The 3 Critical Traits Of Successful Entrepreneurs

In this episode, Matt and Rick discuss the traits of successful entrepreneurs and franchise owners. What makes a successful entrepreneur? Is entrepreneurship for everyone? When vetting franchisees for the Alloy Personal Training franchise, we look at these character traits. If they lack them, they might not be a good fit for our brand. However, these traits apply to independent entrepreneurs as well.

Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

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???? Skillset

???? Belief system

Let’s talk about what we look for in an Alloy Franchise Candidate.

1. Character

We like to ensure franchise candidates have good character because we are going into a partnership together. For example, if we go out to eat in a restaurant and a person is rude to the server, we probably wouldn’t want that person in our brand. If you are that kind of person, you may be successful for a short period as an entrepreneur, but you’re probably going to burn a lot of bridges and hurt many people in the process. So unless you’re in a business that is predatory by nature, you may make money and be a jerk.

Character traits will manifest in your business as you become an entrepreneur. Another part of character we look for is the willingness to work hard and learn. Are you willing to follow systems? Are you willing to recognize that you may have some personal shortcomings?

Alloy is a service business and your success depends on treating members the right way. You also need to hire the right people that can make your customers happy. If you’re not a people person, you probably won’t be able to fake authenticity and your members will see through that. If you’re not a people person, you’re probably not going to hire the right people.

2. Skill Set

You will need knowledge of your industry and all the components to running a business. Some of the business aspects you have to know include marketing, sales, real estate, facility construction, employee payroll, customer service, and member retention. There is a lot that goes into running a business, but Alloy provides all that knowledge and has already done all the hard work. All you have to do as an entrepreneur in a franchise situation like Alloy is understand the business concepts and guidance provided. If you are a personal trainer who hates business and never looks at a spreadsheet, then you will need to learn a little more and understand basic concepts about finance, rent, lease agreements, legal documents, etc. With the Alloy Franchise models, you’re buying a proven turnkey business system. Franchising gives you 80-90% of what you need to run a successful business.

3. Belief System

Your belief systems have to do with how you see yourself in the world, along with your background and upbringing. Rick discusses how he didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, but his dad was a role model – like a gunslinger entrepreneur. After a while, his Dad started doing really well. Rick saw the risk you take of being your own boss, and how fruitful that could be from a satisfaction standpoint. It is a good to have a belief system that aligns with being an entrepreneur and a belief that you can do it.

Here is an example of how we look at the 3 traits of a franchise prospect. Let’s say we are talking to someone with a really high level of education, which we can check off the first character trait. Next, let’s say they are also into fitness, so they have the second check mark with some knowledge about the fitness industry. Then when we get to their belief system, they come up short because many people just don’t believe they can do it. Maybe they always worked for a big company with a higher level of financial security. They may be more risk adverse and not have the self-confidence in their ability to lose that security to make the leap. So see how that’s going to be a problem?

Listen in as we describe how each of these traits of successful entrepreneurs is important how it effects the business.