The word "entrepreneur" is derived from the Old French verb entreprendre, which means "to undertake." Every year, nearly one million Americans undertake one of the biggest transitions of life: from employee to entrepreneur.

We have all heard that most businesses fail in the first five years. But an in-depth study in 1993 by the New Jersey Institute of Technology suggests those figures may be a myth. They found that no more than 18% of new companies fail during the first 8 years of business. 54% survive more than 8 years with their original owners or a change in ownership, and the 28% of the remaining businesses voluntarily terminate operations without losses to creditors.

While many of those million people will give up, go bankrupt and go back to the employee life the statistics confirm that most of those people will find new satisfaction, a good living, and a path of pursuing their heart's desire. This will be our focus today on Minding Your Business: How to start a business the right way, and if you're already running a business, how to take that business to the next level.

The First Step In Starting Your Own Business is to Honestly Assess Whether or Not You Have What it Takes to Own Your Own Business. There are some key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. While every successful entrepreneur does not possess all of these traits, these do tend to be the traits shared by the successful.

Trait #1: The Need to Achieve

The need to achieve is an internal force that demands that you accomplish things in your life. Don't confuse this with the need to exercise power or the need to be liked or the desire to earn a lot of money.

Trait #2: Perserverence

Perserverence is the ability to "hang in there" and not give up. This includes the ability to follow through on commitments.

Trait #3: Positive Mental Attitude

Optimistic attitudes create positive outcomes. No one denies the mysterious connection between how you think and what happens as truth. You attract to yourself what you think about. Consequently, you must be able to think positively to make yourself successful.

Trait #4: Objectivity

This is the ability to accurately assess risks with decisions to be made and also not allowing your ego to dictate your course of action

Trait #5: Foresight

This is the ability to anticipate changes that are needed before the problem arises

Trait #6:Good interpersonal skills

Business owners are politicians, and the best business owners get along well with other people.

Trait #7: A thick skin

Many hard decisions have to be made. The successful entrepreneur has to be able to withstand criticism. Everybody is always second-guessing your decisions. It's amazing how many "arm chair" entrepreneurs are out there who have never run their own business, yet would love nothing better than to tell you how to run yours.

Trait #8: Strong communications skills

The ability to write well and speak well is very important to success. That being said, you can "hire" written communication (as in copy writing). You have to be able to communicate well to contractors, employees and others involved in providing for you.

Trait #9: Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness is the ability to solve unique problems in creative ways in which you have no experience. It's a wild card. Think of it as the "MacGyver" factor. Can you solve problems using simple household items? If so, you're resourceful.

Trait #10: Technical knowledge

You have to know what you are doing, or at least be able to learn. Successful entrepreneurs soak up knowledge like a sponge. Especially in the internet business, there is plenty to learn. If you think you can just put up a website and sit back and wait for your millions, you still have some learning to do.

Trait #12: A respectful attitude towards money

Money can't be seen as an end in itself, but as a means for making things happen and accomplishing goals.

So, with all that in mind, it's time for you to sit down and accurately assess your strengths and weaknesses. If there is an area above that you lack, what will you do to overcome that weakness?

Copyright (c) 2008 Mark Albertson