MBA2440 3 Most Important Traits You Must Have To Succeed in Business

0:08Heyo! Welcome to the$100 MBA show, powerful business lessons delivered on a silver platter. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zinhome. And in today's lesson, you will learn the three most important traits you must have to succeed in business. I've been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. I'm friends with hundreds of entrepreneurs. I've spoken and helped literally thousands of business owners. And I decided to put together today's episode to make things simple for you. I wanted to boil down what are the three most important traits that I found in every successful entrepreneur. Anybody that has any kind of success has these traits.

0:52And I'm going to keep it simple today, tell you what these traits are, how to cultivate them, how to keep these skills sharp. This is not something that you're born with. You can develop these skills. Most entrepreneurs had to develop these skills so they can be successful. and as long as you're working on it, you're increasing your chances of success. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Essentially, a business is a solution, right? You're offering a solution to your customers. If you're a pizzeria, you are offering a solution to hunger for those who like pizza. If you sell fashion, you solve the problem of people wanting to look and feel good.

1:29The bigger the problem, the better you solve it, the more in demand you will be as a business. This is essentially what entrepreneurship is all about. And the number one trait I have found in all entrepreneurs that have had any success is that they're problem solvers first. They are just always looking for ways to solve problems. They're in the habit of solving problems. They're also in the habit of identifying problems, but they're always looking to improve things, Make them better. And essentially, if you are a great problem solver, you will get so good at this that you're solving problems in seconds, if not minutes, throughout your day, every day as an entrepreneur.

2:14These problems might be internal in your own business with your own team members. It can be problems that are external, like your marketing. It can be problems within yourself that you need to change, you need to improve so that you can be able to deliver better products or services. But the point here is that entrepreneurs that are successful are not afraid of problems. They understand that life is about problems. And the reason why they exist as entrepreneurs is because of problems. And problems are not something they shy away from. It's something that they embrace. They understand they wake up in the morning and what problems I'm going to solve today?

2:45That's really the attitude they have. People that have the attitude is like, I don't want any problems. Get away from your problems. I just want to be left alone. I can understand you could feel that way when you're burnt out. But generally speaking, you are in the problem solving business. That's what you do as an entrepreneur. And that's what gets people excited as entrepreneurs. That's what gets them going. It's because when they solve problems, it makes them feel useful. It makes them feel significant. It makes them feel like they are actually contributing to the world. So great entrepreneurs are great problem solvers.

3:15Look at all the great products out there that you love. They solve some sort of problem some way. Look at all the services you love. Maybe your favorite barber or your favorite nail salon or masseuse. This person is solving some problem, neck pain. They're improving your confidence with a great haircut, whatever it might be. This is why they get paid. Okay. And this is why you get paid. And you realize that if you want to really get paid well, then you got to be a great problem solver. So how do you work on this trait? Well, at first it starts with your philosophy, your mindset, that you know that when you wake up in the morning that you will have problems and you are embracing it.

3:53Like I'm in the problem solving business, let me go ahead and just welcome the fact that I have problems to solve. The great thing about being a problem solver is that the more problems you solve, the better you get added, the more confident you are, the more you're not intimidated by it. That when there are problems, you're like, hey, I've solved problems before, I could do it again. So it starts with your mindset, your attitude, and then it starts with understanding you've got to have reps. You've got to have the consistency of solving problems. And the more you do it, the more you start to understand understand the value of problems.

4:22Because if there's no problem, then there is no product. There is no solution. Most businesses that fail, they fail because they're trying to solve something that does not exist. There is no problem. They have a product. They're like, hey, this is a great product. Why do I need this product? What problems is solved? There's no problem here that exists and it fails. So problems are actually a blessing because it's an opportunity. And when people realize that, they start getting rich, right? They start actually building great products and services. Have that philosophy, get your reps in, have the confidence that you can solve problems on a consistent basis.

4:57And by the way, when you do this, this rubs off. Your whole team watches you do this and they start to realize, I can solve problems too. This is a great philosophy. This is a great way of life. I'm going to do the same. And you're going to need that because everybody on your team has to solve problems to have a great business. All right, that's trait number one. Trait number two, the best entrepreneurs I know are optimizers. What I mean by optimizers is that they are always trying to improve upon what exists. The businesses that don't optimize, that don't improve, are the ones that really struggle and fail and never grow.

5:34And I see this all the time. Let me give you a good example. As I'm recording this, I have an event that I'm running next week for entrepreneurs here in Australia. It's a one-day event and there'll be catering and there'll be dinner later on. And I need to book a venue for dinner. And I've messaged and called and emailed so many local restaurants that would be a good fit. So many restaurants that I've called and left messages in their voicemail and emailed them as well, never replied to me, never called me back, never emailed me, right? And guess what? The one that did pick up or answer my call or return my call actually got the business.

6:12How does that happen? By chance? No. One business has a system for this. They understand when the phone rings, when they get an email in their inbox, they need to reply. They need to reply to voice messages. They need to call people back because they don't have a system that's reliable in place. They're going to lose business. Most people that have businesses, they're great at their craft. They're a great chef. Maybe they are great at their skill and they're a consultant. Maybe they're a great tradesperson, like a craftsman, like a carpenter. They're good at their skill. They're good at the product they're offering, but they are horrible at systems and they lose business every day.

