An often-overlooked step in gearing up for business life is knowing your entrepreneurial style. As a result, you don’t get to maximize your potential and watch out for vulnerabilities. Worse, you inadvertently work against your entrepreneurial personality, supposedly to keep up with competitors and industry players, sabotaging your own success.
If you want to avoid such a mess, go back to your core. See which one of these business personalities fit your profile.
Collaborator
Sociability is the main asset of this entrepreneurial personality. You use your social influence and relationships to achieve goals. Even before you take the plunge into business, you already capitalize on collaboration, partnering with aggressive businesspeople in making their venture possible.
You don’t initiate the ideas yourself, but you support what’s already working for your colleagues. A typical example of this is breaking into the food industry by starting a fast food franchise, working with an established brand.
In the aspect of work styles, collaborators obviously like to accomplish things with a team. You feel energized by the company of people. When making decisions, you consult your mentors first and organize a democratic kind of meeting with your employees.
If you have this type of personality, your strengths are more on the communications aspect, persuading, negotiating, and building partnerships. Focus on these. What you need to watch out for, however, is the fact that other people can easily sway you. Filter business opportunities coming your way by keeping your eyes on your vision.
Trailblazer
You’re essentially the innovator in the business world. You don’t jump into trends and bandwagons because you’re the one starting it. In terms of work approach, you prefer doing things alone. The quiet time with yourself puts you right on the idea-generation mode.
You’re very assertive when making decisions. You analyze problems fast, so there’s little to no need for other people’s insights. You direct and control things. You’re fixated on your goal, accomplishing it as fast as possible.
If you have this kind of business style, focus on honing that strong strategic, analytical thinking. Keep asking hard questions about your business ideas to promote innovation further. One thing to work on? Dealing with people.
Your personality is a little on the introspective side, dabbling on ideas, problem-solving, and decisions, but you also have to consider that your business is equally sustained by a community of people. Don’t leave them out. Recognize the contributions of your employees. Give honor to your customers. These little habits can help you develop people skills over time.
Go-Getter
You work tirelessly to achieve your goals. You may not have the brains of a trailblazer or the character of a collaborator, but you have the persistence in making your business idea a reality. You may start with the lowliest of jobs, but eventually, you find a mentor or a colleague along the way who will help you get funding to start a business.
Similar to a trailblazer, you lean more into working alone. In terms of decision-making, you embrace risks freely. To you, there’s no way but up when you start from the bottom and work hard.
If you’re this kind of entrepreneur, keep that can-do attitude in the face of rejections and disappointments. But also, don’t do everything by yourself. You don’t want to be burnt out so fast early on into your business.
Don’t make the mistake of not being aware of your unique business style and personality. Otherwise, you’re overlooking a lot of potential and weaknesses. Ask yourself now, “who am I as an entrepreneur?”
