Characteristics, Traits, and Skills of Successful Entrepreneurs

This document discusses the characteristics, traits, and skills of successful entrepreneurs. It explores the importance of innovation, risk-taking, professionalism, and decision-making in entrepreneurship. The document also examines the influence of family background, educational level, and experience on fostering or hindering entrepreneurship.

Unit 9 ESB

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 .......................................................................................................................................3
Covered in Brochure....................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Covered in Brochure....................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
P5. Characteristic traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs...................................................3
P6. Aspects of personality of entrepreneur that reflects their motivation and mindset...............5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
P7. Background and experience...................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship is one of the act that an individual undertakes fro establishment as well
as development of new enterprise. It is a discipline that is concerned with converting idea to
establish an enterprise into effective implementation. The entrepreneurs always finds change,
responds towards them so to exploit opportunities (Akehurst, Simarro and Mas‐Tur, 2012). To
understand the concept about entrepreneurship and small business, Mckinsey & Company is
been selected that is one of consultancy firm which provides advices as well as market
intelligence to population of UK along with entities at global level. The assignment covers
distinct entrepreneurial ventures, typologies on entrepreneurship, differences as well as
similarities between ventures, impact of small and micro businesses on the economy. It further
determines characteristics, traits and skills of entrepreneurs. It also covers the ways various
aspects concerned with entrepreneurial personality reflects motivation and mindsets of
entrepreneurs. At last, it examines how experience and background hinders and fosters
entrepreneurship.
TASK 1
Covered in Brochure
TASK 2
Covered in Brochure
TASK 3
P5. Characteristic traits and skills of successful entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs have some characteristics, skills along with traits that plays important role
in making them successful. An entrepreneur is an individual who owns their own business by
acquiring wide opportunities in the competing environment. Some of the entrepreneurs in today's
era are J.K. Rowling, Richard Branson and many more (Daniel, 2016). The main characteristics,
skills along with traits within the entrepreneurs are as follows:
Innovation: It is one of the effective characteristic that entrepreneur like Richard
Branson posses which help them to start a new enterprise with some unique idea. With this skill,
entrepreneurs exploit new ideas with the aim of gaining valuables in the competition.

Risk taking: It is a characteristic of an entrepreneur that motivates them to take more
risks in starting and making successful the enterprise. For instance, entrepreneur like J. K.
Rowling bears ample risks to achieve success.
Professionalism: It is the essential trait which is within entrepreneurs. The behaviour as
well as mannerisms with others shows professionalism in the entrepreneurs. For example,
Richard Branson have positive behaviour and works in professional ways while developing its
organisational culture.
Decision making skill: It is one of important skill that must posses within entrepreneur
when they wants to achieve success (Daniel, and et. al., 2017). They makes prominent choice
from the various alternatives. In context to J.K. Rowling, they makes decisions after identifying
alternatives, gathering information as well as assessing alternative resolutions.
Creativity: Entrepreneurs have trait of creativeness. With this trait, they gives birth to
various new things. They knocks the pin down through lot of ideas as well as acts on them. For
example, in Richard Branson creativity helps them to generate new solutions and allows to think
out of box.
Passion: Passion is also an essential trait within entrepreneur which help them to achieve
success. Fro example, the passion trait in J. K. Rowling drives their entrepreneurship to work
hard and achieve uncertain returns.
Business manager
Business manager is an individual who oversees activities of all workers and manages
business affairs of the organisation.
Difference between Entrepreneurs and Business Managers:
Characteristics, skills and
traits
Entrepreneurs Business Managers
Risk taking Entrepreneur are generally
visionary in nature who have
ability to bears all types of
financial and other risk
factor.
Business manager are the ones
who works on salary basis and do
not bears any risk.
Innovation Entrepreneur emphasis
towards starting new
Business managers emphasis
towards smooth business

