Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur is someone who take financial risks of starting and managing a new venture. For instance, Levi Root –famous for Reggae Reggae Sauce- appeared on Dragon Den show to persuade wealthy business man for investment of $100000. He took financial risk and his idea was so good that he had no problem of getting the finance for his unique idea.

 A successful entrepreneur is well aware of all the factors that contribute to the success and adversely impact the survival of the business. Being aware of the market in which the business is operating is a continuous process. Therefore entrepreneur must take into account changes happening in the market and must be adaptable to change. For instance, Henry Ford, founder of Ford, who was when monopolistic in American market had only cars of white color. But as the competition increases he was forced to manufacture different color of cars in order to stay competitive in the market.

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR

1) ELON MUSK

NET WORTH

Forbes estimates Musk is currently worth roughly $40 billion. In the magazine’s ranking, this makes him the 23rd richest person in the world. CNBC estimates Musk owns 19% of Tesla stock, or about 34.1 million shares. The company itself has an estimated market valuation of more than $100 billion while Musk’s SpaceX, an aerospace and space Transportation Company, is valued around $20 billion.

Elon Musk is a South African-born Canadian-American businessman, inventor and investor. Though he wears many hats and is constantly topping his latest project, he is currently best-known for being as the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and chief product architect of Tesla Motors and chairman of Solar City.

HISTORY

Musk's first company, Zip2 Corporation, was an online city guide. In 1999 a division of Compaq Computer bought Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options. Also in 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services/payments company. An X.com acquisition the following year led to the creation of PayPal, as it is known today, and in 2002 PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock.

Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), in 2002 with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008, SpaceX was well-established and NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future.

Next was Tesla Motors, an automobile company dedicated to producing affordable, mass-market electric cars, which Musk co-founded in 2003. With a stake in the company taken by Daimler and a strategic partnership with Toyota, Tesla Motors launched its initial public offering in June 2010, raising $226 million.

In 2012, Musk and SpaceX made history when the company launched its Falcon 9 rocket into space with an unmanned capsule. In 2013, he released a concept for a new form of transportation called the Hyperloop, intended for travel at speeds greater than 700 mph to commute between major cities. As opposed to railroads, the Hyperloop would use tubes for transportation. Musk says the Hyperloop could take from 7 to 10 years to be built, tested and ready for use.

2) Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani 

NET WORTH

Mukesh Ambani has been India's richest person for 12 years with a total net worth of 41.1 billion USD. He's also the richest person in all of Asia, according to both Forbes and Bloomberg.

The Indian businessman, the chairman and majority shareholder of $100 billion conglomerate Reliance Industries, is worth about $60 billion, making him the 14th-richest person in the world.

Ambani's wealth has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and he continued to grow richer in 2019 even as most of India's richest people lost money.

Mukesh Ambani, a 62-year-old business tycoon, owning the property of about $50 billion, featured on the Forbes billionaire list as the 13th richest businessman, is among the World’s Top Billionaires and the sole Indian among the top wealthiest person. Although he captured the attention of business fraternity in the Year 2000 when he received Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, he was passionate about Business and Entrepreneurship since childhood. Even though he is India’s wealthiest individual, he is known for being “humble-minded”.

HISTORY

He was born on April 19, 1957, in Aden, Yemen, to Dhirubhai Ambani and his wife, Kokilaben Ambani. He has two sisters, Dipti Salgaoncar and Nina Kothari, and a younger brother, Anil Ambani.Dhirubhai Ambani used to work in a firm in Yemen before moving to Mumbai in 1958 where he started his own business of spices.

Later, he started focusing on the textile business and gradually transformed into one of India’s most celebrated business magnates. Mukesh received his early education from the ‘Hill Grange High School,’ Mumbai, along with his brother.

 Later, he enrolled at the ‘Institute Of Chemical Technology,’ Matunga, and obtained his BE degree in chemical engineering. He then attended the ‘Stanford University,’ USA, to earn a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). However, he later opted to drop out to assist his father in establishing ‘Reliance Industries.’

3) SHAHID KHAN

NET WORTH

As of 2019, Shahid Khan is estimated to have a net worth of around $7.5 billion according to Celebrity Net worth while another source claimed his net worth to be approximately $6.9 billion.

Pakistani born American billionaire businessman Khan accumulated such huge net worth as a businessman. He is now a proud owner of NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, English Football Club Fulham F.C. and lead investor of All Elite Wrestling.

HISTORY

A well-known businessman born on July 18, 1950, Shahid Khan (alias Shad Khan) was born in Lahore in Pakistan. His passion to make money and become successful brought him to America. English Football League Championship team Fulham F.C., Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League and Flex-N-Gate are a few big names the billionaire is associated with.

