Competitiveness by itself can be a misleading attribute. It is most important to distinguish between competition directed toward others without any objective measure of performance, and competition with a self-imposed standard. Competition directed toward beating the other person can have in it seeds of self destruction, e.g. price war below variable costs. This kind of competition has an externalised standard or no objective standard at all. This orientation tends to be more reactive to what others are doing, than being proactive in figuring out what to do before hand based on your goals, capabilities, resources etc.

Competition with self imposed standards is an internalised kind of competition. Here the entrepreneur perceives his own standards rather than standards of their competitors. High performance entrepreneur also possesses this internalised competitive spirit, in which he continuously engages in competition with himself to beat his last best performance. He has a burning desire to excel.

Most people dream of success and achievement, but do not take any actions towards achieving these dreams. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have a strong desire to achieve a higher goal and make their dreams come true. For them winning is achievement.

b) Perseverance or Quality to stick to it : Entrepreneurs who successfully build new enterprises possess an intense level of determination and a desire to overcome hurdles, solve a problem and complete the job. Once committed to a goal and a course of action, entrepreneurs become absorbed in it. They are not intimidated by difficult situation. Their self confidence and general optimism seems to translate into a view that the impossible just takes a little longer. Interestingly enough, if the task is extremely easy or perceived to be unsolvable, the entrepreneur will actually give up sooner than others. While entrepreneurs are extremely persistent, they are also realistic in recognising what they can and cannot do, and where they can get help to solve a very difficult but necessary task.

Once committed to a goal and a course of action entrepreneurs become absorbed in it. They are not deterred by difficulties and problems that beset any project; they work hard until the whole project is successfully accomplished.

c) Need for independence : Entrepreneurs usually hate to work for others! Those who worked earlier for others find it difficult to adjust to the norms of the organisation. They quit being their own bosses and working on their own terms. Most Entrepreneurs start off on their own because they do not like to work for other people, they like o be their own masters and want to be responsible for their own decisions.

d) Creation of Wealth : Any employment will always have a limitation on the employee’s earning capacity. Further, even after putting in a good day’s work, the organisation and its assets belong to someone else. In entrepreneurship the earnings are directly related to one’s ambitions, energy and to a certain extent, on the luck factor. The success stories of entrepreneurial wealth attract many onto this path.

e) Need for power : Starting an enterprise and managing its growth gives a feeling of tremendous power. As the organisation grows, invariably it deals with a large number of people. Internally they could be employees and externally they could be customers, dealers, suppliers, competitors and shareholders. The promoter-entrepreneur feels that he has a power to influence all these people.

f) Problem solvers and Awareness of Self : There is no business activity which is not fraught with obstacles. However an entrepreneur has to show the effectiveness of his ability to overcome them. With confidence in their own abilities and resources, they see themselves as problem solvers. On the other hand, an employee may often be considered as a problem avoider.

The Entrepreneur does not believe that the success or failure of a new business venture depend mostly up0n luck or fate or external uncontrollable factors. The entrepreneur tends to believe that one’s personal accomplishments as well as set backs lie within one’s personal control and influence. This sense of holding oneself responsible for one’s success or failure is linked to the entrepreneur’s achievement motivation and his preference for moderate risk-taking. This is based upon the awareness of his strength and weaknesses. He uses positive knowledge to support his thinking. He is rarely negative. There is a positive correlation between one’s entrepreneurial activity and the entrepreneur’s belief that the locus of control over these entrepreneurial events is internal rather than external or just a mater of luck or circumstances.

g) Analytical Ability : Entrepreneurs are realistic. They have a specific approach about business undertakings. They are not likely to let personal likes and dislikes stand in their way. When they require assistance they select experts rather then their friends and relatives to help them. Normally they do not take an emotional attitude towards their business or a problem.

h) Stress takers or Possess Drive and Energy : Entrepreneurs have tremendous amount of personal energy and drive. They possess a capacity to work for long hours and in spurts of several days with less than normal amount of sleep. Research confirms drive and energy as a characteristic very frequently observed in successful entrepreneurs and desired by the investors. They have to cope up with many situations, at the same time make right decisions which may involve a lot of physical and emotional stress. They have the capacity to work for long hours and keep cool under tension.

i) Risk taking ability : Research has shown that entrepreneurs like challenges but avoid taking extreme risks. Working people avoid taking risks and hence they forever remain employees. However the entrepreneur takes a calculated risk on the basis of his analysis of the market opportunities, environmental factors and limitations of his own resources.

