Being a business owner doesn’t necessarily mean being an

entrepreneur. If that was the case we wouldn’t need a new and such a
complicated word. If you Google “entrepreneur” it will tell you that an
entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking
on financial risks in the hope of profit. However, economists and
some of the most successful entrepreneurs would disagree. According
to economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), entrepreneurs
are not necessarily motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for
measuring achievement or success. Peter Drucker who is well known
as the father of modern management enriches the definition by
emphasizing “change” and “opportunity”. He defines the
entrepreneur as “someone who always searches for change, responds
to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

The word entrepreneur itself originates from the French word

“entreprendre” meaning “to undertake”.

Having met thousands of entrepreneurs from many different

countries and cultures and being one myself I came up with
the Entrepreneurship Mix 8P’s. And if the word itself seemed
complicated back then when I was studying the course
“Entrepreneurship” for my exams, today I can say that being an
entrepreneur is way more complicated than that.

So here are the eight P’s that I believe set successful entrepreneurs
apart. The magic is formed by the intersection of most or even better
all of the traits so the order is irrelevant.
The eight P's of entrepreneurship
 NINA ANGELOVSKA

1. Passion

Passion is the key source of energy, motivation and hard work. It is

the driving force for every entrepreneur. It is what fuels the moving-
mountains attitude and belief that anything can be done. It is what
defines the famous “WHY” of the Golden Circle of Simon Sinek. If
you are passionate about something you thrive to succeed, you love
what you do so much that you want to do more of it. And the more of
it you do the greater the chances for succeeding, thus getting better
than the rest in your area.  In his book Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo
states that passion is the key to mastering a skill. After analyzing
hundreds of great speakers and presenters he claims that passion is
the one thing in common for all. To use his phrase, which I love, I
believe that successful entrepreneurs know “what makes their heart
sing”
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2. Perception

The story of Bata is the ideal example of this key trait. Bata shops can
be found all over Africa, even in its most remote parts. The story
behind is that by the end of the 19th century, Africa was opening up
its market. Many shoe manufacturers sent their representatives to
Africa to see if there was any business opportunity in this emerging
market. The majority of them returned home, saying, “Nobody in
Africa wears shoes. So, there isn’t any market for our shoes there.” All
except for the Bata sales team who reported enthusiastically,
“Nobody in Africa wears shoes! So, there’s an enormous market for
our shoes in Africa!” The market conditions were the same for
everyone and yet it was a matter of perception of the opportunity.

It was the same for me when I was launching the first deal platform
in Macedonia at a time when less than 1% of the population was
shopping online and e-commerce barely existed (no legal framework,
lack of trust, a small share of people with payment cards etc.) Most of
my friends with whom I shared the idea though that the market is not
ready and the timing is not right and yet my company (Grouper.mk)
became a success shortly after launching and today is known as the
game-changer of e-commerce in Macedonia.

True entrepreneurs can see opportunities where others can’t or don’t.

3. Potential

Research shows that the brain capacity of an average person is far

greater than its usage. The most successful entrepreneurs are willing
to sacrifice hours of sleep and skip social activities with friends in
order to invest in their potential. They don’t waste countless hours
scrolling on social media or gossip, they feed their brain with quality
content, they surround themselves with successful people. They are
always curious about new things. And while there are differences in
the potential that each of us possesses the good news is that our
brains can be trained. The mind is what the mind is fed and good
entrepreneurs feed and train their brains well.
But before this kind of “on purpose” training happens, it is worth
mentioning that it all begins with our parents. First with their DNA
(which is not in their control) and second with their home growing
and teaching (for which they are fully responsible). According to one
study by Rauch Foundation 85% of the brain develops until the age of
5. Therefore the environment of a child’s earliest years can have
effects that last a lifetime. Therefore governments and
entrepreneurship development programs that seek to create more
and more entrepreneurs in this world should start by teaching
parents how to raise entrepreneurs or people with an entrepreneurial
mindset who will use their potential and thrive, instead of pushing
accelerators and incubators to find or create entrepreneurs during
later stages when brain elasticity is lower.

