I always have trouble falling asleep at night. My usual routine is wire myself to my iPod and fall asleep to a podcast – (I’ve been alternating between Marc Maron WTF and Evan Solomon Power & Politics) but last night I kept thinking back to a question that I was asked – What, in your opinion are the most important characteristics of an entrepreneur? This is what I came up with…

Creativity/Innovation – the ability to utilise your own insights to create new solutions to new or existing problems.  I would argue that the ability to solve problems creatively or divergently forms the foundation of any entrepreneurial venture.  To paraphrase Vinod Khosla – “Every big problem is a big opportunity.  The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. No problem = no solution = no company. Nobody will ever pay you to solve a non-problem” I admire Khosla’s ability to simplify.  In many ways I find this line of thinking very empowering – these aren’t complex postgrad concepts mired in the philosophy of economics. It’s simple. I get it.

Expertise – unfortunately creativity will only get you so far if you don’t have the expertise to back it up with.  Experience and knowledge (in particular niche knowledge, a specialized skillset) when combined with creativity and innovation are the structural support beams (in continuing the building analogy – I have no idea why I’m doing this. I know nothing about building codes) of your company.  What skills or training do you have available to you NOW in your school, workplace, personal/family network, that you can improve upon and perfect to become an expert?

Common Sense – also known as good judgement.  This one requires little explanation, and yet I am constantly floored at how many people I encounter who lack the ability to make good judgement calls, even in every day normal situations.  Akin to drywalling, painting, and finishing the interior of your building before it has a roof on it. I can stop these anytime…

Self Confidence – are you an adventurer? do you have the ability to boldly explore uncharted territory? take risks? make difficult decisions? If you answered yes to any/all of the above, chances are you have the self confidence to found a company.  In Seattle a few years ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Jim Sinegal, c0-founder of Costco, and it struck me what a confident person Jim was – both in the success of his company, and in his day to day goings on.  Confidence is buoyed by solid strategic planning and preparation, we asked Jim about his views on the importance of planning and this is his response to the young entrepreneur panel.

You have to plan the opportunity to think about your business and plan what you’re going to do. You have to schedule it. Otherwise you’re just a hamster running on a treadmill; you’re never going to get anywhere. You’ve got to schedule it. Strategic planning is an important part of running any business and the more so for businesses that operating in multiple states and countries. If you’re a big-picture guy, you’re not in the picture. Retail is detail.

Again – these are only my thoughts on the subject, and to be honest they have/will change over time.  What do you think?