EMULATING BILL GATES; HIS ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS AND SUCCESS STRATEGIES

It is generally known that behind every successful business, there are some factors that have served as strategies to growing the business. This post will be stating some notable entrepreneurial traits shown by Bill Gates which has in turn helped him to becoming the iconic billionaire he is today.

The first trait that is worth emulating with Bill Gates is that the considered failure to be an option. After dropping out of his pursuit for a college degree, Bill Gates and his pal, Paul Allen founded Microsoft, it however started off on a shaky footing. Although the software program they developed then brought back financial returns of fees and royalties to the company, it was sadly not meeting their overhead. This was due to the fact that the software was making its rounds with computer hobbyists who were obtaining pre-market copies and were into the reproduction and distribution of this software free of charge. This scenario and many other challenges are examples of instances when Gates could have called it quits but he stuck to his beliefs and fought through this phase up until growing and placing Microsoft on a more solid foundation.

Being a visionary is a trait that helped Bill Gates in his strives to build his business. Bill started his business based on his vision that sometime in the nearest future, the use of a personal computer would be paramount in every office and home. As a reason of this dream, Bill Gates was prepared to forge on this journey despite the bleakness and purposed in his mind to do whatever it takes to succeed. At a particular point in time, Bill had to stand up to Steve Jobs and at no time was it a threat to him in copying or borrowing useful ideas and tips from other tech companies and great innovators. This strategy was of good advantage in the end when Gate’s company grew into a tech giant with worth running in billions of dollars.

Although Gates had established himself as a visionary, he initially classified his networking skills as low when he described that for quite a number of years he had paid little attention to the business networking potential of the internet. However, in the year 1995, he retraced his steps by redirecting the efforts of his company in the area of networking. The measurement of his success was from the fact the Internet Explorer Web browser by Microsoft became the leader of the industry by the millennium year.

Gates was also team-oriented as he understood the effect of teamwork and unionism on the growth of any business. His initial pairing up with Allen to start up Microsoft showed his understanding that as a team they could both produce better results. Also, as 1978 was coming to an end, Gates transferred the operations of his company to Bellevue Washington. Despite the fact that Gates was glad to be home again in the Pacific Northwest, he immediately buried himself back in his work. His idea for implementing team work came to play when he assigned to all his twenty-five employees of his infant company with wide ranges of duties and responsibilities in all areas of operation, development of product, development of business, and marketing. Likewise, Bill did not slack behind as he also showed great team player spirits with his intelligence for the development of software and likewise his enthusiastic business sense.

One notable quote that showed the proactive side of Bill Gates was when he stated that "Sometimes, I think the major area of my position as a Chief Executive Officer is to put my ears on the ground for bad news. And if one fails to act on such news, with time your people will ultimately stop passing these news to your notice and this is not a good sign as it could mark the beginning of an end". Gates understood that his journey as an entrepreneur is a lifelong process and to be successful, he needs to understand that there is a very rapid way things and events change, especially in the business world, as today an individual could be innovative but by tomorrow is obsolete. Hence, in a bid to remain on the course he needed to keep himself up to date with the news going around and also keep up with the update on all trends.

BIOGRAPHY ON BILL GATES

Entrepreneur Bill Gates founded the biggest software business in the world, popularly known as Microsoft, with his long time friend Paul Allen, and along these lines got to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Bill Gates was conceived William Henry Gates III on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. Gates started to demonstrate an enthusiasm for PC programming at 13 years old at the Lakeside School and he sought after this passion all through school. Bill Gates grew up in an above average, upper working class family, having two female siblings. The Gates family were a warm and close knit one and each of the three children of the family were urged to be aggressive and take a stab at greatness.

Bill was an unquenchable peruser as a youngster, lavishing numerous hours poring over reference books, for example, the encyclopaedia. When Bill was around eleven or twelve years of age, his parents started being concerned and bothered about his conduct. Although he was performing brilliantly in school, yet he appeared to be exhausted and pulled back on severally. His parents worried that he may grow into a maverick. Despite that they were solid believers in state funded training, when Bill became thirteen years of age they enlisted him at Seattle's Lakeside School, a private academy. He excelled brilliantly in virtually all his subjects, breaking bounds and expectations in mathematics and science, likewise doing extremely well in drama and English.

