According to NASA funded research, 98 percent of children under the age of five fell into the genius category of imagination. However, as we age, the number drops quickly to 30 percent by age 10, 12 percent at age 15, and 2 percent as adults. Most of us also told our parents at one time or another — “You’re not the boss of me!” So, many of us have fanaticized about being entrepreneurs and running our own show.
However, starting up a business is very difficult. Four of every six small business fail in the first year. In Silicon Valley, only one in ten makes it ( 90% of tech startups fail ).
Small business is the backbone of most economies around the world. For example, according to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses make up:
- eighty-nine percent of firms have fewer than 20 employers
- sixty-four percent of net new private-sector jobs
- seventeen percent of employment
- thirteen percent of payroll
So, there are many people with the right stuff to be entrepreneurs. Are you one of them?
So what superpowers do these leaders the courage to take on this daunting challenge?
“In the end, the acid test is how they react when they have to meet a payroll and don’t have the money.” — Laurence Ginsberg
Accordingly, what if you could better predict your chances of succeeding in a small business or a startup before you have to wrestle with the nightmare scenario Ginsberg nets out?
It turns out you can. In fact, predicting job performance is something we do exceedingly well using SuccessFinder. If you genuinely want to predict success as an entrepreneur, your performance traits are as important as your education, experience, and skills combined. Your superpowers are the performance traits where you have natural strengths.
Discover Your Superpowers
A good track record as an executive does not guarantee future success. This fact is accentuated when applied to startups.The trick is finding the role that needs your superpowers.
In every role, there is a set of about twenty high-performance traits. Moreover, five or six of these attributes discriminate the top performers. When you find the right match, you will find fulfillment and have the potential to excel. Also, some of the 20 high-performance traits may be a challenge for you. Once you know what is required, you can develop these areas or find ways to manage these challenges.
Along with your accomplishments, skills, knowledge, wisdom, and superpowers make up your talent stack. Think of it as your career capital. Investing it in a startup is high risk and high return investment. Before making this investment, learn as much as you can about the market, setting up a business, and yourself.
For entrepreneurs, we look hard at your style of thinking, your street sense and your ‘survivability.’ Grit, drive, and a particular ego are all parts of the high-performance traits need for success. It would be best if you also had a tenacity for the long game that is a small business. Moreover, unfortunately, like football players who anticipate being jumped on, new business executives take much pummeling too.
Success In Small Business
Success in small business is easier for people with high standards of personal integrity, good health and stable family life. However, street smarts to know what pitfalls to avoid, precede these attributes.
The most common element of success are:
- developing the required high-performance traits
- picking the right market niche
- investing in good advisors
- creating a business blueprint that clearly describes the business concept, the mission and the philosophy of business
- ensuring you have the needed capabilities are onboard
- executing with excellence — an organization that functions as a well-oiled machine
- providing adequate cash flow
- installing the systems to support the capabilities and prove the needed information
Concluding Thoughts
You have still intrigued if you have got the right stuff to put your name on the door of your own business? We can help. Contact us. We will hook you up with our SuccessFinder-certified practitioner who can help you uncover your entrepreneurial strengths and identify the other areas you might want to develop. Also, our strategic insights from a business perspective further to fulfil your dreams to be your own boss.
In every role, top performers share a standard set of 20 to 25 performance traits. We predict your success and satisfaction for more 500 high-performance benchmarks.
