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Do You Have What It Takes to Be in Business for Yourself?

Priceless Personal Qualities of Self-Employed People

While it's true that anyone can start a business of their own, successful self-employed entrepreneurs are a breed of enterprising people like no other. Regardless of how one defines "successful," there are certain general personality traits that such professionals often possess.

If you sat down and thought about it for a moment, you could probably very easily generate a list of these attributes. Such an expense of time and energy would actually serve as a valuable exercise in familiarizing yourself with these vitally necessary components associated with making your personal business dream a reality. However, organizations like the United States Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) and various other sources of self-employment information, such as Entrepreneur Magazine (www.entrepreneur.com), have already generated numerous articles and checklists detailing such information.

This article is an attempt to synthesize the most-often cited qualities that are considered to be of the greatest importance when it comes to being in business for oneself. Depending on your personal career pursuit, there might be other traits that far outweigh those listed below. Although these are chronicled in no particular order (other than alphabetical), we encourage you to modify the list as it pertains to your own personal needs and/or to identify those factors that are the most relevant to your business plans.

• Able to delegate tasks when necessary
• Able to set boundaries
• Adaptable to changing situations
• Ambitious
• Calculated risk taker
• Can envision achieving their goals
• Capable and comfortable managing daily business activities
• Capable and comfortable managing people including employees, clients, vendors, etc
• Charismatic
• Clear about the business goals and objectives
• Comfortable and/or knowledgeable about networking with people to achieve goals
• Committed to business goals and success
• Competitive but not aggressive
• Creative
• Decisive
• Dedicated
• Disciplined
• Driven by desire to achieve/succeed at a specific goal or lifelong dream
• Empathetic
• Energetic
• Enjoys a challenge and/or not negatively effected by them
• Enjoys learning as well as teaching
• Enjoys working alone
• Enthusiastic
• Faith in their abilities
• Financial resources at their disposal
• Flexible
• Follows through as promised
• General business sense
• General good health
• Goal-oriented
• Happy, upbeat, positive attitude
• Hard worker
• Healthy relationship with money
• Honest and ethical
• Independent
• Initiates ideas, tasks, etc
• Innovative
• Interpersonal skills
• Intuitive and trusts instincts
• Knowledgeable about and/or experienced in marketing and/or sales
• Knowledgeable about and/or experienced in the chosen business
• Money management skills
• Not afraid to admit mistakes and learns from them
• Not afraid to ask for help when needed
• Objective
• Organized
• Passionate about their chosen work
• Patient
• Perseveres
• Persistent
• Planning skills
• Practical/logical
• Prefers to lead instead of follow
• Problem-solving skills
• Product expertise
• Professional
• Reliable
• Resilient
• Resourceful
• Respect for money
• Responsible
• Self-confident
• Self-disciplined
• Self-motivated
• Self-reliant
• Self-starter
• Strong communication skills, both spoken and written
• Strong support network whether family, friends, and/or other business people
• Time management skills
• Tolerant
• Willing to make short-term sacrifices for potential long-term gains

Take the time to think about each of these personal qualities. Ask yourself, "Is this important for my business needs and, if so, do I have this necessary skill/trait. If I need to improve in a certain area, do I know how to accomplish such a task?"

Don't get frustrated if you don't possess all of the skills that you think are important to succeed in your line of work. It's never too late to learn! Business resources abound and many can be easily accessed at your own location and at your own pace.

Be honest with your appraisal; to do otherwise is to get your business off on the wrong path. Truthful foresight at this part of the planning stage can make all of the difference in the level of success of your business and the resulting quality of your life…both professional as well as personal.

Good luck finding the perfect home business opportunity!

PS - We'd like to hear from you!
Got a suggestion for a story, article, or hot trend? Do you have questions about buying a home business, or about this website? Let us know. john@homebased411.com