While Bill studied at Lakeside School, a Seattle computer organization made the step to give personal computer time to the students of the school. Bill Gates got to be enthralled and captivated with what a computer is capable of doing and invested quite a bit of his free energy taking a shot at the workstation. He composed in BASIC coding a tic-tac-toe program that permitted users to play against the PC. It was during his period of study at Lakeside School that Bill met Paul Allen, who at that time was his senior by two years. The two turned out to be quick companions, holding on their regular eagerness over computers, despite the fact that they were altogether different as Allen was more held and modest; Bill was spirited and occasionally confrontational.

In 1989, a 28-year-old Microsoft official named Melinda French got the attention of Bill Gates, then 37 and in January 1, 1994, Melinda and Bill were married in Hawaii. After the loss of his mom shortly after his wedding, Gates took an enthusiasm for filling his mom's part as a city pioneer with his wife’s impact. He started to understand that he had a commitment to give a greater amount of his riches to charity. Gates together with his wife built up the William H. Doors Foundation which was committed to supporting training and world wellbeing. In the millennium year, the couple consolidated a few family unit establishments to shape the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They began by making a commitment of twenty-eight billion dollars to start up the establishment.

Bill Gates resigned from the everyday running of Microsoft in the millennium year, handing over the employment of the Chief Executive Officer of the company to his school companion Steve Ballmer who had been a staff with the Microsoft Corporation since the eighties. Bill now placed situated himself as chief software architect so he could focus on what he felt was the more energetic aspect of the organization. Regardless he stayed on the board as the chairman. Throughout the following couple of years, his contribution with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation engaged quite a bit of his time. In 2006, Gates reported he was pulling himself out of full-time working with the Microsoft Corporation, because he wanted to allocate more time to the Foundation. Gates has been seen to be an all round successful entrepreneur in his rights. However, it is necessary to highlight some notable entrepreneurial traits he possessed which guided and aided him into being listed as the number one Forbes billionaire of 2015.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS OPERATE AN OPEN CULTURE

As an entrepreneur, it is very important to create a culture that attracts, retains and inspires talent. Culture is by far the biggest sustainable advantage we have in business today because it is the hardest thing to duplicate. It is of general knowledge that businesses will either live and die as a result of how motivated, inspired and committed our people are. So it is necessary to consciously decide to make culture a big priority; to change the way we work and this meant creating an “open” culture. A very vital advantage of an open culture to a successful entrepreneur is that it helps developed a diverse group of key team players.

Andy Bechtolsheim and his co-founder formed Arista Networks, with a goal of creating an IT company that would provide disruptive, innovative solutions for the world’s largest networking challenges. However, they understood that to maintain the entrepreneurial spirit that drove the company’s initial success they had to grow with the understanding that they were operating a high-tech company, built by engineers for engineers, with an open culture of communication. Andy and Jayshree were named overall national winners of the 2015 EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE OUTCOME ORIENTED

This trait is one trait that is not as commonly discussed as other traits attributed to being a successful entrepreneur. Being outcome oriented means such an individual has a foresight and a vision of certain expectations; mostly positive, that that such an entrepreneur aims for the business to achieve. Outcome oriented people are focused on setting landmarks by making things happen. They are found in the midst of ground breaking projects pulling down road blocks and greasing the wheels. An outcome oriented entrepreneur always does their best to figure out how to get the right requirements, no matter the challenges faced, and stay resolutely focused on the core principles of gaining alignment and achieving clarity.

