Secrets to Success: four types, four traits

Reckon you’ve stumbled across the next ‘big thing’? Believe there’s a market for what you’re selling? Think you’ll be?better?or that you have a?unique?selling point??

This could?all?be blind optimism. Your friends and family will no doubt offer words of support and encouragement, but this is not usable market research - and can never be used as the basis for a?successful?business.?

I’ve worked with hundreds of start-ups and I can pretty much tell if they have a chance within?five?minutes of talking to them. Essentially, there are?four?types of start-ups:

1. ?A?great?entrepreneur with a?good?idea
5. A?great?entrepreneur with an?OK?idea
9. A?bad?entrepreneur with a?great?idea
13. A?bad?entrepreneur with a?bad?idea

Only the first?two?have a?real?chance of success.?Number 1?will usually know?the market that they’re going into, as well as a?deep?understanding of the problem that they’re trying to solve. Finally, they will likely have an intuition as to the?value?they offer to their clients.

Number 2?can still be successful. This is because I’ve never met a good entrepreneur that has only?one?idea.?Good?entrepreneurs are characterised by their open mind, their can-do attitude and their resilience to setbacks. Sometimes, all they need is a?mentor?to tease a new idea out.

Spotting?bad?entrepreneurs is fairly easy. They’re often?blinded?by their insistence that they are right, yet have nothing to back their opinions or ideas up. They’re often arrogant, suffer from that?blind optimism?and will show?little?resilience to setbacks. Even if they have a great?idea, they’re often doomed to failure?unless?they hand over the development of the business to others.

In summary, to be a successful start-up you need to have the following?four?traits:

1. ?Confidence?in your abilities and ideas (but?never?arrogance or?blind optimism).
5. Resilience?to carry you through the inevitable setbacks you’ll encounter.?
9. Attitude:?be open-minded at all times. Never, ever stop?learning.
13. Persistence:?do not stop at the first, second or third hurdle. Where there’s a will, there’s away.?

However, having these?four?traits alone will not be enough.

It might give you the?slingshot?and adrenaline to get going but to stay in business and to grow, you’ll need to get a team together. This will require?leadership?skills often?not?found in great entrepreneurs.

This is where your good?attitude?needs to come into play. You need to be?open-minded?and appreciate that you don’t know everything and will?never?know everything - you need to be continuously learning.

I’m a founding member of a brilliant organisation,?For Entrepreneurs Only, which is based in Hull, East Yorkshire. This is the only organisation that I know of where the members pay to join and then donate their time to helping others become more successful. It’s helped thousands of people to start up, develop and then refine their business with the?one?aim of helping the economy of East Yorkshire to?thrive.

I wish you the very best of luck - which is something we all need in business too!