Becoming self-employed - 5 characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

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Becoming self-employed - 5 characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

You want to become independent? But you don't know if you are ready? Are you wondering what qualities are necessary to build a successful business? In this article, we want to answer these very questions for you. That's why we're going to introduce you to 5 characteristics that make successful entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Elon Musk stand out.

Becoming self-employed - What makes Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg & Co so successful?

Set priorities correctly

,,To a great man belong both: to treat trifles as trifles, and to treat important things as important things." - Gottholt Ephraim Lessing

As an entrepreneur, you have to take care of 1,000 things at once.

If you are self-employed, you already know this problem. If you still want to become self-employed, you will soon get to know this problem.

The question now is: What should you focus on? What can you put on the back burner? Where should your priorities lie?

To help you answer these questions, we would like to give you a method that has proven itself in practice - The Eisenhower Principle!

This is a method developed by former US President Dwight D. to plan military strategies.

How to implement this method, you will learn now. This is especially efficient if you are at the beginning and want to become independent.

Step 1: The preparation

First of all, you should look at Mindmap or a to-do list, write down on a piece of paper all the items you want to work on in the near future.

Step 2: Categorize tasks

Next, you assign the tasks to the appropriate categories.

A distinction is made between 4 categories:

  • Important & Urgent
  • Important & Non Urgent
  • Not important & Urgent
  • Not important & Not urgent
Quadrant A1 (important & urgent)

These are tasks that must be completed immediately.

This means, for example, tasks that immediately bring in sales. For example, making sales calls, designing a marketing plan or developing new products.

Quadrant B2 (important & non-urgent)

At this point, tasks are meant that are important but do not have to be implemented immediately.

You can tackle these as soon as all the tasks from the first category have been implemented.

Quadrant C3 (not important & urgent)

These are tasks that, in the best case scenario. delegate ...should be. Here's a quick example.

If you want to become self-employed, you will also have to file a tax return at some point. However, you should not do this yourself, but rather hire a tax advisor who will do the work for you.

What tasks can you think of that you could delegate right now? Make a list and write them down.

Quadrant D4 (not important & not urgent)

These are tasks that only have a subordinate business benefit for you. (e.g. the design of new stationery).

Basically, these are tasks that can be seen as time wasters and do not bring you any direct benefit.

What time wasters are you dealing with right now?

What could you put in the back and focus on revenue generating measures instead?

Step 3: Implementation

Once you've categorized tasks that need to be done, it's a matter of working through the priorities that have arisen and giving them a deadline.

Once you've set a deadline, it's all about maintaining focus. Deliberately ignore all other tasks during this time so that you can be productive you can.

Avoid procrastination

If time is the most precious of all things, the waste of time is the greatest of all wastes." - Benjamin Franklin

Procrastination, commonly known as procrastination, is a negative habit that many self-employed people, entrepreneurs and executives use to get in their own way.

The result: Deadlines are not met, sales targets are not achieved and projects are not completed on time.

If such behaviour repeats itself, a company can get into economic difficulties. Especially when such behavior patterns repeat themselves. All in all, the wasted time costs a lot of money.

For this reason, it is immensely important to avoid procrastination. Enclosed you will find 5 tips that you can use to not lose sight of the implementation of upcoming tasks.

5 useful tips against procrastination

  • Before you leave work, write a to-do list with tasks for the next day.
  • Focus on important and urgent tasks with the highest priority
  • Set a deadline that you must not exceed under any circumstances.
  • Don't take on too much and divide big tasks into smaller blocks
  • Avoid all time wasters (smartphone, social media, emails, etc.) when in focus mode.

Continuously educate yourself

"He who thinks he is something has ceased to be something." - Socrates

At this point we would like to tell you the story of a business leader in which many entrepreneurs have already found themselves.

For years, the said Managing Director a successful company. He was satisfied, because his company flourished continuously.

Within a few months, everything changed. Market share was lost. Sales collapsed and resentment spread among the workforce.

What was the reason?

An industry analysis revealed that the company in question had for years deliberately chosen not to adopt new technologies, which now, however, dominated the market.

So it was not surprising that the competition would gain the upper hand over time.

What do we learn from this story?

It makes little sense for an entrepreneur to rest on past successes. Because those who deliberately ignore new trends and cling to old patterns of behaviour will lose out sooner or later.

For this reason it is essential for every modern entrepreneur to be open to new technologies and entrepreneurial concepts, to constantly educate oneself and to go new ways entrepreneurially.

Establish winning habits

"Habits are fingerprints of character." - Alfred Polgar

Winning habits help to keep you on top of your achieve entrepreneurial goals.

Loser habits will cause you to not move forward with your business.

Thus, if you want to become self-employed, you should definitely create several winning habits if you want to move forward with your own business.

Below, we've listed for you some winning habits that are especially important for entrepreneurs....

  • Learn to prioritize revenue generating activities
  • Be sure to evaluate each situation (especially crises) objectively
  • Always be respectful when dealing with employees and they will give 110%
  • Define a clear goal of what you want to achieve with your company
  • Always be open to new technologies, marketing and business concepts

What are the benefits of positive habits when you become self-employed want?

On the one hand you will be more self-discipline on the day. On the other hand, you will pursue your entrepreneurial goals much more confidently.

This way you will always achieve your goals in the future and thus bring more quality into your business.

Strengthen your mind

"The mind must be fresh, full of confidence, and superior to all temptations." - Lucius Seneca

If you want to become self-employed, you will have to face constant Stress be exposed. This load always remains present.

What is important here, however, is how you deal with it. If you don't succeed, your power will be reduced and you won't achieve the desired results.

For this reason, it is immensely important for every entrepreneur to strengthen his mind. Meditation is a proven means for this.

In advance: With Meditation it is not esoteric mumbo jumbo. Rather, meditation is based on scientific findings that produce clear results.

You don't have to be a Buddhist monk to meditate properly either. For the beginning, it is already perfectly sufficient if you allow yourself 15 minutes for a time-out per day.

Below we have prepared a meditation for you to follow. Don't worry, you will be guided through the whole process and you don't need any previous experience.

Before you start the video. One more important thing...

... Through meditation you reduce the stress hormone cortisol
... Meditation promotes your creative thinking
... Meditation increases your power of concentration

Conclusion: With the right characteristics you lead your business to success

In this article, we have given you a total of 5 traits of successful entrepreneurs that you can adopt for your business.

Here you find again the most important winner characteristics successful Entrepreneur summarized:

  • Set priorities correctly
  • Avoid procrastination
  • Strengthen your mind
  • Continuously educate yourself
  • Establish winning habits

Which of these qualities have you already internalized? Which ones would you like to integrate into your everyday business life?

Are you already in?

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Reviewed by Dr. med. Stefan Frädrich

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