Blog | Entrepreneurship

Essential Qualities of an Entrepreneur: Paying Attention to Details

The most successful entrepreneurs in the world are those that know how to pay attention to the little details.

I'm not talking about the little details in your business, such as the expenses, who is excelling as an employee (and who's not), trends in sales, and more.

Those details are important, and you can't be a successful entrepreneur without paying attention to them. But everyone has to pay attention to those details in business, or they'll go under.

I'm talking about the little details that separate a good business from a great business — the little details of life...and the opportunities that they bring.

One of the things I love most about the world is that it's full of opportunity. The problem is that most people don't notice the opportunity. Instead, they only notice what they don't have or what is wrong.

But the difference between those who are successful in life and those who are not is noticing what's wrong or missing in the world and finding opportunity in it.

Here's an example of what I mean.

In a world of business that always seems to move faster, a couple decades ago, many business people lamented the slow process of going through the traditional mail service for important documents and letters. FedEx recognized the frustrations with the postal service and came up with overnight delivery through their fleet of planes in the early 1980's, coining the term, "When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight." Cornering this market sent their sales to over $1 billion annually in less than a decade as a business — the first U.S. company to reach that mark so quickly.

A couple things were at work here. First, FedEx noticed a problem and saw the opportunity. While many people are content to live with the problems and just complain about them, successful entrepreneurs see the problem and let their discontent push them to innovation. They solve the problems of others and make money because of it.

Secondly, FedEx knew what differentiated them from competitors and made sure others knew as well. They built a very successful advertising campaign around the fact that they delivered overnight when you "absolutely positively" needed it.

A Successful Entrepreneur Pays Attention to Detail

In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you must pay attention to the little details in life and figure out what your company can do that nobody else is doing. Then, you must make sure everyone knows.

Today, take some time to look at the world around you. Notice the little details that can be opportunities for you and your business, and start thinking about how your business can do what no other business does.

If you can find those opportunities — and the courage to act on them — I guarantee you will find success.

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