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So, you found out exactly how your personality type would affect your startup, but now you’ve got to find a way to overcome the flaws that could be holding you back in the business world. Whether your business style is money-driven mogul or work-from-home genius, there are pros and cons to every style of working. Here is our run down of how to overcome your flaws – and how, a lot of the time – they can actually work to your advantage!
Hobbyist
You’re wanting to convert your passion into a profession, but maybe you’re not so keen on the actual business side of things. This means you might neglect essential activities such as networking, admin, or even your finances.
Making money from your hobbies is a great way of starting a business – you’re doing something that makes you happy and it’s helping to sustain you and your family. There are tons of famous examples of hobbyist entrepreneurs. Take Satoshi Tajiri – nicknamed ‘Dr Bug’ as a child because of his obsession of collecting insects, Tajiri later went on to become the mastermind behind one of the biggest hits in pop culture history: Pokémon. The series further developed on the concept of collecting creatures that Tajiri loved so much.
So, how do you get around the fact that you’re not always going to want to run the business side of things? We recommend starting out part-time. Earn some money moonlighting and assess how well you can manage your time, admin and reaching out to new customers before you give up on your day job. To check your ready to turn your side hustle into your main source of income, check out our blog on how to know you’re ready to leave your day job behind.
Opportunist
You’ve spotted a niche in the marketing and created a fantastic product and/or service – great business ideas are just second nature to you! With an entrepreneurial mindset, excellent research skills and a seemingly innate ability to maximise profit even with limited resources, you’ve got a lot going for you. But it’s easy to lose track of your day-to-day progress if you’re solely focused on the end goal for your business. You’re also not someone who’s inclined to accept help if it’s offered, or even admit that it’s something you need.
An example of a classic opportunist-come-entrepreneur has to be Lord Alan Sugar. With a net worth of £1.3bn, Sugar left school at 16 and started selling consumer electronics out the back of his van – but this is the key detail: at prices that undercut his competitors. From electronics salesman to BBC hit show, The Apprentice, Sugar worked his way up through his ability to spot a gap in the market and go for it.
To make the most of your big ideas, it’s a good idea to hire some employees. That way you’re not at risk of a bad case of founder burnout! For more advice, here are the 5 steps to begin the recruitment process. Also, if you find yourself going up against competitors, your personality type suggests that you might be tempted to want to completely destroy them. Why not harness that aggression and turn the energy into motivation to succeed by finding a way of differentiating yourself from your competition?
Non-Conformist
Someone tells you something can’t be done? You’re the type of person to prove them wrong. Motivated by your achievements, you’re innovative, creative and – it’s safe to say – not a massive fan of the 9-5 rat race. Although you’re a hard worker, you might often find yourself struggling with self-discipline at times.
Steve Jobs, for example, is a fantastic example of a non-conformist in the business world. Jobs co-founded Apple in the mid-70s, but was then driven out of the company in 1985 after a power struggle with the CEO at the time, Sculley. After that, Jobs had numerous other ventures, such as animated film giant Pixar. With Apple on the verge of bankruptcy, Jobs came back and rescued the company in 1997 – and also became the CEO, which just goes to show how people with this personality trait act in the face of scepticism.
Determination to succeed, no matter how wild the dream may seem, is a fantastic quality for any business owner. But how do you maintain the same level of discipline you’d have if you were working for someone else? We suggest finding what hours work for your – whether that’s in the morning or at night. As well as this, it’s a good idea to set some SMART goals so you can track your progress and boost your motivation levels.
Visionary
You’re an idea person through and through. You might seem like a dreamer, but every successful business started off with a vision – and it’s not something a lot of people have the ability to do. However interesting the vision, one thing you’re not particularly interested in is the nitty gritty, day-to-day running of the business. It’s also really hard to have confidence in your ideas and abilities without coming across as arrogant.
One of the most famous missions put forward by a true visionary businessman was Bill Gates’ goal of ‘a computer on every desk and in every home’ – something that, back in the early 1980s, definitely seemed like a pipedream. Nowadays, the majority of the developed world has access to a home computer, and the reason the digital world is so accessible to us now is partly down to Gates’ determination to see his dream flourish.
From Richard Branson to Mark Zuckerberg, the visionaries of the world are the ones who make the big, life-changing innovations. Make sure you’re always carrying around business cards so spread the word about who you are and what you’re about wherever you are. And if you’re not so keen on the daily tasks you have to complete to keep your business running, check out our top 7 ways to spend less time on admin.
From lacking motivation to complete everyday admin to struggling to see past the wider vision of your dream, every personality style has its positive aspects and its flaws. By recognising both and doing your best to build on your strengths, whilst also improving on any flaws, you’re taking a fantastic step towards increasing your business’ success.
