A vital question that you should pose to yourself before considering a new small business startup is – Do I have what it takes to make my startup business idea work?

Now, before you answer the immediate cliche response of; “Yes, of course I have what it takes!” to that question. Perhaps first we should look over what that statement really means and how it will affect you, your family and friends for the rest of your life.

A successful startup business should contain the following personality traits. If you don’t have them, you either need to adapt yourself or seriously consider whether starting your own business is really for you!

Commitment

Pursuing your own small business idea will be without a doubt one of your biggest commitments you will make in your lifetime. Its right up there with buying your first house, getting married or starting a family. The amount of time and resources that you are going to have to commit to this enterprise are often overlooked, which is why so many startups fail to make the grade.

• You should be committed to achieving goals, both short term and long term.
• You should be 100% committed to your enterprise and nothing should get in the way of it when it needs you most.
• The balance of family life and running a business is often a hard one, but you’ll have to learn to balance both.
• You will have deadlines to meet and there will be more work for you to do than you have ever experienced before. Don’t just think that this is a one-time gig, this is a normal day’s work – get used to it.

Motivation

Self-motivation is crucial and without it, you’re heading for startup failure. Quite simply, you need to be motivated to work by yourself, for yourself and break your inner limits time and time again to better your business. Remember; this is your business, no longer are you an employee under management, you are your own boss and your business will rely on the work you put in to survive.

• You should be motivated by the work you do.
• You should enjoy what you do and be physically and mentally challenged. This will help to feed your motivation levels.
• You should be willing to put in long hours whenever your business needs it and you should be motivated enough not to second guess whether its really necessary.
• Your motivation will rely heavily on controlled discipline and professional focus – if you think you are up to the challenge so far, let us continue.

Patience

Even the most successful small businesses weren’t born overnight. Depending on your circumstances and perhaps the market you are operating in, your business will take quite a long time to develop and reach profit maturity, you need to be prepared for this.

• You should have an eye on the objectives at all times, but be patient enough to realise that success takes time to come to fruition.
• You should be willing to allow your business to take its natural shape and not try to cut corners through unethical practices, especially when the law is concerned.
• You may become frustrated from time to time, but do not allow this to affect your patience, you must remain objective at all times.

Resilience

Every business has set backs. Some are critical enough to destroy businesses, others are just minor enough to cause a headache and some extra time on your behalf to put right. Either way, you should be prepared for every eventuality and remember that those who fail to plan – plan to fail.

• You must be prepared for things to go wrong, problems and mistakes aren’t catastrophic if you have backup plans in place to put them right.
• You must be prepared to put right what has gone wrong and do it without emotional discomfort.
• You must be able to take criticism from your peers and pipe it into the good of your business.

By no means is this an exhaustive list but a lot of the startup advice we have discussed here will help you to decide whether you really have the personality a small business startup will require. You should by this stage have some idea of whether you will make the cut.