Attributes Of The Successful Location Independent Entrepreneur

If you fancy yourself as the new Tim Ferris, or simply just want to have the freedom to work from anywhere and travel the world, then building a successful location independent business is most likely your goal. Realising this is the easy part, but what about all the hard work that goes into making you a success?

In order to be a successful location independent entrepreneur you need to wear a lot of hats – salesperson, traveller, decision maker – you name it, you have to do it! Not only do you have to start and run your own business, but most of the time you’re doing it whilst on the road – certainly no easy task! That’s why we must all develop a successful mindset and start to channel success, no matter where we are in the process.

I’m already a huge follower and supporter of people like Tim mentioned above, and all the other successful location entrepreneurs out there, and it seems that they share quite a few traits – traits I believe we must all take on in order to reach the goals we have set for ourselves. I believe most of these traits come naturally to most people who start their own location independent business, but if you are looking to move towards this goal then check out my list below to help you develop your successful mindset.

Realism

Success in business doesn’t come overnight for most of us, so understanding and accepting that things take time is a must. If you start a blog believing that you’ll be earning $1000 a month by month three then there’s a good chance you’re going to be left bitterly disappointed. But, if you start slowly and are realistic about your capabilities then there’s a good chance you’ll reach that goal in time.

Human beings are said to grossly over-estimate what they think they can achieve in the short term and under-estimate in the long term, so it’s OK to think big,  just make sure you have a longer term strategy – that way you’ll avoid crippling disappointment early on in your business.

Innovation

All the best business ideas arise from a need, and it takes an innovative person to realise this need and identify a solution for it. Whether you’re a blogger, freelancer, or starting an eBay business; find out what the world wants and give it to them – and if someone is already giving it to them but you think you can do better, then that’s great too! Just make sure you distinguish yourself and never stop innovating – establish yourself as the leader and keep coming up with greatness to ensure you stay there.

Organisation

Every business person needs to be extremely organised and a good manager of time if they are going to get things done. Plan your week, month, and year in regards to the goals you want to achieve and make sure you deliver. Sure, there should be some flexibility built into your plan for when unexpected things arise, but overall you should know what you can achieve and feel confident that at the end of the week you will have crossed everything off your list. It’s a great feeling, and one that will keep you motivated long after the last thing is ticked off.

Tenacity

You want to be a success, but are you really willing to go out there and grab it, no matter what? If the answer is yes, then congratulations! You have tenacity, and you’re going to need lots of it to reach your goals and become the success that you dream of.

For me tenacity is a mixture of confidence, hunger and guts – It’s the dog that won’t let go of it’s bone, and the business person who won’t give up on their dreams. It’s hard to keep going sometimes, but if you keep this fire in your belly then I have no doubt that you will make it!

Persistence

One of the downsides of being an entrepreneurial maverick is answering to the nay-sayers and negative folks who will tell you that a) You can’t do it, b) You won’t do it, or c) All of the above. The key to being a success is not only not listening to these people, but having the strength to keep going no matter how negative you may be feeling if things have gone wrong on any given day, or if these negative people have managed to infiltrate your usual positive outlook.

One of my favorite proverbs is ‘Fall down seven times, get up eight’ and I think this is so true in business – the times you feel like giving up the most are the times you need to soldier on – so go for it!

Focus

Most location entrepreneurs are also working day jobs and juggling other relationship, fitness and social commitments when they start out, so it is absolutely imperative that the ability to focus and prioritise is shown. The first few months are absolute mayhem when you’re trying to learn and build your business, so learn to write lists and be honest about what are the crucial tasks, and which are the one’s that aren’t important right now.

People can spend hours on tasks that aren’t going to ultimately influence the success of their business, so what’s the point in this? If you’re feeling overwhelmed or you’re procrastinating then it’s time to write down your goals and then work only on the tasks that directly influence them – that way you’re being efficient and ensuring you don’t burn out – definitely not what you need or want early on in your business!

Technical Ability

Almost last but certainly not least, all nomadic entrepreneurs need a degree of digital savviness. As you will most likely be wearing many hats in your business you’ll need to be competent with online tools for virtually everything – especially if you are moving around a lot! This is even more true for bloggers and online entrepreneurs, so if it’s your dream to be working from around the world then it’s time to brush up on your technical skills to ensure you are as efficient as you can be.

Celebration

This isn’t strictly an ‘attribute’ but I couldn’t finish without saying that all successful entrepreneurs know when to celebrate their successes, and do so on a regular basis. This goes for the small goals – eg. Selling your first eBook, and the big ones – Earning your first big paycheck – so take the time to congratulate yourself when you know you’re earnt it, and get your friends and family involved too – you never know, you may just motivate someone you know to their very own location independent success!

Photo Credits – Thanks to CarbonNYC and uuuhyeah (Attribution License)

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