5 of the Most Important Traits for Entrepreneurs to Have

What is the most important personality trait for entrepreneurs to have and why?

PERSEVERANCE. Being an entrepreneur has a lot of ups and downs—maybe even more downs than ups. It’s a roller coaster. I try to remember that every hour presents a new opportunity to keep moving forward rather than dwelling on what happened in the previous hour.

— Alan Braun, CEO of Ingage

A GROWTH MINDSET. Every day as an entrepreneur is different than the day before. You need to be OK with trying something new and learning something new. When my co-founder and I started the company in 2014, it was just the two of us and no customers. Now we have more than 500 customers worldwide and the journey to get here has made my role very different.

— Edith Harbaugh, co-founder and CEO of LaunchDarkly

HUMILITY. Starting something of your own means you have to be not only the boss, but the safety net. No one wants it to succeed more than you. There are going to be nights when you get to do really fun things, but more often than not, you are going to have to miss them to clean the bar mats. Having a realistic view of one’s self makes those moments more rewarding and less of a sacrifice knowing there is a bigger goal to achieve.

— Rhett Rosen, CEO Trader Vic’s Worldwide

RESILIENCE. Without this characteristic, one will not last long enough to prove a business productive. By nature, startups require failure daily. When pioneering a new process or product, finding out what not to do is just as critical as defining what to do. Being able to recover from failure often and well is what distinguishes many successful founders from those with the best intentions.

—Carisa Miklusak, CEO of tilr

RELENTLESSNESS. You have to keep pushing the ball down the court. Not only does this increase your chances of success, it also inspires those around you to do the same.

— Oren Zaslansky, CEO of Flock Freight

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2019 issue of SUCCESS magazine.

Photo by dashapats / Twenty20