Score 100
Excellent. A perfect score. You are a born entrepreneur. If you
are not presently running your own small business you should
definitely start one -- the sooner the better. You are on the way to
fame and riches.
Score 91 - 99
Very good. You definitely have what it takes to succeed in a
small business of your own. Don't hesitate, your way to business
success is wide open.
Score 72 - 90
Good. You have the qualities of a
successful entrepreneur with some weak spots. Read the
interpretation below to identify your deficiency. You should be able
to cover that deficiency by either retraining yourself or hiring
someone with the necessary skill.
Score 40 - 71
So so. The prospect of your success in a
business of your own is questionable. You have some deficiencies
that might out-shadow some good traits you have. If you still want
to go on with it, be sure to call up all the persistence you can
get. You are going to face some tough adversity on the way.
Score 40 and below
Unsatisfactory. Forget your dreams of
being your own boss, it's not for you. You'd better keep your
comfortable and secure job. Why bother with all the risks and
hustles of starting a business.
Numerous studies have
been made of small business managers over the years. Many look at
traits and characteristics that appear common to most people who
start their own businesses. Other studies focus on characteristics
that seem to appear frequently in successful owner-managers.
First, consider those characteristics that seem to
distinguish the person who opens a business from the person who
works for someone else. These studies investigated successful and
unsuccessful owners, some of whom went bankrupt several times. Some
were successful only after the second or third try. The
characteristics they share might almost be said to predispose a
person into trying to start a business. Of course, not all of these
characteristics appear in every small business owner-manager, but
the following seem to be most predominate.
People who start their own business may be members of
different political parties, feel differently about religion,
economics and other issues. They are like everyone else. The
difference is they usually feel and express themselves more
strongly. This is consistent. If you are going to risk your money
and time in your own business you must have a strong feeling that
you will be successful.
These strong feelings may also cause problems. If you
want to start your own business you probably have mixed feelings
about authority. You know the manager must have authority to get
things done, but you're not comfortable working under someone. This
may also have been your attitude in a scholastic, family or other
authority structure.
If you want to open your own business you are likely
to have a strong "Need for Achievement". This "Need for Achievement"
is a psychologist's term for motivation and is usually measured by
tests. It can be an important factor in success. The person who
wouldn't think of starting a business, might call you a plunger, a
gambler, a high risk taker. Yet you probably don't feel that about
yourself.
Studies have shown that very often the small business
owner doesn't differ from anyone else in risk avoidance or aversion
when measured on tests. At first thought this seems unreasonable
since logic tells us that it is risky to open your own business. A
management expert once explained this apparent contradiction very
simply. "When a person starts and manages his own business he
doesn't see risks; he sees only factors that he can control to his
advantage." If you possess these traits to some degree or other it
doesn't mean you will be successful, only that you will very likely
start your own business. Some of these characteristics in excess may
actually hamper you if you are not careful.
The characteristics that appear most frequently among
"successful" small business managers include drive, thinking
ability, competence in human relations, communications skills and
technical knowledge.
Drive, as defined in the
study, is composed of responsibility, vigor, initiative, persistence
and health.
Thinking ability
consists of original, creative, critical, and analytical thinking.
Competency in human relations means
emotional stability, sociability, good personal relations,
consideration, cheerfulness, cooperation. and tactfulness.
Communications skills
include verbal comprehension, and oral and written communications.
Technical knowledge is
the manager's comprehension of the physical process of producing
goods or services, and the ability to use the information
purposefully.
Motivation or drive has long been considered as having
an important effect on performance. Psychologists now claim you can
increase the motivation and the personal capacities that will
improve your effectiveness and increase your chances for success.
Much of the development of such achievement motivation depends on
setting the right kind of goals for yourself.