“Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S economy”- Surely you have heard this statement several times before. As per the 2010 Census, there are more than 27.9 million small businesses registered in the U.S, compared to 18,500 large-sized enterprises. Those 27.9 million small businesses accommodate almost 99 percent of U.S employees. These overwhelming stats are enough to shed light on the importance of small businesses, especially small business owners who keep a company rolling, no matter what.
Small business owners have significant responsibilities on their shoulders, in order to keep their business in operation, they must demonstrate specific soft skills and traits. Every business has its own goals, nature, and challenges; given the fact, every company deals with its challenges in a completely different manner. However, there are a few common traits that almost all small business owners have in common. Not only this, but these characteristics also help them cope with all sorts of situations effectively.
Self-Motivation
Being a business owner, you have no one to set the goals for you, except your own self. A successful small business owner is always self-motivated and this something that keeps them on their toes. Their inner passion never lets them settle on anything less than the best. They keep striving to surpass their competitors. No wonder they choose to keep working until their self-assigned goal has been achieved.
Driven and Competitive
In a competitive environment, you are always surrounded by people who want to be market leaders. Thus they keep striving to grab a large share of the audience you too are vying for. In such an environment, you need to be driven to succeed and do better what your competitors are doing. Starting a business and keep it growing can be challenging, and these challenges require you to be competitive and diligent so that you can stay ahead of the curve.
Goal-Oriented
A successful small business owner never shoots in the dark, putting it differently; they never take any step without defining their goals. They prepare both short term and long term SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) Goals, which pave their road to the destination they want their company to reach within a specified period. The realistic plans based on SMART goals keep both the owner and employees determined to carry out their respective tasks in a timely and effective manner.
Collaborative
A successful small business owner acts more like a leader than like a boss. He knows how to maintain a collaborative environment within the workplace, where all the employees work hand in hand for the growth of the company. A leader does their utmost to raise the team spirit, and they always find ways to build a supportive atmosphere where nobody works alone, and every effort is a group effort.
Persistent
Running a small business is not a cake walk. You must be armed and prepared to deal with every kind of odd and stressful situation that comes in your way. From internal day to day management to unsuccessful product launch or not so effective marketing campaign outcomes; you need to be well prepared to see about toughest of a situation. Not only this, but they should be able to get back on their feet soon after they fall off. They should be poised and determined enough to get past the toughest situation quickly.
Daring
Being a small business owner, one has to make bold and risky decisions. Even if you have analyzed the chances of risks and potential of a deal, still there will be chances of failure, which sometimes are inevitable and unavoidable. Being an owner to a small business, you have to be prudent enough to address such kind of risks in the future. If you get way too overwhelmed by the fear of risks, you will never be able to make the decisions that are crucial to your success.
Accountable
A successful small business owner knows that they are responsible and liable for their actions. They never play the blame game and never hold others responsible for their mistakes. As a matter of fact, they learn from their mistakes and make sure that they do not repeat the same mistakes in the future. Being a human, bosses also make a mistake, but only accountable leaders take responsibilities of both their failures and achievement.
A small business owner who knows how to maintain the attitude of leader not only proves to be a great mentor but a perfect role model for the employees and subordinates who look up to their boss and follow their footsteps. To put it differently, don’t try too hard to be a boss- instead, strive to be a leader, and you will be able to acquire all the character traits that have been mentioned above.
