-to-5 setting. People who thrive in it have a particular type of personality to make it productive. This kind of independence can’t come at the expense of productivity, or you will never get ahead in the business world. But if you do have that kind of discipline, you might thrive under the freedom of making those decisions for yourself.
If you are the kind of person who loves getting to decide the direction of your day, you might be a business empire builder in the making.
2. You Take Initiative
People who have a future in business ownership know how to spot a problem and take the initiative to find a solution. There is no time to wait around for someone else to get to it. This kind of go-getter attitude indicates that you are willing to roll your sleeves up and get things done independently.
Ultimately what this means is that you seize opportunities instead of waiting for them. This is one of the most critical personality traits for future business entrepreneurs. If you sit around and wait for someone else to solve a problem, they will get the credit.
This kind of proactive personality is something that many famous entrepreneurs share. What is more, when you are first starting, it shows other people that you are willing to wade in and get your hands dirty, as the saying goes.
3. You’re Competitive
The business world is a competitive one, and not everybody is made for it. Everyone knows that most start-ups fail soon after their conception. There are thousands of people trying to do the same thing you are.
That doesn’t mean that you should give up. But it does mean that you need a competitive edge over the others. Get into the business world because you genuinely believe that your product, service, or idea is the very best. This is the kind of belief that will help you fight for your vision.
Most people don’t have the stamina or the focus to keep running the race, especially when it gets challenging. But great entrepreneurs enjoy and thrive off of competition. They use this environment to help them form plans to help their ideas stand out in a busy market.
4. You Take Smart Risks
You have probably heard it said that great business entrepreneurs take risks. After all, sticking with the safe choices means you will never take the leap you need to help your business expand.
It is undoubtedly true that great entrepreneurs take risks with investments. But that doesn’t mean you take risks without thinking them through. People who build business empires know how to take calculated, smart risks that pay off.
One entrepreneur that took a risk that paid off was Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox. He said no to a titan of business — Steve Jobs himself. When Jobs told him to forget trying to claim part of the cloud, Houston pushed back. Picking a fight with the founder of Apple was a considerable risk, but it paid off. These days, Dropbox is worth as much as $10 billion.
Of course, not every leap you take will pay off, which is simply part of the game. But as long as you know what you are doing and calculating each of your steps, you will have a significant leg up on the competition.
5. You Have Unique Ideas
Of course, one of the most significant parts of being the builder of a successful business empire is having unique, creative ideas. It is not enough to have a savvy business plan. You also need to have an idea that no one else has — or at least one presented in a way that no one else has had.
Once you have that great idea, then you need to know how to bring it to reality. But that is secondary to finding your breakthrough idea.
Successful entrepreneurs have an innate curiosity that continually keeps them on the lookout for new ideas. When they talk to people, they look for new ideas and ventures. This isn’t about taking advantage of people. Instead, it’s a way of staying curious and letting that curiosity guide your interactions with others.
6. You Know How To Adjust As You Go
Even the best ideas don’t pan out 100 percent of the time. Great business entrepreneurs know how to learn from their failures and adjust in the future. This allows you to take the core of a great idea and bring it in a new direction until you find what works.
We have all read stories about now-famous products or services that started as something completely different. For example, the image-sharing site Flickr started as an online chat and game room. When this didn’t become overly successful, the founders switched their business plan. They found an untapped space in the online market, and Flickr as we know it was born.
Every great business goes through drafts like a book. But it takes talent to see what parts need to be “edited” and the best way to improve them.
7. You Are Persistent
Most successful business entrepreneurs did not find fame with their first idea. Most of them have failed over and over again. But they had a persistence that kept them from becoming discouraged. Instead, they learned from their mistakes, changed their approach, and continued with their next idea.
Of course, being persistent isn’t about doggedly continuing to pursue an idea that doesn’t work. But it does mean believing in your vision or mission strongly enough to keep trying when you know that it’s good.
Persistence is what helps great business entrepreneurs keep going even when they are discouraged. The bottom line is that if you believe in your mission, you will keep going even through setbacks, losses, and failures. This is a challenging quality to cultivate, and not everyone has it. But great business owners always do.
8. You Are Confident
To sell an idea, you have to believe in it genuinely. What is more, you have to believe that your idea is the best on the market. If you don’t have that kind of belief, you won’t be confident enough to make it move forward.
Great entrepreneurs have the confidence that it takes to convince others that the world needs their idea. If you are not convinced of that yourself, you can’t make anyone else believe that this is the next idea that will change the world.
This is the root of confidence: believing in your idea. It can be a challenge to continue being confident through failures and setbacks.
Great business entrepreneurs believe in their own abilities and mission and are determined to bring both to the world no matter what.
There are many ways that entrepreneurs can show confidence and how it affects their chances of success. Ultimately, it boils down to remembering that they have a great idea and abilities that no one else has. Holding onto that will help fuel their energy for the long game.
