I’ve had the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs of all types throughout my career. Some are pure visionaries, while others are executors. Only a select few are both. But no matter what type of entrepreneur they may be, they all seem to share at least three qualities, and those are the ones I appreciate most.
COURAGE
Entrepreneurs are courageous. It takes a lot of guts to go out on a limb, quit your job and pursue a new endeavor. Sometimes it’s just the seed of an idea, but the fact that entrepreneurs lay it all on the line and go after their dreams showcases a level of courage that few possess.
PERSISTENCE
Entrepreneurs must be persistent. Once you get out there and you have quit your job to pursue your dream full time, and after the adrenaline wears off, realization sets in that the entrepreneurial journey is more like a roller coaster ride than hockey-stick growth or linear trajectory.
When entrepreneurs start to realize how hard it is to build a business, that’s when persistence is invoked. Entrepreneurs remember why they pursued this idea in the first place. Although others might not be able to see the end result of this vision they have created, they must remain persistent in pursuing and pushing after their dreams. All the while knowing it will be a constant, and sometimes agonizing, journey before they are able to realize the entirety of the vision they have created.
A LITTLE BIT OF CRAZY
Thirdly, and equally important, is that every entrepreneur generally must have “a little bit of crazy” in them. What sane, rational, intelligent person would quit their job to pursue building a business where we already know that eight out of 10 most likely will fail? It is, however, that little bit of crazy that helps give the entrepreneur the courage and persistence to build their companies. It’s that little bit of crazy that separates the average people from the remarkable entrepreneurs and innovators that help industries grow. These entrepreneurs have the potential to change behaviors, create new markets and change the future.
If you know an entrepreneur, and we all do, you can probably validate that they have, in some capacity, the above characteristics. And if you do know entrepreneurs, encourage and empower the above qualities within them. Without the entrepreneur with a little bit of crazy, persistence and courage, we would not have some of the amazing advances in technology, health care and energy we are lucky to have in modern times. Who knows, maybe one day you will find that “little bit of crazy” creeping up in your own mind. There’s no telling what you can accomplish with these qualities in your own life.
Used with permission, originally published in Dallas Innovates by Trey Bowles, April 1, 2016. Edited by Katie Dawson.
Trey Bowles is the CoFounder and President of InnoCity Partners LLC, a boutique consulting firm focused on supporting cities/municipalities, corporations, and innovators working to develop innovative solutions for their communities that support and create the best place for their citizens to live, work, and play. Trey cofounded and is now the Executive Chairman of the Dallas Entrepreneur (DEC) Center where he recently stepped out of his role as CEO. Trey launched an entrepreneurship department at SMU in the Meadows School of Arts where he still serves as an adjunct professor. Bowles, a serial entrepreneur, having built numerous organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit space, lives in Dallas, Texas with his bride and three kids.