Nearly everyone on the planet wants to work in a job where they set their own hours, take on the tasks they want to do, and have complete control over the money they make. For many, this sounds like an idealistic fantasy that is simply unattainable. For others, this is called entrepreneurship.
Becoming an entrepreneur takes drive, perseverance, tenacity, a heavy dose of insanity, and above all else it takes the willingness to risk failure. Huge, massive, terrifying amounts of failure. The flip side? You get to live life on your own terms. And there are no limits to the success you can attain.
Not everyone is cut out for this path; plenty of individuals find comfort in the security of a steady paycheck and the routine of a 9 to 5 existence. There’s nothing wrong with choosing that life at all. For those that do wish to branch out on their own, you must take stock of your legitimate skills, fortitude, and risk tolerance to determine if it is really the right decision.
Do you think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
On March 23rd, Fanatics Media CEO, Mark Fidelman, sat down via Blab.im with one of the most recognized entrepreneurs of the digital era, Chris Brogan, to establish what five qualities an entrepreneur needs to become a bona fide success. Watch this candid conversation in its entirety below:
Chris Brogan is a business advisor and the CEO of Owner Media Group, a business dedicated to providing companies with e-learning courses and training programs to achieve a larger customer bases, increased sales, weightier email subscriber lists, and virtually any other business goal imaginable. Chris is also a New York Times best-selling author and public speaker whose insights have been shared with massive corporate entities such as Disney, Google, IBM, Sony USA, and Microsoft, among a plethora of others.
Here are some of the highlights from Mark and Chris’ conversation.
Question #1: How Do You Know if You Should Become an Entrepreneur?
Chris:
“What defines all entrepreneurs is a willingness to balancing risk versus reward.”
Entrepreneurs are the type of people who are looking for underserved needs to be filled, choosing to take a gamble on filling a gap without knowing if their plan will succeed or fail. If you are the type of person who needs to play it safe or greatly values job security, entrepreneurship probably isn’t right for you.
Chris recently watched an interview with Gary Vaynerchuk in which he explained that if you aren’t an entrepreneur for the majority of your life, you probably won’t be one in later years. Admittedly, Chris did not start running his own business until his mid to late thirties which would make him an outlier in Gary’s book; someone who has “entrepreneurial tendencies”. But if it is really your goal to become a self-starter, there is no excuse to not go after it. And one doesn’t have to go all-in; find small needs to be filled and start there. You don’t have to quit your day job. Figure out something small to do and take baby steps if you aren’t ready to go full-force.
Question #2: What Are the Top 5 Things You See in An Entrepreneur Who Will Succeed?
Chris:
The first is that they are not afraid to fail. These are the people who can dive headlong into entrepreneurship and really learn to balance risk versus reward.
The second is service-mindedness. All entrepreneurs have service in their hearts. Even if the individual seems to be an unkind person, they are filling a need and serving people in the process.
Next would be great communication skills. People with an inability to communicate will not make it far as entrepreneurship requires networking, constant contact with clients, and the ability to sell yourself.
Forth would be salesmanship. Again you have to be willing and able to sell yourself, your products, service, or whatever else it is you have to offer. While most people hear this and get discouraged, salesmanship is absolutely a skill that can be acquired; Chris is living proof of this.
Last would be the willingness to take risks. “You have to be really comfortable with discomfort,” and understand that if you can’t pay your mortgage, you won’t be evicted after the first month. There is truly a lot that stands between a person and abject poverty.
Question #3: What Are the Top Resources Entrepreneurs Should Be Following to Get Real-World, Helpful Advice?
Chris:
He rarely gets his advice from blogs and websites; most times it comes from talking to owners out in the real world. Chris does recommend opening up your email newsletter experience so that people can talk to you directly.
As far as his favorite resources go, he finds The $100 MBA and his good friend John Lee Dumas’ website Entrepreneur on Fire to be excellent. Additionally, Chris’ all-time favorite resource is James Altucher and The Altucher Report, in which he finds the lessons that resonate with him about how misery in business can translate into success.
There is still seriously inspiring tips to uncover in the full replay. This is a rare chance to get a personal look inside a truly honest and hugely successful entrepreneur.