The successful entrepreneurs are not high risk takers, hey are not gamblers. They prefer to take moderate, calculated risks where the chances of winning are neither so small not so large as to be a sure thing. Rather risks are preferred which provide a reasonable and challenging chance of success, and a situation whose outcome is influenced as much by one’s ability and effort as by mere chance. This entrepreneurial characteristic is one of the most important, since it has such significant implications for the ways decisions are made, and thus, for the success or failure of the business.

They seem to be very much aware of ‘no risk – no return, high risk – high return’ continuum. They take moderate challenging risk where moderate returns are attainable and the same are influenced by their abilities and decisions. They love a moderate risk situation, high enough to be exciting, but with a fairly reasonable chance to win.

j) Facing uncertainty or Tolerance for Ambiguity and Unfamiliar Situations: Entrepreneurs have long been viewed as having a special tolerance for ambiguous situations and for making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Achievement oriented people tend to be optimist even in unfamiliar situations. The odds may not be clear but the circumstances may be appealing; the entrepreneurs see no reason why they cannot win through their abilities. They present a picture of boldness in the face of the unknown and prudence in the face of the familiar. They usually win by applying their special insight and skill. In contrast to the professional manager, entrepreneurs are able to live with modest to high levels of uncertainty concerning job, career decisions and security.

k) Optimismn and Self Confidence : No person can succeed as an entrepreneur with negative thinking. Entrepreneurs carry out their tasks with an eternal hope of success.

Successful entrepreneurs have high level of self-confidence. They tend to believe strongly in themselves and their abilities to achieve the goals they set. They do not accept status quo, and believe that events in their lives are mainly self-determined; they have a major influence on their personal destinies, and have little belief in fate. The financial community also looks for a strong sense of self-confidence in the entrepreneurs on whom they place their money. But, they are negative about entrepreneurs being over-confident and arrogant, which suggest a lack of realism.

l) Flexibility : With independence an entrepreneur gains flexibility which is seldom available in employment. This could be for working hours, nature of business or area of operations. As a self-employed person he can work for 12 hours, seven days a week or take off at his own sweet will.

Most successful Entrepreneurs, after weighing pros and cons of a decision, tend to change if the situation so demands. They do not hesitate in revising their decisions. They are people with open mind and are not rigid.

m) Dignity of labour and Interpersonal Skill : An entrepreneur should be willing to do any work for his organisation. Socially conscious entrepreneurs show a high sense of dignity of manual labour. They work well with skilled or even unskilled workers and will also not hesitate to do their work if they are absent.

Entrepreneur is a person who, during the course of his activities, comes across many types of people with whom he has to deal. He has to make them, work for him and help them attain the objectives. He should be a person who likes working with people and has skills in dealing with them. In many situations, entrepreneur is required to influence people and make hem think in his way and act accordingly. He has to motivate people to act.

n) Initiative : An entrepreneur must take initiative in every aspect. If he feels shy or delegates the work to others, or is slow in making decisions, he may lose the opportunity of a lifetime.

The entrepreneur has always been considered as an independent and highly self-reliant innovator, the champion of the free enterprise economy. Entrepreneurs actively seek and take initiative. They willingly put themselves in situations in which they are personally responsible for the success or failure of the operation and thus take full credit for their success or assume full blame for their failure. They like to take initiative to solve a problem or fill vacuum where no leadership exists. They always like situations where their personal efforts on problems can be measured.

o) Time management skills : Time is precious. He must cultivate a habit to use the available time optimally.

p) Innovativeness : The market is always demanding something new and different and customers today are ready to pay for “better” products. The entrepreneur has to be innovative all the time. This innovation could be in terms of his product, process, packaging or even marketing practices.

q) Knowledge of commercial and legal aspects : A basic knowledge of accounting, duties, taxation, and other applicable laws makes the life of an entrepreneur easier.

r) Use of feedback or knowing how they perform : Entrepreneurs are very concerned about their performance, especially about doing well. This concern is responsible in part for this entrepreneurial characteristic ‘use feedback’. Without information of feedback about performance the entrepreneur cannot know how well or poorly he is doing. Successful entrepreneurs demonstrate a capacity to seek and use feedback on their performance, in order to take corrective action and to improve. They like prompt and accurate data and it does not make any difference whether the information they get is favorable or unfavorable. They are stimu9lated b y unfavorable news to pour more energy into attaining their objectives.

s) Education : Formal education at least upto the graduation level and further management education helps an entrepreneur in his endeavours.

t) Experience : Relevant experience before starting his own venture helps him know the pitfalls against which he can guard himself.

u) Family background : Many a times the parents of an entrepreneur have also been entrepreneurs motivating their children to branch out on their own too.