business through
innovational opportunities
(Kaya, 2015).
functioning and its related
activities.
Professionalism Entrepreneur like J.K.
Rowling have
professionalism in terms of
behaviour and manners
while delegating work to
others.
Business managers generally have
no professionalism as they work
for entrepreneurs that limits their
professionalism to some level.
Decision making An entrepreneur carries this
skill to make suitable
decisions to make change
within various plan for
gaining higher profit
margins.
Basically, managers also stays
much effective in this type of skill
because, individuals
(subordinates) mainly deals with
number of issues that needs
proper direction. This is where,
manager directly helps in taking
decisions for the betterment of the
company.
Creativity Creativity in today's era is
considered as essential trait
that boost entrepreneurs to
knocks pin down by lot of
ideas as well as acts on them.
A business manager is generally
less creative as they follows
instructions that entrepreneurs
give to them (Nakara, Benmoussa
and Jaouen, 2012).
P6. Aspects of personality of entrepreneur that reflects their motivation and mindset.
Entrepreneurial personality
Entrepreneurial personality is said to the combination of qualities as well as
characteristics which makes an unique character of the entrepreneur. It includes attitudes,
abilities, values and motives which shapes the experiences and actions of entrepreneurs. For
example, risk taking and innovation are characteristics that are within the entrepreneurial
personality.

The characteristics of entrepreneurial personality shows huge impacts on mindset along
with motivation of entrepreneurs. For instance, innovation is one of the characteristic personality
that entrepreneur posses that help them to penetrate in the market with fast speed as well as
learning new things. Innovative ideas separate the entrepreneurs from the rest of world and boost
their abilities to create new thinks (Qian, 2018). Through innovativeness, an entrepreneur
initiates to think big within the dynamic circumstances. In relevance with J. K. Rowling,
entrepreneurial personality of innovation motivated them to launch Harry Potter series through
new ideas. The person who have this characteristic have wide interest areas leading in
influencing their mindsets and motivations to broad sense.
Creativity is another personality characteristic which influences entrepreneurial
motivation level addition to mindset. For example, one of the entrepreneur like Duncan
Bannatyne posses this characteristic through which they thinks creative for creation of new
concepts and ideas. Such characteristic allows an individual to devise interesting procedures that
provides various benefits. It is renowned by tentativeness, excitability as well as sociability.
Creativity influences motivation level along with mindset of entrepreneurs through exploring
new ideas, thinking unthinkable and developing new niches.
Another entrepreneurial personality characteristic is risk taking that helps entrepreneurs
to ascertain the risk and act on them properly (Solomon and Matthews, 2014). It helps them to do
the activities that are different from others and makes changes in various aspects of performances
so to achieve success. Risk taking characteristic provides various chances grabbing new
opportunities which influences their mindset at huge extent. For example, Richard Branson in his
life span took various risks and one of the risk was founding virgin records that was one of
riskier business exploits which stimulates their motivation with mindset to make more risks in
order to gain successful paths for achieving huge height profits.
TASK 4
P7. Background and experience.
The ways in which family ground, educational background as well as personal content
foster (support) the entrepreneurship:
J.K Rowling:

J. K. Rowling was born in the year 1965 at city of Gloucestershire. Rowling belongings
were from rich family in which her mother was working as social technician and father was
renowned aircraft engineer. Her ancestors were also living with her during her child hood and
they pampered her to write various fantasy stories. The personality completed her schooling
education from St Michael's Primary School and higher education from University of Exeter. In
her teenage life, various challenges were faced by her but she did not gave up. Further she started
researching and begin working as bilingual secretary. While working she gained the idea for
writing something innovative and for this took risk to write various series in which harry Potter
and Cormon were the successful ones (Volery and Mazzarol, 201). All this motivated her to
begin her career as entrepreneur and it fostered their entrepreneurship to great level.
Richard Branson
The personality took birth on July 18, 1950 in the city of Blackheath, London. The family
of Richard were very supporting. His father was barrister and mother was flight attendant and
famous ballet dancer. Richard attended Stowe School till the age of 16. Richard was supported
by the belongings and fostered the entrepreneurship to open the new business that was a
magazine. He further started other businesses and also interviewed various famous personalities.
Later, he found Virgin Records and achieve success that further fostered the entrepreneurship of
such personality.
Names of two entrepreneurs wherein their family background, experience as well as
educational background failed them to become entrepreneurs.
Craig Handle
In the year 1977, Craig was born at Wales. The personality was bought up in America,
Spanish along with Irish decent. The family of Craig were not that rich that they had fulfilled his
all dreams. Craig was not interested in getting education and only achieved passing grades in the
schooling. To remove the poverty of the family, Craig took one of the initiation to start a
business when he was in teenage stage. In this business, products were sold to various clients on
calls. To enhance the business, various dealings were made but due to having poor education
along with knowledge in the working and thinking of others, he achieved failures in making
adequate fixtures for structure and systems. Furthermore, the family members were also against
for this kind of business (Zhou, Chan and Song, 2017). Further, to start something new, he made

workings with other companies wherein the investment of Craig was locked in unproductive
operations that leaded towards failures. There were various times when Craig faced failures
which hindered their entrepreneurship.
Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan was born in the month of February in the year 1949. The family members of
Duncan were poor and due to this they passed their whole livings in single room only. While
getting educated from Dalmuir Primary School, the family failed to pay fees on time and due to
this, Duncan has to left the school. He spent his whole career in switching jobs due to having low
knowledge for working in wide fields. He also worked in the profession of local cabinet maker
and had to left the working because of lack of knowledge for achieving criteria of the tasks.
Duncan after taking training sessions in agricultural and other fields got offer from other
countries but the family didn't supported this. All this has hindered his entrepreneurship.
CONCLUSION
The above discussion concludes that entrepreneurship is all about starting own business
and effectively managing it. Entrepreneurs are the one who introduces innovative idea after
carefully analyzing situations as well as opportunities that will help in fostering their
entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial ventures are classified as social enterprises, large company and
scale startup businesses. Micro as well as small business have their own roles and importance in
development economic position as well as social economy of UK. The key characteristic, traits
addition to skills that are within the successful entrepreneurs are innovation, risk taking,
creativity, professionalism and decision making. Family background, educational level and
experience are some factors that plays crucial role in hindering and fostering entrepreneurship.

REFERENCES
Books and journals:
Akehurst, G., Simarro, E. and Mas‐Tur, A., 2012. Women entrepreneurship in small service
firms: motivations, barriers and performance. The Service Industries Journal. 32(15).
pp.2489-2505.
Daniel, A. D., 2016. Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset by using a design thinking approach in
entrepreneurship education. Industry and Higher Education. 30(3). pp.215-223.
Daniel, and et. al., 2017. Tourism Education: What about entrepreneurial skills?. Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management. 30. pp.65-72.
Kaya, N., 2015. Corporate entrepreneurship, generic competitive strategies, and firm
performance in small and medium-sized enterprises. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences. 207. pp.662-668.
Nakara, W. A., Benmoussa, F. Z. and Jaouen, A., 2012. Entrepreneurship and social media
marketing: evidence from French small business. International Journal of
Entrepreneurship and Small Business. 16(4). pp.386-405.
Qian, H., 2018. Knowledge-based regional economic development: A synthetic review of
knowledge spillovers, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Economic
Development Quarterly. 32(2). pp.163-176.
Solomon, G. and Matthews, C., 2014. The curricular confusion between entrepreneurship
education and small business management: A qualitative analysis. Annals of
entrepreneurship education and pedagogy, pp.91-115.
Volery, T. and Mazzarol, T., 2015. The evolution of the small business and entrepreneurship
field: A bibliometric investigation of articles published in the International Small
Business Journal. International Small Business Journal. 33(4). pp.374-396.
Zhou, L., Chan, E. and Song, H., 2017. Social capital and entrepreneurial mobility in early-stage
tourism development: A case from rural China. Tourism Management. 63. pp.338-350.