William K. (Bill) Zinke, President and Founder of the Center for Productive Longevity, in Boulder, Colo, when asked some of the top characteristics that has guided him to being a successful entrepreneur mentioned the act of being outcome oriented as one of his key points. Bill has been heading an HR management consulting company for a very long time now and he was also a key contributor in the term “human resources” being generally adopted. On the issues of aging, Bill has been an activist for a notable period of time and is seen to be quoted often on media.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE OBSERVANT

An observant individual is someone who is good at noticing things, or someone who follows the rules and requirements of a particular religion. A person who always spots when you get a new change in a person, an object or even a trend is an example of someone who is observant. One definition of an entrepreneur refers to someone who is analytical and observant. It is required of an entrepreneur to be is highly insightful of consumers’ needs and strategies that will either profit or serve as loss to the organization, then takes a further step by mapping out an initiative to make sure the factors that will derail the organization is avoided and that which will grow the business is focused upon.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (“Domino’s) pizza delivery driver turn pizza store entrepreneur turn CEO and Managing Director of Australia’s largest and only publicly-listed pizza chain, Don Meij has proven passion, dedication and a keen observant business sense means everything when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.

After starting as a pizza delivery driver in 1987 in Redcliffe, Queensland, while studying to be a high school teacher, Don fell in love with the business. Don’s strategy was to map out what how to maximize his networks in growing himself to the position he holds today. Through keen observation of the environment along him and the concept of the pizza business as a whole, he slowly worked his way up the ranks for the years to come.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS CONSIDER FAILURE AS AN OPTION

In layman terms, failure can be described as an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful. It could also refer to lack of performance of something due, required or expected. However, speaking in business terms, business failure refers to a company ceasing operations following its inability to make a profit or to bring in enough revenue to cover its expenses. A profitable business can be described as a failing business if it does not generate adequate cash flow to meet expenses. Failure in a business in an aspect that ever successful entrepreneur today have experienced at one point or the other of their career story.

The legendary Steve Jobs, the founder of a company that is worth so much than tons of individuals and blogs have given their sole dedication to writing and describing the things that Apple is worth more than. Although, history has it that Jobs did not always have the luxury of enjoying legendary success. This goes far back as his inability to even complete his undergraduate degree as he dropped out of college to being ousted in 1985 by the Apple Board of Directors. However, Jobs was able to pull himself out of all the blows and setbacks to leading a company that is today loved by both the young and old.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE VISIONARY

The definition of visionary refers to someone or something that purposes in his or her mind how the future or a certain even yet to come to pass will take place. Visionaries are actually known for having a very imaginative and creative mind. Therefore, a visionary entrepreneur could refer to a person who is ahead of his time and who has a powerful plan for change in the future. The trait of vision is one that is very important in becoming a successful entrepreneur. This is because, it is impossible to grow a business without foresight. Visionary entrepreneurs in time past have been to seen to lay their marks in their various fields of expertise even despite the fact that there were challenges faced on their journey to success. However, their vision kept them going and today their works are seen as trademarks when referring to successful businesses.

Looking at the story of Jorge Paulo Lemann, Lemann jointly founded an investment banking firm named the Banco Garantia together with his partners in the seventies. However, Lemann did not stop at staying contently satisfied with his success in the investment banking firm, rather he further pursued the vision of the potential he saw in the liquor industry. To actualize this vision, he bought out a Brazilian brewery that is now part of InBev and took control of the reins of a large share of this vastly profiting production of beer in Brazil.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE NETWORKED

Networking can be defined as the act of developing and making use of the contacts acquired in the course of business for other purposes beyond the motive surrounding the initial contact. The ability to network is notably one of the most crucial skills or traits any entrepreneur can possess. An entrepreneur who is good in networking should be sociable, honest, encouraging, pleasant, a great listener or someone who stays in touch by following up. In business, networking goes beyond going out and meeting new people, rather it is a well planned plan with the aim of getting to know the individuals that will partner with you in business or introduce you to other potential partners. Various kinds of networking an entrepreneur could be involved in include casual contact networking, strong contact networking, community service, professional associations and social groups.

Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of the widely popular social networking site LinkedIn is no doubt a successful entrepreneur that understands the impact of networking. Hoffman being the man with the highest connections in Silicon Valley has been part of the team that created two of the most successful social networks, that is, LinkedIn and Facebook. Hoffman jointly founded LinkedIn which is a professional networking site and funds from this investment are what constitute the bulk of his fortune, Hoffman was also involved in the early growth of Facebook. He was quoted to have made the statement that a crucial asset for the success of any entrepreneur is professional network. Hoffman said he believes that the really key thing is to realize that relationships are like alliances and went further to say that networkers who are effective in the present times behave in a different manner compared to their contemporaries 20 to 30 years back. Hoffman is listed on Forbes list of successful billionaires.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE TEAM-ORIENTED

A team defined a group of individuals possessing a complete set of complementary skills that is required in the completion of a job, a task, or a project. Hence, a team oriented individual is one who belongs to such a group but just does not think of oneself alone but rather includes others in their decisions. In a team oriented environment, all team members must possess a factor that contributes positively to the decisions and operations concerning the business venture. In a business environment like this, there is no superiority when regarding any of the team mates or players.

One man who has made the list of quite successful entrepreneurs, although not as popularly known by many is Steve Case.

Steve Case makes the list of wealthy, successful entrepreneurs one of those rich and successful entrepreneurs who run a vast and giant company but still like to keep their private life private. Case has been in the information technology business sector for over three decades now, starting from his jointly founded business in 1985 known as Quantum Computer Services to beginning his business working with PC link and Apple in 1988. Over the following years Case has personally left a trademark in information technology by creating many innovative online games. This achievement Case made could only be achieved because he made himself an integral part of a team, most of them being very successful. Case is one man who understands the importance of being team-oriented and this has paid for him even up until he left other businesses with the aim of spending a higher percentage of his time on his personal business known as Revolution LLC; a company which he started up in the year 2005.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE PROACTIVE

Proactiveness refers to the ability of a person, policy, or action to create or control a situation by inducing a change by making something happen, instead of waiting until after it has happened before giving a response to it. ‘Proactive’ as a term was initially made popular in the business sector by Covey in 1989 when he published a book titled ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’. Covey, in his book adopted the term ‘proactive’ in describing an individual who assumes responsibility for all that happens in life, in comparison to a reactive person, who will rather often lay blames on others for the problems, challenges or obstacles such a reactive individual is facing.. ‘Proactive’ has since that time come of the meaning to describe taking an action before any situation turns into a crisis. Therefore, describing an entrepreneur with this trait can be said to be someone who assume responsibility for the development of situations and further applies his initiative in controlling and exploiting the situation at hand, instead of allowing such a situation to consume him even though the business is being controlled by unpredictable external forces.

An example of a proactive entrepreneur is Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the most popular social network Facebook.  In an interview session with Mark Zuckerberg, it was inquired of him the major behaviour that can be attributed to his immense success and his reply was that a vital action he aims to achieve everyday is the use of his time in a proactive manner rather than in a reactive way. He further stated that a number of events or activities that will come up each day that one can occupy his or her day with while giving a reaction to them. Although, Zuckerberg admitted that it is normal for one to be communicative and responsive, but one should importantly note that to be a success as an entrepreneur, you have to understand what accomplishments you wish to achieve every single day.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ARE OPEN RISK TAKERS

A risk is made up of a kind of danger having either a vulnerability or more one which will lead to having a non-positive impact on either an asset or more by being of harm to them, while risk taking on the other hand describes the act of being willing to take an action on the grounds that there is a possibility of perceived gains or losses. Therefore, an entrepreneur who is classified as an open risk taker can be described as someone who is willing to take an action despite the probability of obtaining a negative result, yet forges ahead with the mindset of acquiring gains instead of losses. Some risks entrepreneurs take include the abandoning of a steady paycheck when starting the business, sacrificing personal capital, betting or gambling crucial deadlines and investing personal time and health.

An example of a notable and successful entrepreneur that was a great risk taker is Donald Trump.

