There's a popular idea that entrepreneurs are "born, not made": a rare kind of person, bold and charismatic, who simply has the gift. Research tells a different story. When psychologist David McClelland and his team looked at what successful entrepreneurs actually did day to day, they found less gift and more habit: concrete, observable and, above all, trainable behaviours.
In short
- The 10 entrepreneurial characteristics come from research by David McClelland and colleagues, who compared successful and average entrepreneurs in several countries.
- They fall into three clusters: achievement (making things happen), planning (knowing where you're going) and power (bringing people on board and trusting your own judgement).
- They're behaviours, not fixed traits. A study published in Science in 2017 showed that training personal initiative increased small-business profits.
- Nobody needs to be strong in all ten. What helps is knowing your strengths and picking one or two to practise on purpose.
- They apply just as well to people who build things inside a company, in a social project or in their own career.
Where the list comes from
David McClelland (1917–1998) was a Harvard psychologist who spent much of his career studying motivation. In his 1961 book The Achieving Society, he argued that the need for achievement (the urge to do something better, by your own standard) helped explain why some people and societies were more entrepreneurial. One of his classic observations: people high in need for achievement prefer moderately risky challenges, neither too easy nor impossible.
In the 1980s, McClelland and the consultancy McBer ran a study, funded by USAID, in countries including India, Malawi and Ecuador. Instead of relying only on questionnaires, they interviewed successful and average entrepreneurs in depth, asking them to describe real situations, and then compared what the two groups did. The report by Mansfield, McClelland, Spencer and Santiago (1987) and McClelland's article in the Journal of Creative Behavior (1987) describe the competencies that set the groups apart. The most widely used synthesis today organises these findings into 10 behaviours and three clusters.
Cluster 1: Achievement
1. Opportunity seeking and initiative. Acting before you're asked or forced by circumstances, and spotting opportunities where others only see problems. Example: the owner of a small bakery notices how many customers ask for gluten-free options and, instead of waiting, tests a small batch at the weekend. How to develop it: for one week, write down three frustrations you hear from customers, colleagues or neighbours. Pick one and run a small, cheap, fast test.
2. Taking calculated risks. Weighing alternatives, estimating what could go wrong and acting to reduce the risk, without freezing. It isn't blind courage; it's the moderate risk McClelland described back in 1961. Example: before opening a shop, a clothing seller tests demand at a weekend market for three months. How to develop it: before a big decision, write down the realistic worst case, how much you're willing to lose and a way to test it on a smaller scale. Researcher Saras Sarasvathy (2001) calls this thinking in terms of "affordable loss".
3. Demand for quality and efficiency. Looking for ways to do things better, faster or cheaper, and setting your own standards of excellence. Example: a freelance designer starts sending every delivery with a review checklist and halves the number of revision requests. How to develop it: pick a recurring task, measure how long it takes and how many errors it produces, and try to improve one number a month.
4. Persistence. Keeping up the effort in the face of obstacles, changing strategy when needed, and taking responsibility for the outcome. Persistence isn't stubbornness: it's holding on to the goal while staying flexible about the route. Example: after three rejections from investors, a founder asks for honest feedback, adjusts her pricing model and comes back with new data. How to develop it: whenever you get a "no", ask yourself "what would I change next time?" and write down the answer. Persistence is easier when every attempt teaches you something.
5. Commitment. Keeping your word, making personal sacrifices when needed to finish a job, and putting customer satisfaction first. Example: a garage owner calls the customer when a part is delayed, before the customer has to chase. How to develop it: promise less than you can deliver and deliver all of it. Commitment also means protecting your own rest: nobody keeps promises for long while running on empty.
Cluster 2: Planning
6. Information seeking. Personally researching customers, suppliers and competitors, and consulting experts. Example: before launching a booking app for hair salons, a developer spends two days inside three salons watching how appointments are really made. How to develop it: before deciding, have five short conversations with people who live the problem. Ask about what they've already done, not what they would do.
7. Goal setting. Setting clear, challenging, personally meaningful goals with a deadline and a way to measure them. Edwin Locke and Gary Latham's goal-setting theory, summarised in American Psychologist in 2002, showed that specific, difficult goals tend to produce better performance than a vague "do your best". Example: turning "I want to sell more" into "I want 20 repeat customers by March". How to develop it: write down one long-term goal and break it into a goal for this quarter and an action for this week.
8. Systematic planning and monitoring. Breaking big tasks into stages, tracking progress and revising the plan when things change. Example: a baker who sells cakes to order uses a simple spreadsheet of orders, recipe costs and margins, and discovers that one of her best-selling cakes was losing money. How to develop it: block a fixed 30 minutes a week to look at three numbers from your project. Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer (1999) showed that "when X happens, I will do Y" plans make people more likely to follow through on their intentions.
Cluster 3: Power
9. Persuasion and networking. Using deliberate strategies to influence and convince, and building relationships with key people who can help you reach your goals. This isn't about manipulation: it's about explaining the value of what you do clearly and building trust. Example: a speciality coffee roaster invites local baristas to a tasting and then asks for their views on packaging and price. How to develop it: list ten people who could open doors for you and, each week, offer something useful to one of them before asking for anything.
