A Fearless Entrepreneur Better Assesses Risk

A new study shows that being less afraid of failure can translate into being more willing to take risks. This personality trait leads to gaining more experience, which can improve your ability to assess risk.

When the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur, Jason Feifer, worked with the polling company Ipsos, he found that entrepreneurs are by far more willing to take risks.

“Viewing rejection as failure blinds one to it as a strategy for success.”

Entering the Mind of an Entrepreneur

Their poll presented people with a series of professional managerial challenges ranging from closing stores to delivering employee layoffs. Voters were asked if they considered their decision a failure. Another round of questions asked those polled, “is this a major challenge in starting a business?”

Both rounds of questioning produced similar results. Entrepreneurs predominantly answered “no” to both questions. The study also found that entrepreneurs like to make improvements to existing plans rather than creating new ones.

According to Feifer, “Entrepreneurs are stubborn. And unlike the rest of the world, they don’t walk away so easily.”

What Does This Mean for Aspiring CEOs?

In getting their business out into the world, entrepreneurs need to risk failure. Imagine having to pitch your business model to prospective lenders whom you’ve never met before. Their judgment decides your success.

Not many people find comfort in these high-stress situations. Stubbornness, which Feifer attributes to entrepreneurs, allows them to objectively study their strengths and weaknesses in order to improve.

Failure is Inevitable

Viewing rejection as failure blinds one to it as a strategy for success. True entrepreneurs know this. When something does not work, one should not scrap the idea entirely. Doing so wastes good work. An entrepreneur will objectively analyze a failed idea to find what improvements will make it successful.

In short, when considering starting a business empire, it pays to be stubborn. Resilience in the face of failure will expose a path to success.