The term competence refers to a person’s underlying characteristics leading to his / her better performance. It is a good combination of various qualities and traits required to perform the job effectively. Entrepreneur who possesses the necessary competence succeed while those deficient in these qualities may fail in their project. It is a general perception that entrepreneur are born not made. Business family background is considered necessary for the success of an entrepreneur. Some people are of the opinion that entrepreneurs are made not born. They believe that people with adequate knowledge, skill and experience may also become successful entrepreneurs.
Qualities of Entrepreneur
(1) Mental Ability – Mental ability consists of intelligence and creative thinking. An entrepreneur must be reasonably intelligent and should have creative thinking. He must be able to analyse the various problems and situations in order to deal with them. He should anticipate change and must be able to study the various situations under which decisions have to be taken.
(2) Initiative and capacity to take quick decisions – In the present day world, things move fast and the decisions are required to be taken quickly according to the situation. If very entrepreneur suffers from indecisiveness, he may have to lose opportunity, so a successful entrepreneur must have the quality to initiate and capacity to take prompt decision.
(3) Clarity of objective – An entrepreneur should have a crystal clear approach regarding the objectives of his enterprise. He should be clear about the major objectives as well as subsidiary objectives. His objectives may be to establish the product, increase the sales, increase the profits, etc. Whatever the objectives are, he can work only if he is clear about them.
(4) Communication Ability/Skill – Good communication simply means that the sender and the receiver understand the contents of the message each other. He should have good communication skill because this helps him to communicate effectively with customers, employees, suppliers, creditors and community, etc.
(5) Technical Training and Education – Today business has become so complex and competitive that it requires knowledge in every area related to it especially technology. It is through proper education or awareness through which entrepreneur can equip himself with the latest technology of the concerned business. Hence technical training and education are indispensable requisites for the success of business.
(6) Self determination – Entrepreneurs direct their abilities towards the accomplishment of goals with the help of his strength. He must possess willpower and determination to succeed. He should be a determined person and must have belief in himself to achieve the objectives.
(7) Motivator – Entrepreneurs influence and initiate people and make them think in their way and act accordingly. He should build a team and should motivate them. He should create a positive environment and healthy work culture in the organisation.
(8) High Energy Level – Entrepreneur are generally considered to have more energy as compared to average man. The success of entrepreneur largely depends upon his level of energy. He should mark with full energy and should also encourage the employees with that.
(9) Tolerance for Failure – Entrepreneur knows that the business world is full of uncertainties. He should have high tolerance for failure. He should accept the philosophy that failures are also part of the business world. They should face failures and should not get depressed or discouraged by such set-backs. He should come out of those situation as early as possible.
(10) Capacity to Drive – Drive can be stated as the person’s motivation towards the work. It consists of some special traits like responsibility, persistence, ambition, initiative, etc. An entrepreneur uses his abilities to establish the business. Those entrepreneurs who work hard in the areas of planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling are more successful as compared to the others.
(11) Decision-making Ability – Decision-making is to solve any problem (obstacles) that stands between decision maker and accomplishment of organisational goals. An entrepreneur must be clear and creative when it comes to decision-making. He must believe in himself and should have the ability to take the best possible decision. Decisions should be based on facts, figures, logic, data, circumstances, etc. Decisions related to the future of the organisation should be taken with extra care. The success of the concern has a direct relationship with the success of the company. The good decision-makers are considered to be good entrepreneurs.
(12) Human-Relation Ability – One of the most facets of the human relation is one’s ability to “put himself in someone’s else place” and to know how the other persons feel. A successful entrepreneur believes in this concept and always tries to maintain the good human relationship with his employees. The personality factors such as emotional stability, personal relations, sociability, consideration and tactfulness are important contributors in the success of the entrepreneur.
(13) Moral Character – The moral character of the entrepreneur elevates the personality of the entrepreneur and increases his influence in the organisation and society. Generally, good entrepreneur possesses moral character also.
(14) Planner – A successful entrepreneur frames realistic business plans and follows them rigorously to achieve his objectives in a stipulated time-limit.
(15) Independence – A successful entrepreneur likes to be his own master and wants to be responsible for his own-decisions. He likes to be job giver and not a job-seeker.
(16) Courage and Perseverance – The entrepreneur has to be firm in the pursuit of his goal and policies. This calls for courage and conviction. An entrepreneur who is upset by the initial failures and thinks to run away cannot hope to succeed in the long run.
(17) Adoption – Adoption means to adjust oneself according to the circumstances. For a successful entrepreneur it is an important quality. This is so because in business one comes across both favourable and unfavourable circumstances.
The above stated all the qualities cannot be found in all the entrepreneur. But the chances of success increase certainly as an entrepreneur goes on developing above qualities in his personality. Some of these qualities are hereditary but most of them can be acquired by constant effort and practice. Further a doubt may be raised that many entrepreneurs are successful inspite of their dishonesty and shrewdness. But this must not be forgotten that this type of success, based on immorality is short-lived. They cannot be successful for the long run.
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