I have chatted with many people about this over the past year or two and done considerable reading and educatumicat’n myself on this topic.
What are the three key characteristics of an entrepreneur?

According to Napoleon Hill who did a study of highly successful Entrepreneurs in the early 20th century the first two factors he lists in his book “Think and Grow Rich” are Desire and Faith. Most of the reading that I have done (and talks with people around town) are that persistence is the number one factor in being a successful entrepreneur. I have had time to ruminate on the various inputs and come up with the Blogmatic top 3 characteristics of the successful entrepreneur.

Here it is:
- Passion
- Persistence
- Actually the jury is still out on number 3, looking for ideas.

Passion in my opinion is the most important characteristic that an entrepreneur must have. This encompasses the faith and desire that Napoleon Hill was talking about. Zig Ziglar had said that the first person you must sell on a product or service is yourself. Passion is the contagious enthusiasm that helps the entrepreneur sell their idea. Passion is also the glue for the vision that the entrepreneur sells. Without passion you have a hollow idea.

Persistence is the characteristic that I have heard most often from people as the most important factor. Persistence is what keeps the entrepreneur plugging away even when times get tough. Persistence is that dogged determination that keeps the entrepreneur going. Perhaps this should be number one.

The jury is still out on number 3. I had thought that perhaps it was determination, but someone said isn’t that very similar to persistence. Yes and no. Another thought is that perhaps that a killer instinct or business savyness is essential for success. I am sure there are others.
Back to Napoleon Hill who listed 13 factors as key to successful entrepreneurs. Why have I listed only 3? Because I can remember 3. I believe that the 80/20 rule applies to these characteristics as well. The top 3 factors probably account for 80% of the success.

Cheers,
Ian Graham