Observing Donald Trump from the external, he always appeared as someone who is on top of the world as a result of the success of The Apprentice (Trump’s TV show), his vast and expansive business empire, not forgetting his fortune running in billions of dollars. However, there used to be a point in his life where he dealt with personal bankruptcy but he was able to totally clear these debts off his name within a remarkable period of just four years. He also reduced immensely the debts that were linked to his business and still even went ahead to create a merge for a number of his business he had interest in, growing all these into a public company. It has however quite evident that when mentioning the names of successful entrepreneurs that understood that risk taking could either be a big gain in business or a big loss, Trump is good example to be motivated by. Speaking of a fact, it is his huge drive to take risks that brought Trump to the level of success he has attained till date. Today, Donald Trump is one of the presidential candidates for the United States in 2016.

AN ENTREPRENEUR SUCCESS SECRETS

In the same vein that behaviours and qualities are very vital in describing an entrepreneur, likewise entrepreneurial skills and personal skills are very important when discussing the success of an entrepreneur. Hence, this post will identify and analyze relevant entrepreneurial skills and traits by entrepreneurs with links to successful entrepreneurs. This post will highlight various entrepreneurial traits that are necessary in the running or operation of an entrepreneurial body. Notable examples of successful entrepreneurs who have these traits or have adopted such qualities will be mentioned also.

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS NEEDED TO OPERATE BUSINESS AS AN ENTREPRENEURS
1. Open Risk Taker (read more)
2. Proactive (read more)
3. Team-Oriented (read more)
4. Networked (read more)
5. Visionary (read more)
6. Failure is an option (read more)
7. Observant (read more)
8. Outcome Oriented (read more)
9. Open Culture (read more)

WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR; DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

In a bid to provide an insight into how important entrepreneurial skills and qualities are to successful entrepreneurs in Malaysia and likewise globally, it is paramount to understand who an entrepreneur is, when is an entrepreneur categorized as successful and what notable traits exists in such an entrepreneur that has earned the individual the trademark of being referred to as a successful entrepreneur.

The selection of an appropriate basis for the definition of who an entrepreneur is or what qualifies an individual as an entrepreneur has been to be a challenge for scholars and academic researchers. There exists no generally accepted model of what classifies an individual as an entrepreneur (Churchill & Lewis, 1986; Shaver & Scott, 1991; Carland et al, 2015), although a large range of literature has described the term ‘entrepreneur’ to refer to the originator of a new firm or business outfit, or a person who initialized the start-up a new business venture which was not in existence before. However, Cunningham and Lischeron (1991) presented a unique approach for describing an entrepreneur with respect to various schools of thought.

 

TABLE 1: APPROACHES FOR DESCRIBING AN ENTREPRENEUR

Entrepreneurial Model	Central Focus	Assumption	Behaviours and Skills
“Great Person” School	The entrepreneur is seen to have an intuitive ability, that is, a sixth sense. Such an entrepreneur is born with this traits and instincts.	If this inborn intuition is missing, such an individual would not differ from other mere individuals who do not posses what it takes to be called an entrepreneur	Intuition, Persistence, Vigour, Self Esteem and Energy
Psychological Characteristics School	The entrepreneur possesses unique values, needs and attitudes that drive such an individual.	The behaviour of people is in accordance to their values.	Personal values, ability to take risks, drive for achievements.
Classical School	The entrepreneur’s major characteristic is a trait known as innovation.	The most important area of entrepreneurship is not owning but doing.	Innovation, Discovery and Creativity
Management School	The entrepreneur is an organizer of economic venture, that is, someone who organizes, manages, own and takes charge of the risk.	An entrepreneur can either be trained or developed in managing functions that are classed as technical.	People organizing, planning of production and capitalization
Leadership School	The entrepreneur is a leader of people. This individual blends his style or ideas to suit the needs of the people.	The accomplishment of goals by the entrepreneur is dependent on other individuals.	Director, Motivator and Leader
Intrapreneurship School	The entrepreneur’s skills can be of good use in complex organizations, where intrapreneurship can be defined as the development of independent units for the creation of a market or certain service rendered	Entrepreneurial activities lead to organizational building and the growth of entrepreneurs into managers.	Maximizing decisions and being alert to opportunities.