The 20 Life Skills You Need To Be A Successful Entrepreneur

Nicolas Cole Instagram

Let me be blunt:

The skills you think are important in order to become an entrepreneur, aren’t.

And the skills you don’t consider to be important to be an entrepreneur, are.

Here are 20 of them, if you want to be successful:

1. Patience.

If you don’t have it, good luck.

2. Persistence.

As Wayne Chang, one of our company’s advisors would say, “Entrepreneurship means picking a different bag of problems off the shelf. No matter what business you start, it’s just a different bag of problems.”

3. Self-awareness.

You can’t lead effectively without it.

4. Compassion.

The iron fist doesn’t rule. Or, as my mom would say in simpler terms, “You attract more bees with honey.”

5. Obsessiveness.

If you aren’t thinking about your startup at 1:00 a.m. on a Friday night while you’re out at a bar and your girlfriend is tugging on your sleeve saying, “Come on, let’s dance!” then your company isn’t going to make it. Sorry…