Five Qualities that Aspiring Entrepreneurs Should Master

In order to grow as an entrepreneur, you need to have the mindset that you are never too seasoned to learn. And you must understand that while there may be milestones, there is no single finish line or end to an entrepreneurship journey, but rather it is a continuously evolving journey. Prioritizing career development, learning new skills, finding purpose in your work, and advancing along your career path are important for entrepreneurs to master both before and during business ownership. 

There are a multitude of skills that you can nurture to help you on a path of career and personal development, but these five have always stood out to me as the top qualities aspiring entrepreneurs need to develop to be successful…   

Do you have a vision? It is a bit cliché, but it matters to have a mental picture of your goals when it comes to enrolling the assistance of others who can keep you accountable and point you in the right direction.  

The beginning of a new year is a perfect time to sit down and create or revisit your dreams and ambitions for your business. Once you have clarity on the direction you want to take your business, communicate your goals clearly with your team to align them with your plans. Opportunity is everywhere, but so is distraction.

As a leader, be the driving force behind your business and its success. It is ultimately all up to you to make success happen but remember that you are not alone in the process. 

Enroll others to help. Accomplishing something special–doing something better, bigger, and different–is not easy. You will need advocates and extra hands on board for support. You also don’t have to have the skills of a Sunday morning evangelistic preacher, but you must have conviction. 

You must have discipline to lead effectively. Successful people string together successive positive habits. Predictability and accountability can be enormous assets, so people know that they are able to count on you.  

At Neighborly, our Done Right Promise ensures our brands remain disciplined and that homeowners receive quality service every time. 

Don’t accept “no” for an answer and keep looking for a way to achieve your objective. It can be easy to get discouraged by history, the system, or the current paradigms, but it’s important to keep pushing forward. Continuing to learn and strive for growth despite setbacks will help you overcome the obstacles life throws.  

Network or join a trade association to seek out advice from others who have had success in the same space or an adjacent space. Some will decline and that’s ok. The key is to ask. Then, be prepared to help those who were kind enough to give you advice on how you can help them.  Being part of a franchise network like Neighborly provides invaluable assets for entrepreneurs to develop their skills by receiving support from other owners and access to resources. 

The process of growth is never officially complete, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t checkpoints and benchmarks to celebrate your accomplishments along the way. Measure your progress to see both how far you have already come and what is still left to accomplish.  

Striving to improve is important, and you don’t need to worry about all your deficiencies but rather focus on playing more to your strengths. You must be able to cover all the bases, but you can lean on the skills of others for support. When you can’t shore up your deficiencies due to a lack of resources, you must at least be aware of them to address issues later on. 

Neighborly provides the necessary resources for our franchise owners to measure their progress with support from dedicated franchise business coaches, a world-class owner’s network, and tools to help owners monitor the health of their business. The ongoing training, mentorship, and other business support that we offer have been refined over more than 40 years to help our owners grow as much as they help Neighborly grow.

Enjoy the Journey

Continually striving to improve your leadership abilities and hone your business skills will ultimately benefit you the most in your entrepreneurship journey. And while I’ve pointed out a few skills and qualities to master as an entrepreneur, using those to arrive at your goal is not what is truly gratifying, but learning, growing and fine-tuning these along the way.  

The best advice I can give to you is to be an explorer, and one that has a purpose.  

Written By Mike Bidwell, President & CEO, Neighborly