With many people looking to ditch the monotony of the 9-to-5 business model to become an entrepreneur, it almost appears that entrepreneurship is an easy road. People are often drawn to the idea that you can earn lots of money being your own boss and enjoy the added freedom that comes with it. It seems like the ideal situation for anyone who wants to control their work while earning as much money as they possibly can. However, entrepreneurship is far from “easy” and requires skills to help you endure through the trying moments that may arise.
Chief Technical Officer of Vuuzle Media Group, Prophecy Onasis, shares some skills he sees as necessary for anyone considering life as an entrepreneur.
Be Passionate
Passion drives entrepreneurial success. It helps you become wholly dedicated to making your business work no matter how hard the process gets. It is not enough to only like the idea of success. You have to be willing to put in the work.
Having passion will help you survive when building a business becomes emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing. It is often said that if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. Prophecy shares that sentiment. “I love to do what I do. I love my profession as I loved playing at the park when I was a child. And I was discovering things then, and it has never changed. I just amplified the thought process and magnified how I look at and approach solutions.”
Be Creative and Innovative
Entrepreneurs must be creative and innovative. The mind of an entrepreneur differs from that of those who have an employee mindset. They are always thinking and generating ideas to start a new business or grow their current venture. “I have always been driven to be innovative as a child. Whether I was drawing or building anything, I would always try to find a way to do things differently or make things better. I have always had a very creative mindset. And I found the best way to continue living my dreams is to build things people can use. That makes me happy and motivates me to reach for the impossible.”
Be Observant – Identify the Needs of the Customers
Entrepreneurs keenly observe their customers and stay on top of market trends to innovate. Failure to do this will quickly see any business owner becoming irrelevant and losing traction quickly.
Business requires constant innovation, which means being aware of what your clients need. As an entrepreneur in the technological industry, Onasis finds that this is a critical skill to have. “My unique strength is that I can identify the source of the market’s behavior before I build anything by understanding the personal meaning network of humans as individuals and as a group. Most entrepreneurs do not think about mirror neurons and concept networks so that they can better serve the masses with a product.” For Onasis, utilizing tools such as mirror neurons helps him empathize with his audience and understand their feelings.
If you are willing to work tirelessly and develop these and many other skills, then the entrepreneurial journey may be for you after all.