1st Reading Analysis in DMBA 406

Business Administration

The Personality Characteristics of an

Entrepreneur and Their Effects on the
Performance of a New Business Venture

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 I. Article Title: The Personality Characteristics of an Entrepreneur and
Their Effects on the Performance of a New Business
Venture
II. Source:
This article was taken from www.mendeley.com

The article link is:

https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/340d151a-968c-3147-
a537-a4c3c701184e/

APA Citation
Chavez, J. (2016). The Personality Characteristics of an
Entrepreneur and Their Effects on the Performance of a New
Business Venture. Helsinki Metropolis University of Applied
Sciences, May(May), 40.

III. Introduction

Good looks, impressive educational background, and wealth cant hold a candle to a
great personality. Having an impressive personality makes us stand apart from the rest.
It makes us one of a kind. This belief also applies to businesses, specifically to
entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs play an important role in the economic development of
the place or country where they are located. With that, various researches have been
made to identify the reason why they have a higher success rate than other forms of
businesses. It is then found out that one of the major reasons that entrepreneurs are
more successful is that they possess an excellent personality. It is believed that there is
a strong relationship between the entrepreneur’s personality and the financial
performance of a business. The stronger the entrepreneurial personality of the manager
is, the better is the performance of the business. This will further discuss how the
personality characteristics of an entrepreneur are related to the performance of a new
business venture.

IV. Summary

For decades already, entrepreneurship has created great interest among academics
and the amount of literature and studies about entrepreneurship can be quite
overwhelming. However, in the last few years, the interest in entrepreneurship has been
raised to another level. Popular shows such as Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank have
brought entrepreneurship to every ordinary person’s living room. Successful
entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg can be seen on the
red carpets and are known by anyone in any part of the world.

Much of the discussion in entrepreneurship has been concentrated on the individual.

The individual plays a very important role in entrepreneurship. When an entrepreneur
begins a business, they bring a set of human capital to the business. Therefore, the
business becomes an enlargement of the entrepreneur as an individual. Since starting
up a new business is an individual decision, the individual’s characteristics as an
entrepreneur are essential when studying entrepreneurship. However, studying an
individual can be extremely complex. Particularly if an entrepreneur is dependent on
external funding sources, they may place limits on the entrepreneur’s personality, as it is
expressed via the business venture. Also, customers will limit the freedom of the
entrepreneur to treat the business as an enlargement of personality. Nevertheless, due
to the scope of this research paper, the central point is going to be the impact of
entrepreneurial personality on a business venture.

V. Learning or Insights

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 I have been working for almost 8 years and I am still awed by every success story
that I hear from my colleagues and managers. I sometimes ask myself, “What is the
recipe for success?” and “What are the qualifications needed to be promoted or to be
successful?”. I am glad that I have a friend who works as a HR manager in one of the
biggest companies in Manila and she happily answered my question. She said that it is
not about how many diplomas, conventions attended, or your years of experience. The
best ingredient for success is having an excellent personality. That is the time that I
realized that she was indeed correct. The managers and business owners that I know
have been successful in their careers because they possess excellent personality.

I can relate this experience and realization to the article that I have read. Growing
up, I always think the term entrepreneur and businessman are the same. Yes,
somehow, they are the same in some aspects of the business like employment,
attending to the needs of the customer, and helping in stimulating our economy.
However, the article taught me that there are differences between them, especially in
their personality. Businessmen are impatient, employee-centered, and very goal-
oriented. While the entrepreneurs possess the three most important personalities which
are the need for achievement, locus of control, and risk-taking propensity.

The article stated that entrepreneurs who have a higher need for achievement are
more likely to be successful. This personality makes them feel accomplished whenever
they get something done. There is something inside of them that wants to take the risk
and make their idea become a reality. Thus, connecting it to their risk-taking propensity
characteristic. As we all know, entrepreneurs are risk-takers. They love to explore new
business ventures which makes internal and external changes easier for them.
Furthermore, as we Filipinos believe in the saying” bahala na”, which means offering to
outside forces to control our lives, entrepreneurs believe in the complete opposite. They
have a strong internal locus of control that makes them believe that everything happens
from the choices they make in the past. These personalities are vital to the success of
their business and allow them to be successful entrepreneurs.

VI. Implications

A. Education

Everyone’s personality is shaped by how our parents reared us from our childhood
to the present. As a teacher, I have witnessed different personalities of students that
made me understand how important values are practiced in households and schools. It
is not only the sole responsibility of teachers to impart knowledge to students. Many
conditions constitute a good education, but one of them is particularly important –
excellent education can be only the work of an excellent educator. Thus, an educator
must stand as a role model by possessing effective personality traits to be also
successful in our career. The personalities could include being adaptable to any
situation that may occur, conscientious on giving quality lessons or activities, creative
enough to build an inviting and engaging classroom, determined to help all students,
empathetic, intuitive, genuine, and most important is being passionate. These
personalities of teachers would allow effectiveness in teaching. This can create a
profound impact on the students, creating a long-lasting impression that can change the
trajectory of their lives.

B. Business

Almost everyone in the business is driven to succeed. They want to see their
business grown from a small to an established position in the market. However, it is only
about market research, innovations, strategies, and profit. The employee and
manager’s personality traits are one of the reasons why the business succeeds or fails.
Thus, managers and the owner should possess the need for achievement, locus of

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control, and risk-taking propensity. These personalities will allow them to improve the
business performance by fostering an image of growth and stability to all employees. It
will be reflected in the employee’s attitudes, manage change, and overall business
culture.

C. Public Sector

In a small business, an entrepreneur is the one who sets up and grows a business.
However, in the public sector, the political leader acts as a person in authority in
facilitating peace and tranquility. But why is personality important in political leaders? I
was able to handle this semester a politics related class and I learned that they if they
have desirable traits, they gain referent power. This power allows them to exercise will
over others. Therefore, if a political leader has a desirable personality, it doesn't just
allow people to admire and follow them, but it also allows them to effectively implement
laws and projects for the betterment of the country. It gives them the ability to think and
act strategically, and appropriately.

public services can be delivered at a

higher quality and with
greater economic efficiency
VII. Recommendations

The following recommendations are formulated based on the insights and

implications conveyed in the article.

Aside from the mentioned personalities that entrepreneurs should possess, they should
also consider the following to create the perfect formula for success.

 They should be passionate and confident to inspire clients, employees, and

everyone related to the business.
 They should also be self-reliant in some instances to be confident enough to
decide and do things without the help of others.
 They should not fear to ask professional advice from experts, especially it entails
finances and other big projects or decisions.
 They should be open as well to change. Change in terms of adopting technology,
allow external advice, investing, and marketing.

 Lastly, they should be resilient to keep believing and keep going despite the
problems and setbacks that may arise.

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