4. People

When talking about people in companies I always like to quote Zig

Ziglar - ‘You don’t build a business. You build people, and people
build the business’. People make good or bad decisions. Every single
business depends on people (regardless of industry). That marketing
manager that made that lousy decision to approve those ugly
billboard designs, that salesman that negotiated the best deal that
broke the sales records, that customer care person that impacted your
perception about a particular brand. Every single thing in life
depends on people. The success of a company, of a business unit, of a
whole country, depends on the people. Even when we travel and
explore new cities our opinion about that city is not solely affected by
the beautiful nature or the architecture but people living there play
maybe the most significant role - their energy, culture, attitude,
hospitality influence our impressions.

Every entrepreneur, leader or manager with a vision needs a team

that supports its vision to make it a reality. It is up to the ability of
entrepreneurs to find the right people, to communicate the vision, to
attract talent, to invest in building and sustaining their skills set, their
energy, attitude and positivity.

5. Persistent Learning

Since I was a little girl, my mother taught me to strive for knowledge

and be the best at whatever I do. She would say “You can have
houses, cars, and wealth but one day it can all be gone. The world is
not always righteous. The only thing that no one can take away from
you is your knowledge. If you have the ability to acquire knowledge,
to be a fast learner you will always be able to generate new income
and build new things.”

And today, to add to my mother's lesson I would say that another

thing that no one can take away from us is our passion. What we have
in our minds (knowledge) and what we have in our hearts (passion)
makes us as unique as our DNA.

Persistent learning means learning anytime, anywhere from

everyone. Outstanding entrepreneurs are able to absorb valuable
information and knowledge for everyone like sponges. Being a fast
learner is a must for entrepreneurs in today's faster than ever
changing world.

6. Permanent Change

Everybody wants change but nobody wants to change. The resistance

to change is in our human nature but the faster we train ourselves to
accept and adapt to change the faster we will become better.
Successful entrepreneurs are flexible, they can adapt and change
quickly. The ability to perceive change as a positive thing, to react and
adapt to it is one of the most powerful skills. As Charles Darwin said
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most
intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to
change.” Or as Michael Jackson says “I am starting with the man in
the mirror and I am asking him to change his way… If you wanna
make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make the
change.”

7. Perseverance

Imagine you have departed towards your very desired travel

destination. You have planned and fantasized about that magnificent
place for so long. You start your journey and suddenly there is a big
rock standing on your way. So what do you do? If you have some
strong friends you might call them to help you push the rock away. If
you don’t have any strong friends your solution might be to climb it.
But you don’t know how to climb. So you take climbing lessons and
come back with your new skill and climb that rock and continue the
journey. It is the same in business. The “rock” symbolizes any kind of
obstacle you might face (it be a financial issue, can be a marketing
issue, you name it). The “strong friends” are the contacts, networks
and people you have in life that can help you out. The “climbing
lessons” is any new skill that you don’t know at the time or are not
interested in but you go and learn it because that is your only way to
continue towards your goal.

During the past eight years of extensive hard-work, overcoming

barriers, removing rocks, dealing with all sorts of situations, making
decisions, working with different characters and meeting people from
all over the globe I learned a lot. In fact today I am grateful for all the
struggles, for all those ‘rocks’ on my way, for every problem solved
(that seemed unsolvable at the moment) because it made me more
flexible, adaptable, resourceful and more knowledgeable. It simply
helped me gain a competitive advantage and be a better and stronger
person.

Nothing in life comes easy (at least success and good things). If you
have a mission, if you have a passion it will not be easy. The road will
be bumpy, the will be rocks on the way, some of them will be light,
some will be super heavy but if there aren’t any rocks one thing is
sure - you are not on the right road. It won’t be easy and we should
ask for easy because that way no one will be able to copy what we
create.

8. Proactiveness

Most people only do what they are asked, meeting the very minimal
requirements and expectations (or even worse some under deliver).
They need to be delegated and even micro-managed. Successful
entrepreneurs initiate - they see the bigger picture and foresee the
circumstances. They are proactive instead of reactive, they play
offense, instead of defense. And this is what makes them hard to
replace in any given environment.