Entrepreneur or employee? | Startup Navigator

What qualities should an entrepreneur have? What character traits are needed to create a business venture from an idea and achieve high profits?

Not everyone becomes an entrepreneur. Various studies in the field of entrepreneurship have identified the following entrepreneurial personality traits:

perseverance, patience, perseverance
desire to take the initiative
competitive spirit, desire to get ahead, competitiveness
confidence in yourself and your abilities
a strong need to create something meaningful
good health and excellent physical shape

Age is not a determining factor in entrepreneurship. Most startups are created between the ages of 30 and 59. I will give as an example well-known companies and the age of their creators:

Facebook (20), Microsoft (20), Apple (21), Google (25), Twitter (30), Amazon (30), Tesla (34), Oracle (35), Netflix (37), Zynga (41), Walmart (44), McDonald's (53).

Can a person's psychological profile predict whether he or she will be a successful entrepreneur?

Does an entrepreneur have to be a genius to be successful?

Как и в любой профессии психологическая склонность — это важный, но не единственный залог успеха. При решении, какой дорогой пойти и как строить свою карьеру — быть наемным служащим или предпринимателем — некоторые люди чувствуют себя более уверенными в качестве наемных служащих, а некоторые становятся предпринимателями? Почему? Что отличает предпринимателя:

Ability to be flexible and comfortable in constantly changing circumstances. A salaried employee usually works within a specific function with predetermined parameters. His working day is filled with more or less repetitive actions and in this sense has guaranteed certainty. An entrepreneur, in contrast, does not have clearly defined responsibilities and, as a rule, must deal with different things, must be able to quickly find solutions to various problems and overcome crisis situations.

Ability to motivate yourself. Будучи наемным служащим, вы всегда имеете руководителя, который определяет ваши цели и задачи, формирует ресурсы для их выполнения, оценивает вашу работу. Не важно, как вы к этому относитесь. Многие не любят “начальников”. Но так или иначе, вы привыкаете, что вам указывают, что нужно делать. Предприниматель — сам себе начальник. Вы не можете просто так сидеть и надеяться, что, может быть, кто-то из потенциальных клиентов, пройдет мимо вашего магазина и захочет приобрести товар, или что кто-то предложит вам отличный ассортимент для продажи, или кто-то появится в вашем офисе и скажет, чем нужно заниматься. Для многих людей, которые пытаются стать предпринимателем и начинают заниматься бизнесом после долгой работы на полном рабочем дне, это самая сложное изменение в жизни и привычках.

Ability to recognize areas that present opportunities to make money. When you work as an employee, there is always someone else who is looking for these areas and directing you there. In your business, you must constantly monitor emerging new opportunities to earn money and competitors in your market.

Ability to plan. План, это карта местности, по которой вы собираетесь идти к цели. Понятно, что когда вы собираетесь отправиться куда-либо вы смотрите на карту, проверяете прогноз погоды, составляете список вещей, которые могут вам понадобиться. В бизнесе — хорошо продуманный план — это одно из основных составляющих успеха. Умение составлять долгосрочные и краткосрочные планы, умение своевременно вносить в них коррективы — важнейшее качество предпринимателя

You must be willing to continually put in the effort.. Your business moves and develops based on your energy and the amount of effort you put in. As a business owner, you won't have the ability to delegate your work to someone else or postpone it if you can't find the right employees or one of them gets sick. Particularly a lot of effort is required at the start-up stage, when you need to build a business from scratch.

You must be willing to work under conditions of uncertainty. No one can guarantee that your product will be in demand six months from now, or that your customers will pay their bills on time. Or that your main client, to whom the 70% brings income and who is now absolutely satisfied with your services, suddenly decides not to buy them from someone else. And finally, no one guarantees that you will make a profit this month or next and be able to make ends meet. If you previously worked as an employee and were accustomed to receiving a guaranteed monthly income, relatively regardless of the results of your work, then in your business, such income depends only on you.

You must be able to manage a company. You must know and understand how business works in your chosen industry, be able to select the right employees and motivate them to work productively, understand what motivates your clients and partners, understand how demand is formed and marketing and promotion work, have good knowledge in the field of financial and legal fields.

Finally, you must have a long term understanding the company's development prospects and its growth

Entrepreneurship requires a lot of physical and mental endurance, financial investment and time. There are situations when you should refrain from entrepreneurship. It is not recommended to start creating your own business with your last money, to the detriment of your family and in a state of life stress (loss of a loved one, serious illness, financial difficulties, loss of a job, etc.).

And finally, one more important point. If you are an employee and receive a salary, this is your net profit. When planning to create your own business, think about how much net profit you can get and compare it with your annual salary. If your business plan doesn't allow you to make much more, consider whether it's worth the hassle and risk of entrepreneurship. Maybe in this case it’s worth focusing on a career as an employee?