Brains are good but top entrepreneurs need more than that

Being smart can help, but it takes more than brains to make a successful entrepreneur.

Albert Einstein is hailed as the greatest physicist of all time. AP
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Many believe smart students' high scores do not automatically translate into career success.

I recently came across an article in The New York Times that highlighted an issue I have always suspected as a student myself: high scores on standardised tests for college admissions in the US are not perfect predictors of a student's chances for success in college.

The article got me to thinking about the relationship between college success and entrepreneurial success, or perhaps the lack of relationship between the two. Albert Einstein, Bill Gates and Thomas Edison are just three people who failed miserably at school, but went on to change people's lives.

Choosing to be an entrepreneur is a challenging adventure that almost anyone can undertake: no essays to write; no exams to study for; and no one to tell you what you should or not do. Of course, an entrepreneur is both responsible if something goes wrong and entitled to all the credit - and most importantly profit - when things go right.

All you need are customers who are willing to exchange their money for your products or services, and the guts to face unexpected challenges.

As a young entrepreneur, I love to read about the experiences of great entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs and Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. I enjoy learning about what it is they possess that made them business giants.

While it certainly does not hurt to have a high IQ, this is not enough, just like being tall is not enough to qualify a person to play for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.

I came to realise successful entrepreneurs are likely to have traits that schools often do not test for. Many people do not know they possess entrepreneurial traits until they decide to jump in.

Ambition is one of those traits the great business leaders possess. Many people would say they are ambitious, but there is a difference between being truly ambitious, and putting in more than 80 hours of work every week and barely sleeping until you make sure things work out - in other words, being "hungry" as well as ambitious.

Edison failed many times before he perfected the light bulb. Had he quit after failing so often, where would we be?

Creativity is another key trait. It is about thinking outside the box and daring to do things differently - from making a product to managing a brand and marketing it. Of Apple's numerous products, the iPad and iPhone are only two renowned brands that positioned the late Steve Jobs as a leader of one of the most creative companies in the world.

Apple's creativity has even rubbed off on people who have not directly used the company's products.

A study by Duke University in the US in 2008 found students who were exposed to Apple's logo found more creative uses for a brick they were presented with than those who were exposed to an IBM logo.

A successful entrepreneur is also risk tolerant. No matter what kind of business a person ventures into, there will be risk involved. Some people cannot take out a large loan without hesitation, or stress over the tiniest matters.

Prince Al Waleed started his business investment company, Kingdom Holding, with US$30,000 (Dh110,000) in 1979.

Investing in Saudi Arabia was undervalued at the time, and considered risky, but he was determined.

In time, he turned that initial investment into a multibillion-dollar fortune. So, too, did investments in his country and company increase. Today, he is one of the world's wealthiest men.

Good communications skills are what attract customers to a certain business. Great entrepreneurs know how to communicate their vision, strategy, or product, whether it is to rally investors or customers.

Finally, it is important to be resilient, to know how to recover, recommit, and restructure business plans when unpredictable circumstances pop up.

Resilience helps entrepreneurs to take advantage of setbacks that might lead to successful outcomes. It is what keeps them in the game.

Manar Al Hinai is an Emirati fashion designer and writer. She can be followed on Twitter: @manar_alhinai

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