Outwardly, you have all the elements in place to launch a successful startup: the capital, the product, the team, the location and the market. But what about inwardly? Do you have what it takes to alchemize all those elements into a business to be reckoned with?

For many small business owners, the secret sauce is a combination of attitudes and attributes. Assets you’re born with and those you acquire. So what are the ingredients that make for a standout entrepreneur? Some you may want to emulate, cultivate or just be aware of. They include:

• Client focus: Many successful business owners keep clients and customers at the center of their universe. Their feedback is critical for planning and tweaking products as well as gathering data that powers decision-making. The end user’s perspective should always be taken into consideration when choices about the business are being discussed.
• Determination: Any entrepreneur looks good when business is booming. But truly successful business owners have an ability to maintain a positive outlook in the face of challenges. An unflappable, unstoppable outlook cements relationships and inspires emotional buy-in from others, both inside and outside the organization.
• Eagerness to learn: Continuous improvement depends on continuous curiosity—about customer and client attitudes, new technologies that can streamline operations, new systems that can add to employee and customer satisfaction as well as operational efficiency. Entrepreneurs who have this mindset typically achieve greater success than those who don’t.
• Independence: Many successful business owners use a bootstrapping approach to achieve as much as possible using their own resources, without bringing on partners until the business requires it. With that philosophy, you can mold your business into an entity that reflects you and your values. Refrain from seeking outside capital until the business can’t expand further without it. This approach, which favors Pango Financial’s DreamSpark^® plan, is particularly relevant during today’s uncertain economic times.
• Long-term thinking: The strongest entrepreneurs do their managing and planning in at least two time frames. To be nimble, you sometimes have to manage in the short-term, but to be strategic, you need constant focus on longer-term trends.
• Market knowledge: Standout entrepreneurs will have a deep understanding of who the customers are, what they want, how they want products and services delivered, who’s currently serving the market, and what unmet needs can be exploited.
• Narrative: Entrepreneurs communicate best with diverse audiences (investors, customers, workers and others) when they frame their arguments as narratives. The ability to tell a story convincingly is a superpower that engages the emotions of listeners as they consider interacting with the business.
• Recruiting: A superpower aligned with narrative is the ability to recruit like-minded people. Recruiting is, to some degree, a matter of getting key players to buy into a vision. Communicating that vision in a compelling way helps form the basis of teams that outperform and overdeliver consistently.

At Pango Financial, we’re always eager to help entrepreneurs maximize the attributes, and the capital, to succeed. For more about our innovative financing options, including our celebrated DreamSpark plan, speak with our funding experts at 1-855-WHY-PANGO (1-855-949-7264) or schedule a free consultation.