Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

The Daily Routine

A quick internet search will return more than enough results to produce a comprehensive list of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. For entrepreneurs who succeed, there’s no doubt that a great idea that meets a market need, sufficient capital, and sheer luck play a role. But just as important are an entrepreneur’s mindset, tenacity, ingenuity, skill, and commitment.

Under commitment, and among the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, is sticking to a daily routine.

In every episode of Stay Paid, Luke and Josh ask their guest what routines, habits, or actions they take that help them in their business. Nearly all have one, and for this week’s Silver Dollar episode, Luke and Josh compile the top five habits they’ve heard guests repeat time and again. These five habits inform the daily routines of the most successful entrepreneurs:

1. Prospect for qualified leads
2. Engage with your sphere on social media
3. Check your KPI metrics
4. Plan ahead
5. Be present in the moment

Prospect for qualified leads

Prospecting for qualified leads is an essential activity and yet, it’s one that undisciplined entrepreneurs seem to avoid the most. But the math is obvious: If you don’t have leads, you don’t have a business.

If you are challenged by how to prospect for qualified leads, ReminderMedia has a large library of free resources you can download. These resources include e-books, success guides, and training webinars all intended to help you prospect for new clients. And, of course, there are numerous previous episodes of Stay Paid devoted to discussions about lead generation. Check them out.

Engage with social media

Luke and Josh have hosted many guests who preach the importance of being active on social media and engaging with your audience. Using Facebook ads to attract leads is a necessity. Posting two or three times a day to Twitter is the way you develop a following. Instagram is invaluable in making a personal connection with clients and prospects.

Here are a few resources to help you engage with social media like a pro:

• The 3 Facebook Ads Every Agent Needs (webinar)
• The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Facebook Marketing (e-book)
• How to Win at Instagram (e-book)
• More Ways for How New Real Estate Agents Can Get Leads for Free (blog with a focus on Facebook)
• How to Improve Your Company Twitter Account (blog)

Check your KPI metrics

As your business gets off the ground and as it grows so that you delegate more and more functions, it’s important to have your finger on the pulse of your business. If you don’t check your KPI metrics several times a day, then you don’t know how your business is performing.

Without keeping an eye on your KPI metrics, you don’t know what you should stop doing, what you should be doing more of, what’s working, and what isn’t. And if you don’t know how your business is trending, it is much easier to kid yourself into thinking you’re doing better than the numbers suggest.

Being adamant about accountability from your employees and frequently checking your numbers will also provide you with the confidence you need when you are out of the office. You’ll be able to rely on your staff to do what needs to be done. And you’ll have the freedom to take that vacation knowing your numbers are where they need to be.

You can hear more about the importance of checking your numbers daily in the conversation Luke and Josh had in episode 175 with Ravi Abuvala, founder of Scaling Systems.

Plan ahead

Being able to prioritize the tasks in your day by planning ahead and having a way to deal with the unexpected is critical to staying focused. If you don’t, you run the risk of not getting to the most urgent and important tasks because something else grabs your attention.

During this episode, Josh clearly explains how to use the Covey Time Management Matrix to plan your day. Also called the Eisenhower Decision Matrix (named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower), Stephen Covey proposed a matrix of four quadrants to evaluate the relative importance and urgency of a task. Here’s an example of Covey’s matrix:[1]

Knowing how to prioritize their tasks and time is a shared characteristic of successful entrepreneurs.

Importantly, one of the benefits of this matrix is it allows you to say, “no.” Saying no can be especially difficult for some people, especially those who are driven to please. But Covey’s matrix suggests that if a request doesn’t fall into the first quadrant, you should feel okay about saying, “Not now, but maybe later.”

Be present in the moment

It’s incredibly easy to be distracted, even when engaged in a task. How many times have you been in a meeting only to find yourself thinking about your next meeting, or what you need to do at lunch or when you finish up for the day? It’s tough to stay focused.

But one of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs is their ability to give their complete attention to whatever is happening at the moment. For a salesperson, there is no greater outcome of staying in the moment than a client or customer who feels like they were heard, and that their concerns were the most important to that sales professional.

Key Points

• You are the product of your habits.
• Being able to say “no” is an important skill.
• To succeed, you need to commit yourself to action.

Action Item

We recommend doing all five, but pick one action from the list and COMMIT to doing it from this day forward.

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[1] Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Kindle Edition), RosettaBooks December 2, 2009. https://www.bishophouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Effective-Personal-Management-with-Covey-The-4-Quads.pdf