The entrepreneurial spirit is often contagious. Why else do you think so many Bahrainis today are willing to take up launching startups as a career choice rather than confining themselves to more conventional jobs?
A large part of it has to do with the fact that Bahrain today is at the forefront of a startup revolution brewing in the region. Tales of success of a new wave of Bahraini startup founders have inspired up-and-coming generations to believe that they too can launch any business of their choice and make it into the big leagues of global entrepreneurs.
Are you too harboring such a dream? Do you want to launch your own startup in Bahrain but aren’t quite sure yet if you’re cut out for the challenges that are bound to come along the way? Well, don’t worry. We are just about to help you figure that out for yourself.
Here’s a list of some of the most common traits that can be found in most successful entrepreneurs in Bahrain.
5 must-have qualities to succeed as an entrepreneur
1. Creativity and independent thinking
Are you stuck in a position where you aren’t given much creativity or freedom to have your own ideas implemented? Even after a long day of getting creatively blocked, you are met with the after-work Bahraini traffic that puts your motivation level at an all-time low.
It’s definitely a genuine drawback of working in a corporate environment where management usually hates deviating from their standard modus operandi. This often leads to situations wherein individual creativity and ingenuity are stifled by what could be best described as layers and layers of bureaucracy and office politics.
Luckily, Bahrain has many options for those who want to pursue a more creative field. If you want your ideas to be heard, and to be able to work without having to worry about breaking the rules, then entrepreneurship is the path for you!
2. Passion
You have to be passionate about what you want to do as an entrepreneur. This is probably the single most motivating factor that pushes people to take up entrepreneurship as a career choice.
Some examples of local startups that followed their passions is Malaeb, where CEO Yasser Abdulaziz is a self-confessed football enthusiasts that created an app specifically for football lovers. Another work of passion is Majra, where co-founder Mahmood Zeyad implemented his passion to tackle unemployment in Bahrain. These are only 2 amongst many other examples of Bahraini startups that took their passion to a new level.
In fact, it’s a no brainer at all — successful entrepreneurs are usually successful because they love doing what they do. They don’t mind putting in all those extra efforts that eventually make the difference between success and failure.
So if you plan on being a successful entrepreneur, better build your business on something that you are truly passionate about.
3. Strong work ethics
Now this is something that’s applicable in virtually all aspects of life. Passion, creativity, ambition — all these traits mean absolutely nothing if you don’t have strong work ethics to back them with.
Successful entrepreneurs are usually those who don’t mind being the first to show up at work and the last one to call it a day. They don’t have to painfully drag themselves to work on Sunday mornings.
Successful entrepreneurs are those who get up refreshed, ready, and energized to take on the day. Some of the best ways to start the morning are to drink some chai karak (tea with milk) to keep you awake, and listening to Radio Bahrain’s morning show to keep you in the right mood for the morning!
Note that having strong work ethics doesn’t mean that you will have no proverbial “life” outside of work. It just means that you understand the importance of hard work and are willing to sacrifice the small joys of life for a bigger cause.
4. Strong communication and people skills
It’s pretty impractical to try running a startup as a one-man show. No matter how skilled you are in what you do, you have to have a strong network of allies to succeed. And by allies, we mean everyone involved directly or indirectly with your business — be it your employees, business partners, suppliers, distributors, or clients.
As a small country, Bahrain’s startup ecosystem is very well-connected, friendly, and welcoming to all new founders. You can attend events such as workshops, conferences, and talks hosted by ecosystem players. There is also one of the most important events of the year, StartUp Bahrain Week, where you can learn and network with mentors, founders, and potential investors. The environment is perfect to find a team for your startup and to grow your network.
That’s where it pays off to develop good communication and people skills. If those traits come naturally to you, or if you have carefully developed them over time, you will have it much easier to flourish as a leader and an entrepreneur.
5. The will and guts to take risks
Entrepreneurship, by its very nature, involves risks. You are unlikely to get anywhere if you are always too afraid to take the leap.
If you come to think about it, starting a new venture is in itself a big risk. So risk-taking is par for the course if you are keen on taking up entrepreneurship as a career choice. If taking well-calculated risks doesn’t unnerve you, you are already in a good place to get started.
After all, staying complacent seldom allows anyone to achieve great results.
To quote Tim Ferriss, author of the book “The Four-Hour Workweek,”
“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
So, where do you think you stand vis-a-vis these traits essential to becoming a successful entrepreneur? If you evaluate yourself positively on all five criteria, well, maybe you should just take the big leap and get started on your goal already. And while you’re at that, you might want to learn how you can get up to $32K in funding from Flat6Labs to start your business.