One thing entrepreneurs have in common is the ability not to be stopped by problems, but to turn their problems into opportunities. Where other people get stuck in problems, entrepreneurs bounce back with new answers seeing a different way forward.
I once read an article on entrepreneurs in a South African magazine. The author explained some of the characteristics of an entrepreneur and then he relates a story told to him by an entrepreneur who was asked, “What makes entrepreneurs different than the rest of us?”
“Well,” the entrepreneur said, “when I think of entrepreneurs I think of a spider. I once saw a spider spinning his web. He would take a thread - stick it to one side and then walk with it to the other side of where he would like to make his web.
When he came to the other side the thread broke and the spider had to walk back to the place where he first stuck his thread. He then stuck his thread to the place where it broke off and started walking back to where he wanted to stick the thread. And then, the same thing happened again. The thread broke. The spider went back to the same spot and stuck his thread back again from where it broke, just to start his journey all over again.
This happened about eight times before the first thread was stuck from one side to the other. This, my friend,” the entrepreneur said, “is the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur. He is too stupid to give up. He doesn't know any better but to persevere and ‘hang in’ there until it succeeds. He is not demotivated by early failures, but he learns from them.”
Entrepreneurs have a ‘no die’ attitude. They simply don’t give up when they start to encounter opposition, difficulties or closed doors. They know they have a race to run, until it is finished. I once heard a man said, “It is finished”, only after he has completed his whole mission. Now that is a true entrepreneurial spirit. To understand that you will encounter difficulties, but to have an attitude that you will not, YOU WILL NOT give up until you can say, “Mission accomplished!”
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