Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. While we can all be passionate about something, overcoming the many challenges that come with entrepreneurship is not something that can be taught or picked up overnight. That’s why many great ideas don’t make it far. Many businesses fail within a year of starting.

There are three things that dictate the success of any entrepreneurial endeavor: Pride, Passion, and Purpose

Pride

There is no such thing as a successful shy entrepreneur – but they can be humbly confident. In order to grow their business from just a gem of an idea to a sustainable early-stage entity the entrepreneur at the heart of the business needs to ‘get out there’.

This comes down to being ‘opportunity hungry’ and showing a willingness to meet new people and talk about their proposition. This includes validation of the initial idea through to value-add then PR opportunities. Somebody who is proud of what they have created will take every opportunity presented to them, but also will seek new opportunities to continuously develop what they do.

The term pride also means knowing when you are not the best person for the job any longer. This self-awareness allows a successful entrepreneur to realize that in order to deliver the best outcome for their business and their customer they have to find somebody else to do a certain task or role.

Recognizing and acting upon this is something that entrepreneurs should take great pride in. When the business takes on its first member of staff it can sometimes be a personal blow to the entrepreneur to hand over control of certain functions. But it demonstrates that the entrepreneur is proud enough of their business to take the step necessary to allow their business to develop further.

Passion

In an early-stage business, there is little or no devolution between the owner and the business – they are always on, 24/7. The reason why people are all-in is that they have to make this business achieve and/or they truly believe that they can make a difference to their customers. This is passion.

If you can’t relate to this, as you have never been a business owner or investor, think of it as a blossoming relationship. If you don’t possess a desire or passion to get to know somebody further, you won’t want to commit extra time or money to carry on the relationship.

Business owners who are passionate are constantly striving to meet new people who can help them to grow their business; they are developing a relevant network in their field and truly valuing the input of mentors and people who have been-there-done-that. They are also constantly re-imagining their offering in order to better serve their customers because they are passionate about trying to make their business work) for themselves, society and their customers.

Purpose

The same adage again, people don’t buy the what, they buy the why. This is your purpose. Simon Sinek in his now infamous TED talk said ‘all great leaders in the world think and act in the same way…they start with their why’, which means that they all have a vision which they are working towards and holding themselves accountable against. On top of this, they also create followership based on this vision.

Even as an individual, not just a business owner, if you understand your purpose when presented with an opportunity, you can quickly determine whether this is a worthwhile opportunity that would contribute to taking a step closer to your vision.