Entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand with innovation whereas what makes an idea innovative, and what makes an innovative idea valuable is equally related to the innovative entrepreneur. A certain degree of creativity is a requirement, but other than that, very few feel confident enough to pinpoint the exact characteristics of the innovative entrepreneur as innovation is nothing more than a tool that enables companies to achieve unique, strategic goals. Being an entrepreneur requires much more than just big ideas because an entrepreneur also needs the ability to produce new ideas, provide better solutions, and pioneer new products. Experts around the globe disagree on the type and level of innovation that is most beneficial for organizations and how can an entrepreneur be called innovative. Regardless of their field of activity, experience, job title, or professional background, few entrepreneurs tend to display a similar set of characteristics and hence, we can derive some traits that an innovative entrepreneur has. Whatever the traits might be, one thing is for sure entrepreneurs are not like other people, they can be called a special breed as they dedicated to ideas and are obsessed with bringing them to reality. A true entrepreneur is a rare breed and you can become by possesses a unique cocktail of traits, skills, and characteristics that will enable you to overcome many challenges and roadblocks.
The most successful entrepreneurs are not simply the hardest working, they’re the most innovative as research shows that some people are disproportionately more likely to come up with novel and useful ideas. They are passionate and on a constant lookout for new experiences because of curiosity, sensitivity, and are nonconformist by nature. Creativity is a natural part of being an innovative entrepreneur but that is not all. The difference between a creative entrepreneur and an innovative entrepreneur is execution as you will get several creative ideas in a day but only a few will be innovative and will come to fruition. What are those traits that can ensure you that you are an innovative entrepreneur or you can become one?
Opportunity
Having an opportunistic mindset allows you to be more alert and seek novelty wherever you can find it and this opportunity-seeking will develop your sensing ability which will likely result in you sensing an opportunity beforehand and then, executing your ideas to innovate.
It easy to get caught up in your own genius and disregard others’ opinions. Through others’ opinions, you will see what kind of opportunity has presented itself and what you can do to grab it.
Observation
Your conscious mind can only process small chunks of information at a time and hence, to seek innovation, you must learn to observe the happenings and take notes along the way. These notes will reveal your observations that you might forget later on as it has helped great innovators such as Thomas Edison, who had left 3,500 notebooks behind at his death.
Richard Branson is another example as he observes and takes notes which are feedbacks from flight passengers and cabin crew to leverage innovation.
Productivity & Persistence
The ideas can be mind-blowing but employing them effectively is a totally different matter. Innovators are more driven, resilient, and energetic than their counterparts and utilize productivity to enhance their innovative ideas and bring them to fruition.
Being resilient in the face of obstacles, challenges, and adversity is a defining factor that differentiates great innovators from the rest because the road to success is littered with small, medium, and large failures. If persistence is missing from your traits, you will have a hard time getting up after taking a hit.