6:51They don't return calls. They don't answer emails. And it's not intentional. It's not that they're lazy. It's just that they don't have any way to make sure it gets done, whether they outsource it, delegate it, automate it, do something. Okay. So entrepreneurs that don't optimize their business, that don't improve their systems, they get left in the dust. They don't get the business. They just say, okay, this is good enough. My business is running. That's fine. But they never actually succeed or grow. And they're always kind of, you know, gasping for air. And it doesn't have to be that way. Most businesses can really do well if they take a look at their business objectively and say, what areas do I need to improve?

7:29What areas are not great? How can I improve the areas that are good and make them great? Not even the bad things, but the good things. How can I make them great? How can I improve my product? How can I improve how I deliver this product? How I deliver my service? When the customer walks through the door, are they greeted properly? Or do they wait too long before they're served? The best entrepreneurs are always optimizing, always improving their business. They don't take things personal. They enjoy feedback. They love when people give them feedback. They get a negative view on Google or TripAdvisor or whatever it might be.

8:02In the moment, it might sting, but that's a great way to learn. Wow, good piece of feedback. I didn't know that was a problem. I didn't know that spiders crawled under the door of the hotel. I need to get an exterminator. The point here is that they don't take things personally. They just try to get better. They improve their systems. They improve their product. They improve their service. And this point I'm making right now, the entrepreneurs that do this, they're the ones that separate themselves from the businesses that are just okay, that are just kind of getting by to the ones that really do well, that really become the market leader, that really dominate their area or their local area where they're doing business, whatever it might be.

8:40Why? Because it takes thought, it takes effort, and it takes the entrepreneur, the business owner to not work in their business or on their business. All right, let's jump into trait number three. Every successful entrepreneur I know is a leader of some sort. Now, don't get me wrong. There are different types of leaders. There are introverted leaders. There are leaders that lead by example. There are leaders that are very motivational and loud and love to rah-rah the crowd. But there are also leaders that are quiet and reserved. But they're all good leaders. What makes a great leader? Well, a leader, one, leads by example.

9:19Two, goes first. Three, understands that they are only as strong as their team, so they're always trying to improve their team, train them up. Four, great leaders understand their superpower is decision-making, making solid decisions. And then lastly, five, a great leader always does what's best for the business. This is really hard. Sometimes as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, you need to make decisions that may not be best for everybody, but it's best for the business. And when I say that, I mean best for the business survival to get better, best for the customer, the major stakeholder.

9:55older. This is similar to being like a pet owner. You got to do what's best for the pet, for the dog, the cat, regardless if they like it or not. Giving them medicine, take them to the vet. They may not enjoy that, but you have to do what's best for them. That's your responsibility as the pet owner. And as the business owner, you got to do what's best for the business. A lot of people think that leadership is something that comes natural to people. I got to tell you, when I was in my first leadership role, when I was in education, this is I'm looking at like 15 years ago, 16 years ago, 17 years ago, maybe when I was a head of department and I had to lead my first meeting.

10:29I can remember how nervous I was. I was looking at the floor. I couldn't look at people in the eye. I really wasn't presenting myself well and I wouldn't listen to me. I wouldn't follow my lead. But once you shake off the nerves, it just takes some time to just do some reps, do some leading, right? You have to lead so that you can become a good leader, just like you have to jog in order to be a good runner. You just put in the time. And it's okay if you're not perfect. No one's perfect. But what you have to do is accept the fact you are a leader. You are leading the business. You are the founder.

11:04And whether you like it or not, people will look to you for decisions for leadership, whether they're suppliers, whether they're contract workers, whether they're people that are going to be partnering with you. So embrace the fact that you are a leader now and understand you will get better and better every day. By just embracing it, you qualify as a leader. There you have it, guys. Here are the three traits again. Number one, great entrepreneurs are problem solvers. Number two, they're optimizers. They're always looking to improve their business, their systems, their team themselves. And three, they're leaders.

11:37They understand that they have to lead in order to move the business in the right direction, in their own way, in their own style. Thanks so much for listening to The$100 BA Show. If you found this episode helpful, if you found this podcast has helped you in any way, now or in the past or at any time, the best way to say thank you is to follow the show, is to subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Go ahead and do that right now, whether you're using Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever podcast app you're using. By doing this, this is the best way you can support the show to help us grow so that we continue to provide amazing business lessons for you so you can grow.

12:14Thank you in advance for doing that. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. I've worked tremendously hard on all three of these traits, some more than others. But you know what? I'm still working on them. I'm still trying to improve those areas because it's never ending. You can never be perfect. And that's OK. But the point is that the more I grow, the more I work on these traits, the more my business will grow, the more chance I give my business to be successful. Because after all, I'm the one who's behind it. I'm the one making decisions. as I'm the one that's pushing it forward. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in the next episode.

12:49I'll see you then. Take care.

13:13Thank you.