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Six Factors to Entrepreneurial Success

Guest post by: Stephen Blakesley

Article Overview: Most of the new jobs added to this economy over the last years have been from Start-ups. But business start-ups are risky. What can be done to enhance the success of these start-ups? Here are six factors found to be consistent among most successful start-ups.

Six Factors to Entrepreneurial Success

There is no more precarious role than leading a start-up business. According to the latest research, seven of ten will fail in 10 years or less. But, since start-ups contribute most of the jobs in the United States and have done so for the last several years, we would all be well-served to understand what contributes to the success of leaders and especially those leaders in a start-up roll.

A recent study by Multiple Heath Systems, Toronto, Canada and the University of Toronto in which they compared Emotional Intelligence (EI) scores of top executives belonging to the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) against the general population revealed some interesting areas of differences between the two groups

Using an instrument that measures Emotional Intelligence (EI) known as the EQi, the study revealed significant differences between the executives and the normative population. The EQi measures 15 different subsets of individual traits and the Executive group was found to score substantially higher in 8 of the 15 subsets. Four of the greatest differences occurred in scores involving Empathy, Self Regard, Reality Testing and Problem Solving. Executives who possessed higher scores in these four areas were more likely to achieve higher levels of performance and profits.

Before we talk about the practical value of this data, lets review the meaning of each of these four terms:

• Empathy - the ability to recognize, understand and appreciate the emotions, moods and feelings of others
• Self Regard - the ability to know and understand one's strengths and weaknesses
• Reality Testing - the ability to assess what is realistic and what is not
• Problem Solving - the ability to solve personal and interpersonal problems

Certainly, the "Fabulous Four" as I call them, almost look like common sense answers to the question; What skills does a person need to succeed in starting a business? Possibly they are, but having above average capacity in those four areas is somewhat like a 6'8" basketball player dunking the ball through a 10' high basket - not too challenging.

So why don't we just line up people with superior capacities in the "Fabulous Four" and have them start a business. We wish it were that simple. But, unfortunately, there are other dimensions to success, in starting a business.

One factor that few will ever acknowledge is, just plain luck or fortune. Yes, a certain degree of luck though not essential to success is frequently a major part of it. Having started four new businesses, succeeded in two and failed in two, I can personally attest to luck playing a role in the success and failure of a start-up.

All that being said, there is one additional attribute we have found to carry a lot of weight in the journey to success and that is passion. Passion for what you do. Without passion for the effort, you almost have to have luck to succeed. If you do not pursue your goals with passion, all other advantages are diminished and the prospect of long-term success dwindles.

Earlier, I spoke of the "practical value" of this information. Here it is, as practical as it will ever get. If you are wanting to maximize your success, as an employee or a leader of a small business start-up, build your skills in the "Fabulous Four." Do so with Passion and wish for a little Luck. Good Luck, that is.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurial, luck, passion, six factors, Start ups, success



Related Forum Posts
Re: I.M Fellow Here! - Thanks! Evan, I hv heard much about your ingenuity in Entrepreneurial sphere. Great work you're doing!
Re: The 3 Factors That are Limiting Your Productivity - Hi Evan, Thanks for a great article and video on 'The 3 Factors That are Limiting Your Productivity'. I think that no matter whether you are self employed like myself or a CEO with staff, it is so important to manage your time so as to maximize the benefit to your business. Your expression Eliminate; Automate; Delegate is easy to remember and will certainly stick in my mind. There are many good business ideas out there but they will ultimately run into difficulty without proper planning and execution so these tips will certainly help. I have also left this comment on the article and will place a link to it on my blog. regards, Mal.
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Re: Cash Comes from Creativity - Hi Yinka, Good post and a very Entrepreneurial approach if you like. It is true that with the every day gadgets, services and products that we use, it is easy to look at them just for what they are and not what they could be. We should always be on the look out for ideas that we can explore or existing products that we can maybe improve or re-design and that is also true with Internet Marketing. regards, Mal.
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!


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