Going by the definition, an entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise.” But if there’s anything we’ve learned from the countless success and failure stories of entrepreneurs, it is that owning a business alone doesn’t make you a successful entrepreneur. There’s more to it. 

Let's use the submerged iceberg illustration as an example. Above the surface, are the skills, resources, ideas, and strategies that are required to succeed in any venture. But there is another side to being an entrepreneur which is usually not seen and that’s the psychological aspect that comprises the entrepreneurial spirit or mindset. The mindset of an entrepreneur can easily be defined based on a set of attributes. 

Successful entrepreneurs possess the right attributes that guide them through the journey (in addition to their skills) while unsuccessful entrepreneurs often lack these attributes. Some entrepreneurs are naturally endowed with these attributes, thus sparking the debate,  “are entrepreneurs born or made”. However, many of these attributes can be learned through practice and experience. 

In this article, I’ll take you on a journey through the mind of an entrepreneur and together we will uncover what it takes to become one of the successful ones. 

The Entrepreneurial spirit

A Quora user once asked a question “Should you be stubborn when someone tells you that you should be employed rather than continue your business that has almost no to very small profit when you are just starting?”

Whether the user was asking this question for himself or out of curiosity, I’m certain many entrepreneurs have been here before. The point where you begin to question yourself if you had made the right decision starting a business or if you would have been better off getting a regular job. I’m certain if most people started a business and right off made profits, there would be less self-doubt. But that’s not the case, sometimes, it takes years to see any tangible profit, and sometimes, you may never get to the point where your business becomes self-sufficient. 

As unfortunate as that might sound, you should take heart in knowing that every entrepreneur goes through the same ordeal, which is why the entrepreneur’s mindset plays a huge role in determining whether or not one becomes successful. I will be highlighting 5 characteristics of entrepreneurial spirit that almost often guarantee success, but first here’s a story that brings it all into perspective. 

The lucky break of gaming company Rovio entertainment - was it luck?

Let’s take a close look at a true embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit with the story of the creators of Angry bird.

Niklas Hed, Jano Vakevainen and Kim Dikert founders of Rovio Studio (formerly Relude) had just won a video-game-making competition and decided to put their talents to good use by starting a company of their own. This was back in 2003 and clearly, it was not a bad decision being that they were talented and probably had a lot of good ideas for a game. But as the founders later realized, talent and good ideas alone weren't enough to guarantee success. 

This was clear after nearly five years of game development and 51 failed attempts to make an impact in the market. Down to just 12 people, Rovio was dying, and desperately needed a lifesaver. This came in 2007 around the time the iPhone was first released. It presented a new opportunity and the founders (and key members) of Rovio were quick to take advantage of it. In an interview with Wired, Niklas Hed said, “the iPhone opened up the whole world”. Angry Bird went through a development and testing phase and in December 2009, it was finally featured on the Apple App store. 

Rovio’s 52nd game title was out there and as Wire’s writer Tom Cheshire puts it - it was a flop. But Rovio had a long-term strategy, they were not expecting any overnight success and so they focused on building a presence in less dominant marketplaces before pursuing bigger ones like the UK and the United States. The strategy worked out well and in 2010, Apple featured Angry Birds on the UK App store as a game of the week and soon after, the app went from 600th place to first place. 

As of 2018, the game Angry Birds had 66.8 million active users per month and 9.2 million daily active users, 4 billion downloads, and a lifetime revenue of 600 million dollars. Rovio's founders are the true embodiment of the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Characteristics of entrepreneurial spirit

Passion

In the course of my research on the importance of passion to the success of an entrepreneur, I came across several studies on the subject most of which are focused on the consumer/employee point of view. However, I found a reference to a study that caught my attention. A team of researchers carried out a survey involving 163 employees and 73 entrepreneurs. All they had to do was rate how much they agreed to statements like “owning my own company energizes me”. Now, the employees were asked similar questions (formulated differently) to measure how they felt working for the company. The researchers established what they termed a contagion mechanism where entrepreneurs who exhibited a high level of passion influenced their employees positively. In essence, passion is contagious. When an entrepreneur is passionate about their venture, they develop the fortitude to persevere in challenging situations and influence their employees to do the same. 

Key takeaway - When starting a business, try to make it about something that you are passionate about. Here’s a tip from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet;

“In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love”.

Perseverance 

While anyone can start a business, very few steer it to become an absolute success. There are comprehensive statistics on why businesses fail. The top 3 reasons according to CB Insights are; lack of funds, no market, and stiff competition in the industry. In reality, most entrepreneurs face the same challenges so how do they manage to scale through? They persevere. You’re not always going to have it easy. Most times, it will be a struggle, especially in the early stages of your business. You have two choices, throw in the towel and call it quits or weather the storm just like the founders of Rovio entertainment did. These moments can be very difficult but they also help you build character and experience. Perseverance is known by many names, such as grit, and tenacity. Even successful entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos know a thing or two about perseverance. After all, he had to face two of the toughest periods in the history of entrepreneurship, the fall of the dot-com era and the Great Recession.

Key takeaway - Every entrepreneur struggles or has struggled at some point. The key is to make sure you’re on the right track and not caught up in the sunk cost effect. 

Stubbornness

When starting as an entrepreneur, it can be very frustrating to learn that help is hard to come by. Sometimes even the closest people to you will discourage you from pursuing your dream, especially if you fail to make significant progress at first. Failure to heed this advice will be tagged as “stubbornness”. They are right, you are stubborn but that’s precisely what you have to be to succeed. Recall the question I shared earlier. Perhaps the Quora user was going through a similar experience and it is not uncommon among entrepreneurs. Stubbornness may not be an attractive attribute but it can see you through the most difficult times. 

Key takeaway- Here's some advice from Jeff Bezos, “Be stubborn on vision, but flexible on details”.

Optimism

Many people see optimism as a mindset that sees the best in every situation of life. This is true in a sense, but optimism is also a measure of how much faith you have in yourself and your abilities. Expecting the very best in a bad situation won’t help if you don’t have confidence that you can overcome the worst. Optimism inspires action which in turn increases the chances of success. In the same way, a lack of optimism can lead to inaction and consequently failure

Key takeaway- Have a positive outlook even when things aren’t looking good. 

Patience

If there’s anything you should take from the story of Rovio entertainment, it is that there is no overnight success. What may seem like an overnight success often took years to achieve. If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, then you will have to understand that breaking out in any industry will likely take time and most of that time will be spent on building. 

Key takeaway - Learn to play the long game

Conclusion

In entrepreneurship, great ideas alone won’t make you successful. Certain attributes have helped those whom we consider successful entrepreneurs to rise to where they are today. While some of these 1 percentiles are naturally endowed with these attributes, that doesn’t mean they can’t be learned. In this article, I’ve discussed 5 of these attributes and while the list isn’t exhaustive by any means, it is important to note that these are some of the most commonly observed traits of successful entrepreneurs.