At the age of 16, Khan first moved to the US with a dream of turning an architect. He dropped the idea soon after finishing first year at Illinois University. He realized that architecture would not be as paying as the others. He believed that a dishwasher would earn more than he could earn in his home country.

Determined to become rich, he moved ahead to complete his graduation degree from the UIUC College of Engineering in 1971 in Industrial engineering.  Khan started his first job at automotive manufacturing company Flex-N-Gate while attending the University of Illinois. As soon as he graduated, he joined as the engineering director for the company.

Shahid Khan soon blueprinted a company named Bumper Works. The company made one-piece truck bumper that cuts down weight along with adding structural support. Bumper Works went ahead to acquire Flex-N-Gate in 1980 from his former employer Charles Gleason Butzow. The company has a substantial share and brand name in the automobile sector. After the success of the venture, Khan gained an US citizenship in 1991.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL  ENTREPRENEUR

1) WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING

Successful entrepreneur are well-aware of the benefits of waking up early in the morning. It is not about just knowing the benefits but also executing the plan persistently. To let yourself wake up early in the morning, it is important that you must know what you are going to do. For that it is important that you must have purpose in your life.

Purpose helps us to make goals followed by objectives, strategies and then tactics. For instance, Chief Executive officer of Daraz – e-commerce website – is aiming for his company to be the largest e-commerce website in Asia. With this clear purpose Daraz’s (CEO) will be able to set goals such as increasing returns to shareholders. Objective may be double the share price by focusing on introducing new technology in order to minimize unnecessary expenses.

Many successful entrepreneurs agreed that waking up early at 5 AM make them more productive as they have more time to focus on important tasks while the rest of the world asleep. Researchers agree that those who wake up early in the morning are more likely to make better decisions than those who wake up after 9 AM.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he rises at 03:45 to start checking email in California before his East Coast colleagues can (which, at 06:45, is still quite early in its own right). Oprah Winfrey says she gets up at 06:02 every day for reflection, meditation and exercise before starting work at 09:00. The most extreme case might be Mark Wahlberg, who wakes up at 02:30 to exercise, play golf, pray and recover in a -100C cryochamber

2) CURIOUS ABOUT LEARNING NEW THINGS

Successful entrepreneur are always curious to learn those things that are relevant to their needs and things that will provide them benefits in the future. First it is important to find your interest because it will make it easy to decide on what to learn and what to avoid.

Mark Zuckerberg has been mastering Mandarin Chinese language for the last 30 years! He astonished his followers when during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in February 2016, Mark and his wife Priscilla recorded a video with their adorable newborn daughter, Max. Again, Zuckerberg put his Mandarin chops on display for the entire world to hear.

One of the main reason behind such effort is the fact that Chinese matters more than ever before. With 1.3 billion Mandarin speakers at home, and several million more speakers living in nearly every country of the world, Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages on earth. It's also one of the most popular languages on the internet (Chinese love the internet and have taken to social media with a fervor that is hard to match anywhere in the world).

Curiosity is the difference between average success and great successes. Average people tend to stop working when they run out of creative energy, while highly effective entrepreneurs have a radically different approach in that they never stop learning new things or paths to follow.

3) FLEXIBLE

Successful entrepreneurs tend to be flexible because they understand the impact of technology on businesses. In the modern society where arrival of new technology obsolete old way of working successful entrepreneurs understand that it is important to adapt to change and take change as an opportunity to grow their businesses.

To be flexible successful entrepreneurs are aware of what is happening in their economy and in the world. They keep themselves update by reading reliable newspaper or listening to daily news, reading reliable articles and magazines.

4) THEY DAILY EXCERCISE

Meditation is the most important habit successful entrepreneurs give time to. They usually meditate early in the morning as this is the best time to meditate. This help them to reduce their stress level, identify the mistakes they have made in the recent past and plan for the upcoming days.

A study on the effects of an eight-week mindful meditation course found that people who are regular meditation practitioners had heightened attention and concentration span. Even people who meditated for short durations showed more focus than individuals who did not meditate at all (Jha, Krompinger, Baine, 2007).  Concentration is the most important factor that impact our efficiency. An entrepreneur with good concentration power is more likely to handle difficulties in an easy way.

Mark Zuckerberg did a Year of Running. Arianna Huffington practices yoga. Richard Branson plays tennis, goes biking, runs and kite surfs. To stay in top form, top entrepreneurs exercise to help them live healthy and balanced lifestyles. Many successful entrepreneurs say they wake up early to exercise at the start of their day.

