Small Business Person and Entrepreneurial Qualities Attributes Type

Someone asked me recently what I thought were the most important qualities a small businessperson had to have.  I didn’t hesitate. “Patience,” I said. “And lots of it.  A thick skin.  An open mind.  And definitely persistence.”.  Honestly, I think patience must be the hardest thing for a businessperson to learn, especially when you’re starting out and it’s just you (and maybe your dog).  It takes patience for just about everything you do, from getting people to return your phone calls or emails (I have to say, though, that not returning emails is something I don’t understand.  I mean, how hard is it to do?), to waiting for that shipment of toner cartridges to arrive, to getting that check in the mail for the largest order you’ve ever had.  It takes patience usually only present in storybooks. 

Keeping your expectations realistic is probably the best way to keep from getting frustrated when things don’t happen as quickly as you’d like them to.  Remind yourself that responses do take time, and that customers (especially B2B customers) frequently don’t make decisions fast.  Take it from one who knows:  I drop the catalogs in the mailbox, and then wonder in frustration as I’m turning away and the catalogs have barely even hit the floor of the mailbox, “Damn!  Why hasn’t anyone called me with an order yet?”  There’s a zen aspect of small business that one definitely has to learn:  being in the moment of accomplishing the current task, then finding the patience to focus on something else until a realistic time has passed before you can actually expect results.  

These days, a thick skin is necessary is just about any part of life, but it’s especially good to have in business.  You can let things bother you and keep you awake at night, or you can learn how to deflect the bad stuff (dumb mistakes, rejections, poor timing, etc.) and move on.  I always tell myself that if something terrible happened today, whether it was my own mistake or something that happened to me caused by someone else, I do what I can to rectify it (if it was my fault) and then I’m allowed to feel bad about it only until midnight. After that, it’s over.  It took me a long time to work that little system out for myself, since I’m the Queen of Obsessing.