Does a traditional job working for a company feel limiting? Perhaps you need more independence to fully engage your skills, your ideas? Entrepreneur Magazine presented an article recently defining five key characteristics of an entrepreneur. These characteristics are passion, perseverance, resourcefulness, open-mindedness, and having a spongelike nature [to soak up learnings].
If these characteristics describe you, or how you’d more like to be, then you may be better served by following an entrepreneurial path. Take the following quiz and see if your personality fits that of the successful entrepreneur.
Do you have the entrepreneurial personality? Find the answer by responding “yes” or “no” to each of the following questions.
- Is it important to you to accomplish something meaningful with your life? Yes / No
- Do you typically set both short- and long-term goals for yourself? Yes / No
- Do you usually achieve your goals? Yes / No
- Do you enjoy working independently? Yes / No
- Do you like to perform a variety of tasks in your job? Yes / No
- Are you self-disciplined? Yes / No
- Do you like to be in control of your working environment? Yes / No
- Do you take full responsibility for your successes and failures? Yes / No
- Can you place the needs of your business above your family when necessary? Yes / No
- Are you in excellent physical, mental and emotional health? Yes / No
- Do you have the drive and energy to achieve your goals? Yes / No
- Do you have work experience in the type of business you wish to start? Yes / No
- Have you ever been so engrossed in your work that time passed unnoticed? Yes / No
- Do you consider “failures” as opportunities to learn and grow? Yes / No
- Can you hold to your ideas and goals even when others disagree with you? Yes / No
- Are you willing to take moderate risks to achieve your goals? Yes / No
- Can you afford to lose the money you invest in your business? Yes / No
- When the need arises, are you willing to do a job that may not interest you? Yes / No
- Are you willing to work hard to acquire new skills? Yes / No
- Do you usually stick with a project until it is completed? Yes / No
Total: _____
Scoring: Give yourself 1 point for each “yes” answer. You should have a score of at least 15 if you are to be successful as a business owner. While it is not necessary to answer yes to all of these questions to be successful, you will want to evaluate what each “no” means to you and how significantly it may impact your ability to run your own business.
Copyright © 2003-2008 Marcia Bench and Career Coach Institute; Reprinted with Permission.
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