It doesn’t really matter which field you’re in. You could be a carpenter, a minister, a drug dealer. No matter what entrepreneurial mantle you take up, most of the features of successful business owners are similar. It may sound kind of strange to you, but it really shouldn’t – successful people all have the same kind of ideas about success… which is why they are successful.

However, remember as you read this that just because you don’t have these characteristics doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. The first rule of success? Have balls, even when you fail. So even if you don’t think you have the other characteristics below, who knows – maybe you don’t need ‘em anyway.

Passion

When I say “love,” I really mean “enjoy.” If you do something you “love” – let’s say you love fishing and want to make a business out of it – you may wind up sucking all of the fun out of your passion. So choose something you enjoy, and keep your fishing trips enjoyable and interesting.

Seriousness About the Business

What, you just expect success to fall into your lap because you love the business and believe in what you’re doing? Nah. It doesn’t work that way. Not only do you have to believe in what you’re doing, you have to make OTHERS believe the same damn thing. It can be a little difficult sometimes, but getting sidetracked is simply not a freaking option. Oh, and by the way, screw the people who think you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing. They’re just distractions, and haters make you stronger anyway.

Organization

Planning and organizing is super lame, and a lot of us want to hire someone else to do it for us. But the thing is, how are we going to be able to temporarily take over that job if someone quits? We have to know how to do all parts of our business on our own because in the end, we can only depend on ourselves. That means that you really have to rock it when it comes to knowing the basics of your business, and you need to organize the crap out of that information. Build a map of what you need to know and why you need to know it, and keep everything in order.

Frugality

Stop! Stop it right now. You do NOT need to drop a grand on that laptop – get a cheap used one instead. No, no, no laser printer with $250 cartridges. The business down the street shut down – steal (or buy, whatever) its used one. Don’t be stupid with your money. Accomplished business people don’t blow their money until they’re in the green, and even then it is somewhat limited blowing.

Focus on the Customer

Blah blah blah, you have the best product on the market. Congrats. Oh, and it’s better than the one you’re trying to replace. Whoopee. Now…where are your sales? Where are your customers? OH RIGHT! You were too busy focusing on bullshit like “numbers” to realize you need customers, too. Everything – EVERYTHING – you do and say that represents you and your company (which is pretty much everything) needs to be CUSTOMER FOCUSED. There is no exception. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to get up to man your store at six AM. If your customers want it, YOU DO IT. You are their bitch, and if you don’t treat them like the kings and queens they are, then you aren’t going to get any business. Plain and simple. Entrepreneurs know this and respond to this, even when they flip the bird behind a customer’s back. It’s just the way it is. They give you money. You have to act like they’re your everything.

And Finally, Business Owners are Shameless

No business owners are going to run around in public, but they are going to promote themselves and their businesses whenever they have a chance (or two). People and products don’t get discovered unless they’re metaphorically whoring themselves to every opportunity that comes along. You won’t sell jack squat unless people know who you are, and people won’t know who you are until you show them who you are.

And remember in the end, entrepreneurs – you’re literally the only one who can make YOU successful.