5) SIMPLICITY

Simplicity is the secret weapon effective entrepreneurs swear by. They're known to create and live nearly obsessively by simple yet practical routines. Creating simple routines helps them avoid taking on workloads which are beyond what they can reasonably tackle. Successful entrepreneurs are the most productive in achieving their desired results when they aren't overwhelmed with stress. For this reason, they set limits around themselves. They worry less about pleasing others and more about producing high quality work. The limits they place for their benefit provide them with a sense of agency over their lives, their workload, and in being able to perform as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Some of us might think that being a successful entrepreneur mean that we must be expert in every activities undertaken within a business; expert in every department such as marketing, finance, information technology and human resource management. Reality is that almost all of the Chief Executive officers (CEO) of well-known companies such as Amazon have some know-how of how all the departments’ works. They organize operation in such a way that promote team-working and allow experts to contribute to the growth of business.

6) JOURNAL

One of the easiest ways to increase effectiveness is to make it habit to write in a journal. Successful entrepreneurs put pen-to-paper and write down all that is important to them. They write lists, goals, or write for the purpose of venting their frustrations. Writing has proven to have numerous benefits. It requires engagement from both sides of the brain, making the brainstorming or problem-solving process more complete and innovative. Further, writing is crucial when it comes to settling emotional reactivity. It unwinds emotions caused by stress or conflict by providing a much needed disconnect from the daily grind of consistent talking, emailing, taking calls, and other distractions which come alone with electronic devices. Highly effective entrepreneurs value the process of writing because it puts them in touch with the more existential aspects of life, reminding them of the bigger picture of what they're striving for.

Sumit, the founder of Trump Excel, has been running his brand successfully for four years. His best habit involves creating a daily list.

He says, “One habit that has really worked for me is creating a list of 3 things that I need to get done the next day. I do this little activity at the end of every day. The reason it works so well is that I know exactly what I need to work on the next day. So I go in with a full focus on getting those 3 things done. I only target 3 as it is more realistic and achievable. I use a simple Google Sheets on my phone to write these tasks and it hardly takes 5-10 minutes every day. The impact of this has been huge. It has helped me plan and execute a lot better.”

7) VALUE RELATIONSHIPS

Successful entrepreneur make and maintain relationships by valuing the person they are connected with. One of the best way to maintain relationship is to connect with others. The reason why there are conflict is that both the parties try to put their point in first rather than objectively thinking that whether there demand is feasible or not.

If both the parties try to find a solution that yield maximum result to both the parties then there will be no ground to disagree on.

Maintaining relationship is not only important for entrepreneur but also for students. A group of friends studying together in a university must be aware of the fact that in the future they be face situation where his close friend is working as an employee for him or her friend may be the manager of the bank from where he is deciding to take loan.

Making and maintaining relationships helps to widen knowledge because by connecting with the person you like, you could learn a lot more things. For example, when you learned more about your significant other, it opens your mind to another people’s lives and how they are as a person. This is an opportunity for you to be more knowledgeable and understanding towards another people’s perspective.

8) PHILANTHROPIST

Successful entrepreneur understand that they would never succeed in business without a solid network of people who can turn to for advice and help. Your own personal network is often responsible for helping you navigate through difficult times and making introductions and connections that impact your business in a positive manner.

Your philanthropic initiatives can also lead to introductions and new contacts that further enhance your personal network.

Networking can help your philanthropic impact, the same way it can help you scale your business venture to the next level.

When you openly discuss your philanthropic involvement, it can help to introduce you to new contacts, in addition to spreading awareness about the causes that are important to you. Many entrepreneurs, especially those that bring a lot of value to the table, are often more willing to network with someone that they view as selfless and interested in more than just another business contact.

Philanthropy is another great way to learn about the world, broaden our perspectives and develop empathy, as well as other skills, which are all useful for entrepreneurs.

Through philanthropy, we are able to grow as individuals, experiencing things that traditional education doesn’t teach you. When you set out to help others, commit to learning as much as possible. These experiences will help you in all aspects of life, both personal and business related.

Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is the sole founder of the Musk Foundation, with at least $257 million donated to date. He is an altruist whose philanthropy reaches to clean water, disaster relief, and sustainability innovations of all kinds. Grant making for progressive social reform is only one of the many ways that Musk’s philanthropy is a symbol of what government aid programs could do if appropriate resources were to be methodically and intentionally directed.

CONCLUSION

There are many other habits that successful entrepreneurs have other than discussed in the article. The habits discussed are some of the most important and common habits found in almost every entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneur such as Elon Musk, Steve jobs and Shahid Khan have one thing common: they were passionate of becoming an entrepreneur.

It is really important to have passion for what we like the most. Majority of us are not aware of what we are going to do in our life. As a result we end up doing something that we are not interested in. The reason why these people become successful is because of the fact that they identify their interest earlier in their life.

Shahid Khan went to America at the age of 16 to become an architect. But very soon he realized that he had interest of becoming an entrepreneur. When we are clear of our interest it become easy to execute good habits that we already know since childhood!