The art of multitasking: Multitasking at an entrepreneur level is not only about carrying out multiple tasks in a day. It is also about being able to process multiple thoughts simultaneously in your mind and to switch instantly between different topics. In any start-up, the entrepreneur will have worked hands on in almost all the departments and will have taken most decisions personally. It will take some time for this to change and, hence, the entrepreneur will continue to face queries and suggestions on which he is expected to take a decision. If he is not good at multitasking, it might lead to delay in work, to making decisions with half-baked knowledge and could drain him/ her out.
Be shameless: An entrepreneur should not be ashamed to ask for help, advice, or favors and to approach people. Start-ups always suffer from lack of time and resources and any kind of hesitation or feeling of discomfort could turn out to be expensive.
Taking risks: Unless you are willing to take risks you can’t try something different. This is a fundamental quality that an entrepreneur needs to have. The very fact that an entrepreneur quits his job or chooses not to work in a job but start a business means that he is prepared to take a risksmall or bigon the journey. Though taking a risk is just like taking a decision, it is the attitude of not being afraid and of working with confidence that matters.
The power of persuasion: You need the power of persuasion, for yourself and for the rest of the world. Sometimes, in a first discussion, people don’t give the desired importance to a proposal; and other times, they need to see the effort before buying an idea. If you find it uncomfortable or a little cheap to push somebody when they have not shown too much interest in what you are saying or selling, then you might want to think a little bit about how you would be able to persuade people to get something done.
The power of thought: At any given point in time, an entrepreneur is working out a lot of thoughts, because mental multitasking is a common state for him/ her. Also, many ideas seem great the moment they strike but time and deep consideration are needed to evaluate an idea, over and over again. In order to determine whether it is actually of any value and that time and resources are not spent on it fruitlessly, its long-term value and life have to be understood. Depth of thinking means sifting thoroughly through every thought, idea, plan and initiative, so as to understand every side of it and implementing it only if found worthy.
Originality: Pioneers have a great advantage in their industry. Some of the biggest start-ups were launched with a unique idea or a way of doing something differently. Being original can give you a great advantage and a head start. The greatest inventions have been made by people who believed in being original, in going off the beaten path.
Be fun: Although, it is not a prerequisite for being an entrepreneur, but you would be much more successful if you were fun to be with. This is largely because most people join a start-up with the expectation of having fun. Employees need to be fully motivated and interested to make it a great company. If you are a very serious person and not easy to be with, people in your start-up would find it difficult to experience job satisfaction, which might make it a little problematic to create or retain a great team.
Dealing with emotions: This one is a little tricky. Naturally, you are going to be emotionally attached to everything in your start-up and letting go is very tough. Although, that is the way it should be. If you are over-emotional about anything a product, an initiative or anybody, most importantly an employee, that too might harm your company. The moment you feel or find that something is not working as it should, you should be able to disengage it immediately from your start-up. You can understand this in another way: Nothing is more important than the health and success of the company.
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