Katie: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, hear here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. In chapter 3 of this week's show, which so far has covered everything from Girl Scout cookies to HR advice with our beloved Carl Kleimann of Odyssey OneSource, Esther and I wanted to touch on some of the skills and key elements it takes to be a successful business maker.

Esther: That is right, so some folks, you know, are - they're born to be wild, other are born to run, but are people actually born to be entrepreneurs, or do they kind of pick up these skills along the way? That's what we wanna know.

Katie: Question of the ages.

Esther: That is. So you know, we wanna talk about what the skill sets required to be an entrepreneur is. What exactly do you have to have to make it? I mean, it's one thing to have an idea and it's another idea to take that idea from seedling to full, mature red oak tree.

Katie: Is that - I mean, because everybody has a good idea. Like all you have to do is stay at a bar past 1:30 in the morning and it's like, "Oh my God, I have the best business plan."

Esther: Nice to meet you. We should start a business. No, you shouldn't.

Katie: We could make purple Q-Tips and sell them to, you know, I -

Esther: Actually, my boyfriend came up with an idea one time that actually was pretty good, I just don't think it's sustainable because the actual product is a fad. But basically, Snuggie accessories. Other things you can make, you know, out of the Snuggie material, sell it alongside the Snuggie. Like booties and gloves and all kinds of - I mean, good idea.

Katie: And it would have to have a really funky name.

Esther: He's probably going to kill me for talking about it on the radio because he was really gonna do it.

Katie: Yeah, way to go. Way to ruin his dream.

Esther: I know. Killed that one quick.

Katie: But we'd have to - you'd have to name it something weird. You remember when we talked about Jibbitz?

Esther: Oh, you don't wanna know what he was gonna call it.

Katie: I do. Can you say it?

Esther: He's gonna kill me. Snug-cessories.

Katie: I like it. It would totally catch on for approximately three months.

Esther: I actually like it, too, I think it's a really - I actually think it's a good idea, I just don't think it's sustainable. That's the problem.

Katie: Well, tell Doug I have a sewing machine at my home and a Joann's Fabric is very close to my house, so if he wants to make this happen, we can do it.

Esther: Okay, let's do it. So aside from Snug-cessries, what else do people have to do to be successful entrepreneurs? What do you think?

Katie: So I saw a very interesting series on the Stanford Entrepreneur School video podcast.

Esther: Which we love.

Katie: Which is amazing.

Esther: We've talked about that on the show as well.

Katie: And if you've never been to it, we're gonna post a link on our Facebook page. It's just Facebook.com/theBusinessMakers, because it's really a must see video series for any entrepreneur. So they had this amazing guest speaker - Jeff Kaplan - who talked about the five characteristics of what he sees to be successful entrepreneurs. And so his number one skill that he sees entrepreneurs have is that they can believe that they can make a difference. Like no matter what, even if it's ridiculous - the idea they have - if they think it's gonna change something, make something better, make an impact on the world, that's kind of your starting point.

Esther: And I don't think people really can even fully understand the brevity of that statement. Belief they can make a difference? I mean, if you feel that whatever you do is going to facilitate change in the world, I mean, how much more powerful can something be?

Katie: And how much more driven are you gonna be to do anything from your Snug-cessory idea to the real magic? So Jeff also said, his skill number two is that entrepreneurs have a passion for making things happen. So they don't just sit around talking, but they actually go out and do stuff. Now his quote from the video is, "It's doing things that matters. I don't care how many degrees you have or how many business courses you've taken. It's almost worse to get that education if you don't take action and put that knowledge to work and make something happen." And I think that really speaks t a concept that a lot of entrepreneurs on this show have touched on at some point or another, is that - actually it's in Seth Godin's new book Linchpin, which we talked about before because I'm obsessed with it now and I can't stop reading it over and over again. But he talks about shipping on time. It's not just about talking about doing something, and shipping doesn't mean putting a stamp on something and putting it in the mail, it means whatever you said you were going to do, even if it's not perfect, even if it's no 100 percent, once you've set that deadline and it's time to get it out the door, it's time to get it out the door. So that is part of being entrepreneurs. When you say you're gonna do something, actually following though and doing it and delivering.

Esther: No matter what. No matter what.

Katie: So deliver. Do it. Don't just say. Do. So a few of Jeff's other skill sets that he sees, number three, they have unjustifiable optimism, which I actually really like. And it doesn't matter what your mom says about your business idea, you know it can work and you're gonna do it. Number four, a tolerance for uncertainty, which - wow.