9. You Are Passionate
There is no point in building a business empire that does not have your confidence. To have the kind of drive it takes to be successful, you need to create an empire about which you are passionate. Some people even say that passion is the root of a great business.
If you want to have the drive and believe in your business’s mission, it has to be about something that excites you. This excitement is contagious. It helps you get other people — from investors to marketers, partners, and clients — excited about your business, too.
When you think about what companies look for when hiring candidates, the main thing that they look for is passion — even more than technical skills. This is because they know that this is the single biggest thing that makes people tackle their work with energy and enthusiasm, even when they feel discouraged.
10. You Know How To Set And Follow Your Goals
We all try to set goals — but following through is much more complex. Business empire builders know how to set clear goals that will help them advance. Then they make a plan for how to get there.
But the big difference between these people and the average person is that they follow through. This takes some serious discipline. Goals can’t just remain a fantasy. To make a difference, they have to become a reality, and successful people know how to make that happen.
If you are someone who is hyper-focused on making your goals a reality, you may be a business empire builder in the making. This is a rare quality, but it is essential in the competitive world of business.
11. You Learn From Your Mistakes
No path to success is straightforward. Even the builders of business empires make missteps. What makes them different from the people who fail? They learn from their mistakes and use that knowledge to adjust their plans in the future.
Just take Bill Gates, who is arguably one of the most successful business entrepreneurs in the world. Gates didn’t start with Microsoft, the company that would propel him to the top of the computer industry. Instead, his first company was a small start-up called Traf-O-Data. You have probably never heard of it. It failed spectacularly because Gates’ business plan was massively flawed.
But rather than give up, Gates looked at what had gone wrong with his first company. He learned from those mistakes and took that knowledge with him as he started his second company. That company was Microsoft, which changed technology as we know it.
Having this ability to take advantage of past mistakes and apply them going forward is a must for any business entrepreneur.
12. You Are a Problem Solver
One thing that many entrepreneurs say they have in common is that they spend their free time thinking about solving problems. Most people stay awake at night, worrying about the future. But successful business entrepreneurs stay up thinking about their business and how to improve it.
If you spend your free time thinking about how to improve things in your life or the world, you might have a future in business.
Successful entrepreneurs don’t shy away from problems. Instead, they see them as a chance to find solutions, like a puzzle they need to solve. They get excited at the opportunity to get their mental wheels spinning and think of ways to make things better.
13. You Work Hard
Most people work hard, but people who build business empires are known for being extremely hard workers. What is the difference between regular hard workers and those who work so hard that they get to see their business ideas grow and thrive?
The most significant difference is that business entrepreneurs welcome hard work. In fact, they thrive off of it. When the going gets tough, as the saying goes, successful entrepreneurs get excited. They see hard work as the chance to make progress and see their projects progress and become successful.
This goes hand-in-hand with their passion for their business idea. Business entrepreneurs believe in something, and that means they enjoy working to bring it to fruition. If you find yourself getting lost in projects because you want to make them succeed, you might have a future in business ownership.
14. You Have Extreme Focus
Being a business entrepreneur sounds exciting in the abstract. But the truth is that many of the day-to-day activities are pretty mundane. Many people struggle to focus on the daily toil when they would rather be doing new and exciting things.
However, just because these tasks are tedious doesn’t mean they’re unimportant. Most of them are essential. A great entrepreneur gives each task the attention it deserves.
Where do they get this kind of focus? It comes from being able to maintain perspective. An entrepreneur remembers that each of these pieces is one of a larger puzzle. Each step matters because it is just one part that leads to the end goal.
If you find yourself focusing all your attention on a particular project until it is finished to perfection, you might have a future in business ownership. This ability to hone in on tasks is vital and rare.
15. You Don’t Need Instant Gratification
Building a business empire is a long, slow process with many setbacks. People who succeed learn to deal with the fact that there is no instant gratification. If anything, there can be a lot of frustration and feeling like you are not making any progress.
This is a big contrast to traditional jobs, where you usually see the results of your work very quickly. Successful business entrepreneurs can keep the finish line in sight, knowing that the eventual rewards will make up for the long wait.
Some people have this kind of patience naturally. Others have to cultivate it. Regardless, it is a vital characteristic for anyone with big ambitions in the business world. It will help keep you on the right track even if you don’t have instantaneous success.
Conclusion
Having these personality traits doesn’t guarantee that you will succeed in the world of business. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure until you try! But it does mean that you might have what it takes to start a business or even build a business empire.
Building a business results from a great idea, innovative implementation strategies, and yes, some good old-fashioned luck. But having qualities like these will put you ahead of your competition and help you maintain your success in the long run. There is no recipe for success, but there are some ingredients that make success much more likely.
