At just 46 years of age, Elon Musk, has built four companies in four different fields, and they are worth billions of dollars each. Still, he gets up at 7 am and works until 1 am, leaving just six hours for sleep. With a net worth of billions, what pushes him to continue creating businesses? And, more importantly, related to your life, what are some traits that pushed him to create one of these businesses? Here are 10 traits of serial entrepreneurs that could help you.
#1 Immense And Unflappable Optimism
Many serial entrepreneurs have optimism that can not be matched by others. Because optimism and faith are closely related, having an unshakable optimism means an unshakable faith. Though these remarkably successful entrepreneurs have built many businesses, each endeavor has setbacks all the time. Even after the initial stages, setbacks of one magnitude or another are a constant occurrence and money is lost, gained, and invested. Serial entrepreneurs look at setbacks as an opportunity to better themselves, their company, and the employees of their companies. Each obstacle is a challenge given to them to solve and no matter how many obstacles they encounter, these exceptional people remain focused on their long-term goals. They are future-oriented and obstacles are in the present.
#2 A Need To Innovate
Many serial entrepreneurs continue building new businesses because it is like building a new function of a program or adding a new folder to a project. These innovative people need a centralized location to turn their visions into a reality. They need resources congregated in one spot at one time to support the immense vision they would struggle to accomplish by themselves. Multiple businesses support the enormous creativity housed in these exceptional serial entrepreneurs.
#3 Your Self-reliance Is Well-developed
The life of entrepreneurship is a hard one. A very hard one. When you set out to start your own business, you must be willing to put in the hard work and persist despite obstacles. These obstacles will come from every direction in the form of finances, marketing, product shipping, customer complaints, and other areas. Despite all this, your vision and passion for what you are doing will carry you through. Look within yourself for inspiration because when you are creating things that don’t exist the world may doubt you. Much of this doubt is from fear of the unknown, but you know yourself and you must believe in yourself.
#4 Money Isn’t Your Only Motivator
Many times, the thrill of being an entrepreneur has nothing to do with the monetary rewards. After selling his company, Alan Levy, discovered he loved many more things related to entrepreneurship than money. He thrived at gathering people with different skills that complemented each other, competing against uncreative larger companies, the passion, the grit, and the excitement that came with embarking on the entrepreneur journey. Levy also enjoyed the thrill of treading the very thin line between magnificent success and magnificent failure. So, it seems, the entrepreneurial spirit enjoys uncertainty.
#5 You Have A High Pain Threshold
With entrepreneurship, there is a lot of instability and to handle it you must stay strong. Having a high pain threshold can help you bounce back from all of the financial, emotional, and personal issues that will happen as you build your business. It will also help protect you against uncertainty and help you figure out ways to prepare for the unknown.
#6 You Know Time Is Non-renewable
You make good use of your time because it will not roll over to a new life. To be a serial entrepreneur you must protect and plan how you will use your time. For instance, it’s better to delegate time-consuming activities and keep track of how much time you are spending on emails. There are 24 hours, at least 18 of which can be safely used productively, in a day and it is your job to micromanage each one. Just don’t micromanage your employees. Not only will you get little done, but they won’t feel comfortable using their competencies.
#7 Learn To Scale Your Business Quickly
Before moving to another business you have to scale the previous past the start-up phase and to the growth-stage. The business needs to be constantly growing. Once you have built a solid foundation for one business, then begin all the preparations for another.
#8 Build Strategic Relationships
After you have created your network of partners, employees, and advisors, it is now time to build strategic relationships. These are usually formed by offering service pro bono. By mentoring another company for free you can receive mentoring in return. This can improve two or more entrepreneurial businesses at once.
#9 An Unquenchable Curiosity
Serial entrepreneurs are always asking questions, reading, and connecting with others to learn more. They enjoy combining different disciplines to answer a question in an original way. Many times they begin a new business because the desire to answer a question is so strong. Find multiple methods to feed your curiosity and always have a pen and paper on hand to write down ideas. Often, when you are not thinking about an idea, your subconscious may be combining different pieces of knowledge into an amazing vision.
#10 If There Is No Hope, Move On
If your business is failing despite your best efforts, let it go. Rather than spending all of your energy and resources on a failing project, drop it within the next 24 hours and start over. While single-minded determination is a large part of the success of entrepreneurs, you have to know when the determination is pointing in the wrong direction. When you realize that, think of a better vision and point your never-ending supply of drive there.
Serial entrepreneurship is achievable with a determined and positive outlook, courage, and the ability to fail fast and turn around.