Esther: You can't be too risk-averse.

Katie: No, exactly, you can't be wishy-washy just in the face of a little pain. And number five - and this is my favorite - a genuine concern for other people. So you're not gonna be building a business just because it's gonna make you feel great, just because it's gonna boost your name. you know, you have something that you believe in, you know you can make a difference, and you're really there, whether it's your employees or customers, your investors, you know, the family that's supporting you through this entrepreneurial period in your life. Those are powerful skills that I don't think we talk a lot about in business schools or in business journals. They're like, more fundamentally human aspects.

Esther: And these are very fundamentally human points, I think one of mine that's quite tactical, actually is - and I know a lot of people have mentioned it on this show and I mean, I hear it all the time in my own business where I work, but it's hiring people that are smarter than you. Hiring people who - if you don't have a skill, if you don't know how to do something, looking outward for those people who are experts in whatever task it is you need done. I think that says a lot about somebody, if they can bring somebody into the organization who can really enrich and make the organization better without feeling threatened and without feeling like their toes are being stepped on. That says a lot about an entrepreneur.

Carl: That's an excellent point, Esther; I think people's inclination is to hire people like themselves. Not automatically thinking to hire people who can complement their skills and that might exceed their skill set.

Esther: Can't be afraid of people exceeding your skill set, or you're gonna have a pretty shallow, flat organization.

Katie: Exactly.

Carl: yeah, you better have a passion for it.

Katie: Yeah. So I mean, having said all that, I mean, what do you think? I mean, can entrepreneurs be made?

Esther: Well we did read a very interesting article on TechCrunch today that you pointed out tome. I found it fascinating. The author of the article says that, yes, entrepreneurs can be made. So studies show that about 52 percent of the successful entrepreneurs are actually the first in their immediate families to start a business. So we're looking at people like Bill Gates, Larry Page, Russell Simmons, you know, Jeff Bezos. I mean, these are people that are people that are massive, they're kings of their industries and yet, you know, the entrepreneurial bug bit them. They're the ones that made it happen, had the vision and just did it, just ran with it. And then it's almost like it's just 50/50, you know? And maybe what it really comes down to is do you have the drive and the fire in your belly where you are so consumed with love or, you know, hate of this problem you're trying to solve and, you know, solutions you're trying to provide. I mean, that's just what gets you there.

Katie: And that's not to say that people who grew up in entrepreneurial families don't have an advantage, because I think they do.

Esther: They do.

Katie: I think if you grew up with a father who was a business owner, a successful business owner, you have a significant advantage because of the mentor aspect. Now, the article does give a lot of weight to this very idea of mentorship, and you know, why these Y Combinators that are funding start-ups from the ground up, and not having start-ups come to them at the end stage with an elevator pitch and, you know, getting a million dollars, they're funding them from the very beginning. And that facilitates this mentor relationship, you know, this CEO mentor relationship that I think really does make an enormous impact on how successful a business can be.

Esther: Yeah.

Carl: I think that's absolutely true. I think there's no substitute for passion. However, I do believe that passion can help overcome short falls in all of those other five categories, Katie, that you were talking about earlier, and maybe that's why the children of - or second generation entrepreneurs have an advantage from a skills standpoint. They have the technical skills. But if they don't have the passion they're probably no better off or not even as effective as someone who lacks the skills, but has the passion.

Esther: Of course, and there has to be some kind of raw talent there that is driving a person.

Katie: So in the spirit of helping your business grow and helping yourself grow, and in wonderful education opportunities we - Esther and I would like to remind you to head over to theBusinessMakers.com/31days to sign up for our amazing 31 Days to a Better Business program. It's a daily email that's gonna cover different topics about everything from focusing on your customers to mission values to, you know, really taking care of your employees. And I just know it's gonna help change your business, this will be very exciting for you.

Esther: It's gonna light a fire, that's for sure, because it's really like a business boot camp. We've talked about this business boot camp idea where basically you and hundreds of other people, we have hundreds of people signed up, are gonna come together and you guys can chat, you can talk, you can talk on Twitter using our hash tag which is #31daysbetter. You can talk to us through the Facebook page, you can talk to us through Twitter with our hash tag and you'll get all this information at theBusinessMakers.com/31days. That's 3-1, the numbers 3-1 days. So please sign up and join us. Well, that wraps up our show. Carl, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you being here.

Katie: Absolutely.

Esther: It's been great chatting with you.

Carl: Well, thanks for having me.

Esther: You're listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld.

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: We will see you next week.

Katie: See ya.