Being an internet entrepreneur may seem like an easy role to take as the Internet has become a free for all market. The industry is promising, however, the market has been proliferated. After all, anyone can start a business anywhere with just a great idea and a good internet connection, right? But how do you succeed in it?
Here are 7 Qualities That Will Make You a Successful Internet Entrepreneurs:
1. They don’t resist failure.
Starting any business needs to have excellent elements in order to succeed. However, that doesn’t mean there is no room for failure. Failures are inevitable in any business. Successful entrepreneurs know that failures are part of success and they are not obstacles but rather chances to improve. Even the very successful innovator and entrepreneur who founded million billion dollar businesses, Elon Musk encourages failure.
Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
2. They go for progress instead of perfection.
While there is nothing wrong to aim for perfection, being too fixated in doing things perfectly can add pressure and may make an entrepreneur miss to appreciate how his business is progressing. Every entrepreneurial pursuit is mainly based on fulfilling a vision and satisfying a passion, and adding more pressure to it may not help one focus on how the business is making progress. Seth Godin, renowned author, and Internet entrepreneur knows how more important it is to make progress than wait for perfection.
Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.
3. They have an open mind.
The Internet is a dynamic industry and there are updates almost every second, and an open mind is essential so the business will always be at par with the updates. An open mind is key to flexibility and being open to new ideas is highly important for the progress of the business. Jeff Bezos, CEO, and founder of Amazon knows that even though we need to decide and act to meet our vision, there should always be room for flexibility on details.
Be stubborn on vision but be flexible on details.
4. They invest in non-profit.
Entrepreneurship is not only about making a profit. Successful Internet entrepreneurs also know the value of investing in non-profit as it also increases visibility. When an entrepreneur neglects non-profit activities, they reduce their visibility.
Moreover, there are many successful entrepreneurs who built non-profit businesses which actually made them big. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is one successful entrepreneur. Turns out, it’s the smartest thing he ever did making Wikipedia as successful as it is now in providing the public information.
Wikipedia is non profit. It was either the dumbest thing I ever did or the smartest thing I ever did.
5. They interact, engage and listen.
The social media has become an internet staple and cannot be neglected. Being active in social media will surely give an edge to any internet entrepreneur. Neglecting consumer reviews, ignoring comments and not being able to be present on social media consistently can hurt your business. Make sure to be present and make your customers feel you are there by being active in social media. Not only will it drive people to follow your product, it will also bring the company revenues.
Here’s what Neil Patel, a top internet entrepreneur has to say:
You’ll be shocked. Social media doesn’t just drive users. It drives paying users and it’s really effective. And you can track all of it with analytics these days.
6. They measure progress.
While it is not possible to avoid failures, there are well certain measures to avoid repeating the same mistakes over again. By measuring progress, an entrepreneur will be able to find out what works and what didn’t and can find ways to improve the business. There are many tools entrepreneurs can utilize in order to track progress. Find out which is easier for you to understand your business, and measure your progress. The first step is to set a standard as to how you will measure progress, next is to measure it, and find ways on how to help the company progress. Leah Busque, founder of TaskRabbit lives by this approach, and knows how important it is to keep on track to accomplish their goals.
I wake up every morning with a singular goal—to push my company as far as I can that day… My approach is to choose specific and actionable items to complete each day to move us closer to these goals, and to encourage everyone on my team to do the same. This keeps us on track for accomplishing the big picture.
7. They acknowledge others.
Most, if not all, successful entrepreneurs have made it because of the support of others. While they maybe “self-made”, they still needed people to work for them, or they were mentored by other successful entrepreneurs. Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and Hunch recognizes that successful companies are a result of people working together.
No successful company has had ever been the product of just one person.
Becoming an internet entrepreneur has its challenges, however, developing these qualities can help one achieve success. Learn about the qualities of the most successful internet entrepreneurs and try to emulate them. You will then see how it’s possible to be successful even in an industry that seems to be growing rapidly by the day.