10. Independence and self-confidence. Seeking autonomy from external rules and control, holding your point of view even in the face of opposition, and trusting your ability to handle challenges. Example: a consultant turns down a large client who wants work that goes against her values, and explains why. How to develop it: confidence grows from evidence. Albert Bandura (1977) showed that the main source of self-efficacy is mastery experience: challenges you've actually overcome. Start with small goals, meet them and keep a record.
What the research supports (and what it doesn't)
It's worth being honest: no list of characteristics guarantees success. A meta-analysis by Christopher Collins, Paul Hanges and Edwin Locke (2004) in Human Performance found a significant link between achievement motivation and choosing an entrepreneurial career, and with performance too, but the associations are moderate. Andreas Rauch and Michael Frese (2007) reached a similar conclusion: traits matched to the task of entrepreneurship, such as need for achievement, innovativeness and proactivity, are related to starting and growing businesses. Context, markets, resources and luck also matter a great deal.
The more encouraging news is that these behaviours can be learned. As early as the 1960s, McClelland and David Winter tested achievement-motivation training with small business owners in India, described in the book Motivating Economic Achievement (1969). More recently, Francisco Campos, Michael Frese and colleagues published a randomised experiment in Science (2017) with 1,500 micro-entrepreneurs in Togo: personal initiative training, focused on acting early, seeking novelty and persisting, raised profits by around 30% over two years, compared with a small, non-significant effect from traditional business training. An entrepreneurial mindset isn't only temperament; it's practice.
When a strength becomes too much
Every behaviour has a tipping point. Demand for quality can turn into perfectionism that never ships. Persistence can turn into sticking with a project the data has already shown doesn't work. Commitment can turn into the belief that resting is failing. Independence can turn into finding it hard to ask for help.
Building something usually comes with uncertainty and financial pressure, and that weighs on mental health. If exhaustion, anxiety or low mood have lasted for weeks and are affecting your sleep and relationships, talking to a mental health professional is an act of care, not weakness. Sustainable businesses are built by people who also look after themselves.
A simple 30-day plan
- Week 1: take the entrepreneurial profile test or, if you prefer, rate yourself from 1 to 5 on each of the 10 behaviours. Ask someone you trust to rate you too.
- Week 2: pick just one behaviour among your lowest. Set one small, concrete action for it, with a day and time.
- Week 3: repeat the action and note what happened. The goal isn't to get it right; it's to practise.
- Week 4: review. What changed? Keep the practice going or move on to the next behaviour.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 10 characteristics of an entrepreneur? According to the synthesis of McClelland's research: opportunity seeking and initiative, taking calculated risks, demand for quality and efficiency, persistence, commitment, information seeking, goal setting, systematic planning and monitoring, persuasion and networking, and independence and self-confidence.
Are entrepreneurs born or made? People differ in temperament, but the evidence suggests entrepreneurial behaviours can be trained. The experiment published in Science in 2017 is one of the strongest examples: personal initiative training had a real impact on small-business profits.
Do I need all ten characteristics to start a business? No. Almost nobody is strong in all ten. Many businesses work well precisely because partners and teams complement each other: one person stronger in initiative and persuasion, another stronger in planning and monitoring.
How does this relate to McClelland's theory of needs? Same author. McClelland's theory of needs describes three motives: achievement, power and affiliation. The 10 entrepreneurial characteristics came from later research that observed what successful entrepreneurs concretely did.
Are these characteristics useful if I'm an employee? Yes. Initiative, clear goals, information seeking and persistence help in any career. Many companies call it intrapreneurship: acting like an owner on a project that isn't yours.
References
- McClelland, D. C. (1961). The Achieving Society. Van Nostrand.
- McClelland, D. C., & Winter, D. G. (1969). Motivating Economic Achievement. Free Press.
- Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
- McClelland, D. C. (1987). Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. Journal of Creative Behavior, 21(3), 219–233.
- Mansfield, R. S., McClelland, D. C., Spencer, L. M., & Santiago, J. (1987). The identification and assessment of competencies and other personal characteristics of entrepreneurs in developing countries. McBer and Company / USAID.
- Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.
- Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001). Causation and effectuation. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 243–263.
- Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717.
- Collins, C. J., Hanges, P. J., & Locke, E. A. (2004). The relationship of achievement motivation to entrepreneurial behavior: A meta-analysis. Human Performance, 17(1), 95–117.
- Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16(4), 353–385.
- Campos, F., Frese, M., Goldstein, M., Iacovone, L., Johnson, H. C., McKenzie, D., & Mensmann, M. (2017). Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa. Science, 357(6357), 1287–1290.
An invitation
Ethea's Entrepreneurial Profile test measures the 10 behaviours and shows which of the three clusters you're already strongest in. Treat the result as a map, not a verdict: it's there to help you choose your next step, one behaviour at a time.