Entrepreneurs are both born and made but this post is going to touch on the more controversial side of the equation. Were you born to be an entrepreneur?
6 Tell-tale Signs You Were Born To Be An Entrepreneur
You are extremely creative and quick.
You are stress tolerant.
You are naturally persuasive.
You are naturally resilient and seek out pain and struggle.
You have "experimented" since before you can remember.
You had dreams of running businesses as a kid.
1. You Are Extremely Creative And Quick
Entrepreneurs and artists are similar in their temperaments. They are both extremely creative.
To engage in art takes courage. Art and Entrepreneurship are an embodiment of "putting yourself on the line". To work for yourself is putting yourself on the line. To put out any creative work into the world is to say, "Here's my soul...let's see if you're interested."
You are also competing against every other artist or entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs and artists can't just be more creative than Aunt Susie - they have to be more creative than other people who are creating.
You have to be sharp and quick to creative output. In the age of Social Media, it is no longer enough to create just one piece of art or one business. Odds are that one piece or business will fail and your competitors are already on to the next one.
You have to innovate. You have to be knowledgable. You have to be aware of trends and not veer too far off from convention. Remember...
2. You Are Stress-Tolerant
Go to Grandma who grew up in the Industrial Revolution and tell her the following...
"Grandma...I'm starting a business. I won't be guaranteed health care nor a pension, I won't have a paycheck every week and I won't have a schedule BUT...I'm going to make millions selling on Amazon. Every week, I'm going to sell thousands of dollars worth of product to customers."
SHE WOULD STAGE AN INTERVENTION AT ONCE!!!!
Entrepreneurship is stressful - especially in the early stages. Nothing is guaranteed and your reputation is on the line. It is your creation being tested by the market - not someone else's. It takes accountability and it takes work.
When a sale doesn't go your way, are you going to question why everything went wrong or are you just going to move on to the next sale? While entrepreneurs will consider what went wrong, they don't harp or linger.
Entrepreneurs have their emotions in control and don't overreact. People high in trait neuroticism may struggle in this game.
3. You Are Naturally Persuasive
Entrepreneurs are convincing. They have a talent for convincing customers of their products and services. They are usually extraverted and can see the other side well. Their sales and marketing seem to "click" because they have done the work to truly understand their customers.
Maybe as a kid, you sucked as a quarterback yet somehow every time recess came around, you were able to convince your peers you should quarterback Team "Skins" in the football game.
Maybe as a kid, you had a way of convincing your parents to buy you the new Jordan Shoes.
Whatever it was, you were probably persuasive as a kid.
4. You Are Naturally Resilient And Seek Out Pain And Struggle
Entrepreneurs go through pain and struggle. There are so many ups and downs and navigating the storm is painful.
As a kid, I used to seek out struggle. I would wear the boldest clothes, I would challenge the teacher. I would criticize the coolest, most popular kid at school. These would inevitably lead to pain but I knew that and did it anyways.
I still, to this day, seek out things that are uncomfortable and pursue them anyways. I'll go up to the hottest girl at the bar knowing I'll probably get rejected and I insult her. Why? Guys praise her left and right. Be different I tell myself and it has worked ;).
Even after getting rejected, entrepreneurs get up stronger than before and struggle harder. Eventually they succeed.
5. You Have "Experimented" Since Before You Can Remember
As an entrepreneur you have to trust your gut and experiment sometimes. Sometimes the business is going to throw a wrench at you and you have to know when to pivot and try something new. That is especially difficult if what you're doing has been working.
I have always experimented. For example, pretty recently, I wanted to have more influence at work. I tried something not knowing if it would work. I didn't want to be at the register anymore so I decided to start using sales tricks to get customers to like me more at the register. I started to match their tone and the speed at which they were talking. Sure enough, I started getting more "Thank you so much, you have been so helpful" and less "let me see your manager"s. Iw as ringing them up for their prescription. IT wasn't rocket science but my sales tactics were giving me more influence.
This is the scientific method at work. I form hypotheses and test them. Entrepreneurs should do the same to improve.
6. You Had Dreams Of Running A Business As A Kid
Here's a tweet I posted of my experience with this rule...
Every morning on the bus, I would take out my notebook and plan out my ownership of the Yankees. I broke it down. I even had a leadership coach to coach the captain on how to influence!
I can't find the notebook now but if you had dreams similar to this as a kid, you're probably destined for this.
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