An Entrepreneur’s Attributes: rajesh jain

An Entrepreneur’s Attributes: http://www.emergic.org/collections/tech_talk_an_entrepreneurs_attributes.html
Inspiration – Motivating the Team

The entrepreneur is the number one reason for the team members to join. It is the force of personality, the depth of vision and the belief that one is on a mission to change the world that motivates the team. Individually, everyone may be ordinary, but as a collective, they are capable of doing extraordinary feats – and the entrepreneur is the secret sauce which makes all of this possible. The entrepreneur is the chief inspirer-and-motivator. The passion and commitment of the entrepreneur is what will bring out the best in the team. The team, in effect, will mirror the entrepreneur’s highs and lows. It is therefore very important for the entrepreneur’s enthusiasm to never flag – whatever be the situations. The team sees the entrepreneur as some kind of a superhuman, one with limitless energy – it is something that the entrepreneur must always maintain, whatever be the inner issues that may be going on.

Networking – Meeting Others

It is very important for the entrepreneur to build a network of contacts in the industry. It is not something that comes naturally to everyone, and yet, it is something that has to be done. The entrepreneur is the face of the organisation. As such, it becomes necessary for the entrepreneur to speak at conferences, and in general make presentations whenever the opportunity arises. This helps in getting the message out about the venture to more people. The entrepreneur is in effect the best advertisement that a new venture has.

One thing I have realised over the years is that meetings never do harm. Yes, there is a time investment, but there is always some good that comes out of meeting others. At times, the good may take a long time. It is like a spray-gun approach – one never knows which meetings will hit the target. But as long as one good idea or contact can emerge from a meeting, I feel it has been worth it. And even more to the point, it is upto the entrepreneur to get that value.

Faith In God – A Must

This may seem like a strange attribute in today’s day and age. But I have gone through enough scenarios in my entrepreneurial life to believe that there is a force that guides one along. There have been times when I have found myself caught in situations from where there is seemingly no escape, and yet, I have not only emerged, but done so stronger. There are events which may seem to have little bearing on the venture, but they are like the butterfly which causes the tornado – small things which can make a big difference, amplified by the hidden hand of God. All I can say is that I have learnt to believe that there is always some good which comes out of everything, and it is for us to see that good. It may be hard to see that good when one is going through a difficult patch, but as long as one has faith in God, one will see the light soon enough.

Knowledge, along with Passion, must become the entrepreneur’s greatest strength. Because of the entrepreneur’s personal involvement with customers and most aspects of the business, few will know the business as well as the entrepreneur does. This must show up in meetings and interactions with outsiders – they should realise that the entrepreneur’s knowledge will keep them ahead of the curve if they choose to do business with the entrepreneur’s firm. Knowledge – wide and deep – is the magical key to open up new doors constantly. What the entrepreneur needs to do is to ensure that this is sustained even as the venture grows. This prevents the organisation becoming blind-sided by trends or developments that may not have been foreseen.
The entrepreneur must be able to convince others that the future can be created. The beliefs must be based on a series of logical arguments, and not just a fancy dream.

Having a reasonably clear perspective on where one is headed over the long-term is very important. At the same time, it is not that important to know the detailed roadmap – that will evolve over time. More often than not, people get it wrong – they focus too much on the near-term and not enough on the long-term rationale of why they are in the business.
he must be an experimenter, constantly trying out different things and exploring alternate avenues. Many of the experiments may fail, but out of these will arise learnings. Experimentation is what leads to innovation.



Multitasking is at the heart of an entrepreneur’s day and life. The phone rings and needs to be answered, an urgent email needs a reply, a team member needs a map of the way forward, a customer is unhappy, a sales call needs to be made – all pretty much at the same time. In this scenario, one can throw one’s hands up – or smile, and jump right into it. In doing so, an entrepreneur needs the ability to switch from one context to another rapidly.

This is not as easy as it sounds. An entrepreneur is always in doubt – is this the right thing to do, can there be alternate paths, will this lead in the direction of where one intends to go. At the same time, thinking for too long is also a problem because it can lead to a paralysis of action. The entrepreneur needs to be move – and be able to self-correct if the action doesn’t seem right.

Those working with the entrepreneur may find a confused mind. That is not the case. It is just that an entrepreneur’s mind works faster than things can be done. As a result, even as actions are being done, there is fine-tuning taking place. The thinking is happening online. For those not used to a dynamic environment of action, this can be quite disconcerting!