Finding your best skills through self-awareness

What makes a great entrepreneur? It’s not always clear.

To find out what exactly fits the bill of entrepreneur in today’s economy, What’s Working in Washington spoke to Gene Riechers, a D.C. tech executive, founder, investor and expert.

“I’ve had the good fortune of meeting literally thousands of entrepreneurs… think a lot of people can be entrepreneurs, but the key is to understand yourself,” he said.

For example, those who excel at interacting with customers but don’t enjoy hiring and firing employees could be well-suited to individual consultation.

“Another example would be, you really have a great vision for your business, but the last thing you’ll tolerate is any outside input… if that’s the case, don’t raise outside venture capital,” Riechers said.

“If you understand these traits about yourself, you can figure out how successful you’ll be as an entrepreneur in different businesses,” he said.

If you’re an entrepreneur without much creativity, for example, there are a huge number of businesses that gain wealth by being necessities. “The single biggest creator of millionaires in America is the drycleaning industry,” said Riechers.

Empathy, Riechers said, was a touchy subject. “I think people who, sometimes, are a little bit oblivious to some issues may actually drive change in a constructive way, because they may not listen to the feedback so well, and they may look over the horizon in a way the rest of us are too colored by listening to everyone around us [to see],” he said.

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