Beginning your own home-based business is a big decision. Once you have considered all the pros and cons, it is also important to make sure you have or begin to foster several qualities of successful entrepreneurs. Below are five qualities self-employed CEO of Me’s® should possess to be successful.
1. Passion – This is one of, if not the most important qualities a CEO of Me® needs to have. Having a passion deep inside for what you are doing will drive you to keep going when the going gets tough. When people can see that you are genuinely passionate and excited about your business, they will be drawn to you and want to cheer you on or join you in your business. When you are passionate about what you are doing, it leads you to have a sense of purpose and a greater desire to succeed. When you combine those three things your productivity will soar.
“People say you have to have a lot of passion for what you’re doing and it’s totally true. And the reason is that it’s so hard that if you don’t, any rational person would give up. It’s really hard. And you have to do it over a sustained period of time. So if you don’t love it, if you’re not having fun doing it, you don’t really love it, you’re going to give up. And that’s what happens to most people, actually. If you really look at the ones that ended up being “successful” in the eyes of the society and the ones that didn’t, oftentimes it’s the ones [who] were successful loved what they did, so they could persevere when it got really tough. ” – Steve Jobs
2. Vision – If you do not know where you are going, how will you ever get there? Having a vision for your life, your business and your goals is essential to success. I encourage you to create a vision board (a.k.a. dream board) and to write down your goals and dreams. Once you have your vision and your goals down on paper you can begin to break your goals down into smaller goals and creating action plans to reach them. When you start with the end in mind and have a plan, you will be much more likely to reach your goals.
“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” — Michelangelo
3. Personal Responsibly – This quality is one that is severely lacking in our world today. Everyone wants to blame someone or something else instead of taking responsibility for their actions and reactions. One of my mentor’s in my direct sales business always said: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”. This is the mentality you need to have to be successful as a home-based business owner. Don’t make excuses, accept responsibility, learn from any mistakes or disappointments and keep working. You will get back from your business exactly what you put into it.
“Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.” — George Washington Carver
4. Self-Discipline – Being a CEO of Me® means being your own boss in every capacity. You must set work hours and actually work them. You need to schedule your time wisely and stick to a work schedule. Yes, your hours and days may be flexible but you still must accomplish all the goals, tasks and chores related to your business. You will need to be able to prioritize and balance your work and family life. This also means becoming a more organized person and implementing various systems for success. When you work from home and have that freedom it can be easy to let things slide or become distracted. Stay focused and stick to a work schedule so you can enjoy all the benefits of having your own home-based business.
Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backward, or sideways.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
5. Positive Attitude – You will encounter many obstacles when starting and growing your successful home business. Do not let your fears, doubts and negative thinking hold you back from reaching your goals. You will attract back what you put into the universe. Be positive and positive things will happen. See the positive and focus on finding solutions instead of getting hung up on the problems and setbacks.
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” Zig Ziglar
Which of the above qualities do you already possess? Which ones do you need to work on? What other qualities do you think an entrepreneur needs to be successful? Please comment and share below!
PS. Want more tips to shift into the role of a CEO in your own life or business? Sign up here for my CEO Shift Challenge.