1.  Successful Entrepreneurs are Self-Confident – to succeed in the highly competitive business world, confidence and trust in oneself is an indispensable trait. Self-confidence means trusting your own powers and capabilities. The world of entrepreneurship is not alien to failure and disappointments. To survive in such a cutthroat world, an entrepreneur must have the ability to look within himself and find the drive and persistence to pursue his enterprise. An entrepreneur must have the gumption to face any adversity and tackle any problems that may be encountered in the world of business.

2.  Successful Entrepreneurs are Risk-takers – being an entrepreneur means having the ability to trust your hunches and acting on them. Great business ideas sometimes start as a hunch which enterprising individuals acted upon. There is always the risk of loss in any endeavor, and entrepreneurs have just the right confidence to take calculated risks to achieve their objective.  However, an entrepreneur’s risk-taking does not depend on luck, but on sheer effort and hard work.

3.  Successful Entrepreneurs know the value of money and are careful about their finances – to succeed in any business; an entrepreneur must understand the value of money and the cost of things. Typically, successful entrepreneurs learned how to earn and value money at a young age. Most of them started out by earning loose change as teenagers mowing lawns, doing groceries, babysitting for neighbors, etc.

4.  Successful entrepreneurs have the so-called head for business – many entrepreneurs are gifted with intuition: they know what product or service is going to ‘click’ next. However, this ability does not involve clairvoyance or extra sensory powers of some sort, but rather, keen observation and understanding of what is going on around him. A good entrepreneur is always on the look out for new ideas and new ways to make money.

5.  Successful Entrepreneurs are competitive – the world of business is a very competitive environment. An entrepreneur must be aggressive enough to pursue his goal despite having many rivals and competitors. An entrepreneur must know how to stay ahead of his competitors, either by introducing new ideas and exploring new ventures, all in the spirit of expanding his business.

6.  Successful Entrepreneurs are honorable and have a good work ethic – although it is a fact that the business world is ruthless, but the successful entrepreneur will strive to make every business deal honorable. The mark of a successful entrepreneur lies in a good personal work ethic that ultimately leads to good business practices, excellent reputation and good association with industry peers and business partners.

7.  Successful Entrepreneurs know the importance of leisure time – hard work and determination are very important values every entrepreneur must have. However, a good entrepreneur knows when it’s time to take a step back from all the rigors of business and enjoy some downtime with their family. Besides, we all do need a little relaxation to refresh the body and mind before plunging back into the challenging (and stressful) world of business.

These are just seven of the most important characteristics of an entrepreneur. Of course, the characteristics every entrepreneur must have are not limited to the ones mentioned. Having these characteristics is not a guarantee that an entrepreneur will be successful. But with these characteristics, an entrepreneur has just the right ingredients for success. All one needs to do is to find the right mix of these values, excellent timing, perhaps a bit of luck and, of course, faith in oneself. So, do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? Go over these characteristics and values mentioned and reflect if you do have these.

Giving up a job in this economic climate can be a decision with no return. Millions have lost their jobs in the 2008/2009 economic melt-down, and competition for each job opening is fierce.

Perhaps you are among the millions of laid-off workers, and you have given up hope of ever finding employment again. You are ready to go into business for yourself with an innovative product or service that has been rattling around your brain for quite some time.

In either case, an entrepreneur needs to have a number of character traits for success. The most fundamental one is the discipline to do the groundwork for getting a business started. Even if you have access to significant sums of money yourself, you’ll need to write a business plan. As they say, if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll never get there. Most fledgling entrepreneurs have to find a business loan or equity financing. In that case, your business plan must SING! It must be so persuasive that it convinces your banker or a potential angel investor to actually fund your business. And you need to keep in mind that they will not look at your business in the same way you do.

Formatting a business plan is not that difficult – there are loads of templates and free resources available on the Internet. But putting some real meat on to that template will require a lot of work on your part.

The Executive Summary is the overview of your business plan and explains the what, why, and how of your proposed business. Be careful not to overstate your first-year revenue estimate, and make sure that your estimate is based on solid market research. Nothing will kill your chances faster than pulling numbers out of the air. You need solid information on your direct competition and on why you think you can compete successfully. But there is also indirect competition from similar solutions that may solve the problem just as well. Investors will respond most favorably when your business addresses an existing hole where the market is crying for a solution.