Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. The path to business success is often rocky, filled with sleepless nights, roadblocks and dead ends. It takes a unique personality type to withstand the uncertainties and ride out the hardships of starting a business. This personality type may be traced to childhood — future entrepreneurs were often risk-takers who eschewed the rules and followed their own path.
While not every class troublemaker grows up to become a successful entrepreneur who turns ideas into products, services or ventures, a long-term study indicates that people who bent the rules as kids often land on their feet and find business success.
Why do troublemaker kids make great entrepreneurs?
According to researchers in Sweden and Germany, most entrepreneurs start out as, well, troublemakers.
The psychologists who posited this theory examined a Swedish study that followed approximately 1,000 children from one Swedish town over 40 years. They found that the children who became entrepreneurs as adults had often gotten into trouble as kids.
“We analyzed this data regarding the entrepreneurship the participants were showing later on in their professional careers,” explained Martin Obschonka from the Center for Applied Developmental Science at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Sweden. “We wanted to know what kind of social behavior they showed.”
Researchers discovered that future entrepreneurs displayed the following behaviors:
- More antisocial tendencies in adolescence
- A higher rate of criminal offenses (mostly misdemeanors)
- More frequent disregard of parental orders
- More frequent cheating at school
- More incidents of truancy
- More regular drug consumption and shoplifting
These results were particularly applicable to male participants.
The good news is that, over time, these people shed their wayward ways as adult entrepreneurs. By the time the participants reached adulthood, the entrepreneurial set was no more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviors than those who went on to other occupations.
Obschonka said it’s not entirely surprising that entrepreneurs showed a tendency toward risk-taking as youths. The same character traits that drive people to innovate and take risks may have their roots in adolescent rule-breaking behavior.
“The data suggest that a rebellious adolescent behavior against socially accepted standards and an early questioning of boundaries doesn’t necessarily lead to criminal and antisocial careers,” Obschonka said. “It can rather be the basis for a productive and socially acceptable entrepreneurship.”
What other traits do great entrepreneurs have?
Entrepreneurs are defined by more than their willingness to rebuff social norms. Starting and running a business requires immense motivation and work. Specific personality traits you need to start a business include the following:
- Entrepreneurs exhibit determination and willpower. Determination is a critical trait for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. Without determination, a constantly shifting marketplace and fierce competition would have them throwing in the towel before they even get started. People who can set their minds on a goal and work toward it without fear of failure are often primed to navigate entrepreneurship.
- Entrepreneurs often have high self-esteem and confidence. Selling your own product or service requires self-confidence and a firm belief in your offering. Many pitfalls stop entrepreneurs before they have a chance to succeed. For this reason, staying confident in your abilities despite setbacks helps entrepreneurs persevere and find success. Entrepreneurs who lack confidence must build up their self-esteem to take their dream to the next level.
- Entrepreneurs need creative problem-solving. Starting a business means creating a product or service that answers consumer needs better than your competitors. There’s a world of goods that are already out there, so coming up with something unique or putting an original spin on an old product requires creativity. Creativity can be a learned skill, so don’t give up on your entrepreneurial dreams if you don’t see yourself as creative.
- Entrepreneurs must be resilient and adaptable. Resilience and adaptability are key to business success, particularly for entrepreneurs facing industry changes and unexpected setbacks. Entrepreneurs can improve their resilience if they learn to accept setbacks as a normal part of the business ownership experience and learn to pivot when needed.
- A positive attitude improves an entrepreneur’s mindset. Developing a positive attitude in the workplace is important for everyone, but it’s crucial for entrepreneurs. Your attitude affects your entire team, particularly during stressful times. Approach setbacks with a positive mindset and focus on what you can do to solve the issue.
- Emotional intelligence is a valuable entrepreneurial trait. While emotional intelligence is a crucial skill for all team members, leaders with emotional intelligence set the tone for the entire organization. When entrepreneurs understand that their emotions impact everyone around them, they can create a smooth environment filled with camaraderie instead of fear and anxiety.
Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs
Even if you have the right temperament and attitude to start a business, the process involves many twists and turns. Before opening your doors, it’s essential to have as much knowledge at your disposal as possible to help ensure success. Below are a few tips that can help you hit the ground running.
- Start your business slowly. The time between generating an idea for a business and opening it to the public can be extensive. Spending time and money without immediate results might not be appealing, but taking it slow can counter any potential issues. The long road to business ownership underscores why determination and passion are an entrepreneur’s most vital assets. If you genuinely believe in your product or service, that can drive you to find solutions even when it seems like you’ve hit a big roadblock. However, passion isn’t the deciding factor on whether things work out, so it’s also essential to start the proceedings while you’re still employed elsewhere.
- Grow your business at the right pace. Most businesses start small, so once yours is up and running, expanding it might be an immediate goal. For example, you may want to move to a larger location, expand your business to another state, or even go international. However, growing too fast is dangerous. If the new equipment, space, or employees don’t meet demand, you might have trouble keeping up with overhead costs. Keeping careful financial records can help you decide whether or not you’re ready to grow your business.
- Recruit and hire the right way. Attracting and retaining top talent is crucial. Many online tools can help you find quality employees. For example, you can reach hundreds of job seekers via online job sites. If you go this route, ensure you write a job description that accurately reflects the position. Otherwise, promising new hires might disengage when they find out the job isn’t what they thought it would be.
- Scale your business once you’ve perfected your offerings. Scaling a business is similar to growing a business because both are about changing to increase overall profits. The difference is that scaling businesses want to increase revenue faster than they acquire new costs. Generally, scaling means reaching out to new customers while making your internal operations more efficient. The only surefire tip to effectively scale your business and reach out to new customers is to provide the best product or service possible.
- Keep a positive work-life balance. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is particularly crucial for entrepreneurs. New businesses require enormous investments of time and energy, often at the expense of the owner’s health, relationships, and other priorities. Amid your entrepreneurial venture, take time to prioritize self-care and give your relationships the attention they deserve.
Most entrepreneurs will face setbacks and devastating blows. To lead your team through a rough patch, communicate transparently about the situation, keep moving forward, and share your vision for the future.
Anyone can have a passion for entrepreneurship
Just because you did follow the school rules doesn’t mean you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur. While a certain entrepreneurial mindset can be traced to childhood risk-taking, anyone can learn to step out on their own. If you have a passion for your product and solid preparation, you can start a business just as well as the class troublemaker.
Jeanette Mulvey contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
