The 4 business personalities are the most reliable guide when it comes to figuring out what your personal strengths and weaknesses are. Business entrepreneurs face constant change and uncertainty, so knowing how you function best and what environments you thrive in will be the best way for you to learn to delegate and grow your business. By having a basic understanding of these personality types you will have a very powerful tool to use in the workplace and your personal life to help you relate to and work with others. How we learn, what information we need to feel at ease to allow this information to set in, differs from one entrepreneur to the next. At the end of the day profitable business relationships center around relationships behind them, not just skill or prices. 

Did you know that you as an entrepreneur are the lifeblood of the economy? You take risks, create jobs and stave off the really high American workforce burnout rate. What makes you and other entrepreneurs successful? Can it be attributed to business savvy or skill set(s)? While this may sound cliché, the key to success is to be self-awareness so let’s give you a quick dive into, as a novice entrepreneur you can face the question ‘What Kind of Entrepreneur am I?”

Self-awareness, like any other skill, requires constant practice and mindfulness of what you have or do not have. That is why the great business entrepreneurs of our time, even though they have so many hats to wear and so much responsibility, continue to grow because they take time to reflect on their strengths and weakness. Don’t know where you stand in all that mumbo jumbo? This is where the concept of business personalities come into play. All in all, even though each person is ’unique’ there are 4 business personalities:  Drivers, Guardian, Integrator and Pioneer.​

They take inordinate risk compared to other workers and most jobs in The United States can be attributed to them and the burnout rate is fairly high. What is behind their successes and failures? Can it be attributed to business savvy or skill set(s)? While this may sound cliché, the key to success is to be self-aware. Self-awareness, like  any other skill, requires constant practice and mindfulness of what you have or do not have. The question that many entrepreneurs face, especially the novice entrepreneur face is: Who am I? Business entrepreneurs have so many hats to wear and so much responsibility that many do not get the chance to reflect on their strengths and weakness, and this is where the concept of business personalities come into play.  In particular there are 4 business personalities: Drivers, Guardian, Integrator and Pioneer. When all is said and done business people are either analytical or creative, known as the opportunistic entrepreneur. It would be very difficult for a digital marketer to master accounting and vice-a-versa. Most successful teams have a combination of both.

While labels do not fully capture the complexity of vast entrepreneurial experience, the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph go a long way in discussing how they shape them. In particular, the 4 business personalities goes a long way in explaining how the characteristics of entrepreneurs affects not only the quality of relationships that they have with one and another, but also, the success of their enterprise. That is why it is essential for innovative entrepreneurs to be self-aware of their personality traits.

Entrepreneurs who  are drivers are known to be analytical, action-oriented, and direct in their communications. They also tend to have limited tolerance for small talk and prefer experimentation.

While they have many strengths, they do have weaknesses. The most notable weaknesses is that they tend to over-analyze everything which can cause paralysis in decision making and stalling the completion of projects. (Hint: Most successful entrepreneurs are inclined not to spend too much time deliberating over their decisions can actually prevent them from taking action at all.)

Another widely used classification of entrepreneurs is the Guardian. They are known to focus on the how and why, and use their analytical gifts in every decision. What makes them even more valuable is that their deliberation provides structure to the team while minimizing risk to themselves and others.

When it comes to making decisions, a Guardian does not make one in haste. They are most comfortable with what is familiar, so when they are making a decision that involves a new direction every detail will be scrutinized. (Hint:Small business entrepreneurship‘s success or failure is predicated on the ability of the entrepreneur to know him/herself and forge working relations with their peers.  Innovation can help you stay in business, so put benchmarks and best practices in place to help make myself more comfortable with the changes.)

The next classification of entrepreneurs is the Integrator. The average integrator puts a premium on building and maintaining relationships. Like drivers they tend to be risk averse and indecisive and do anything to build consensus among their teammates, which can slow down decision making.  

That said integrators are consummate connectors and connect with people through emphasizing relationships and striving to be helpful. Their way of thinking is nonlinear, big picture and contextual. They think through decisions carefully and seek output from others. (Hint: While they are not keen on risk-taking, they will likely get on board if they see that rest of the team is getting on board, sometimes business owners have to make snap decisions without input.)

Pioneers are the last classification on the list. The pioneer is known to be creative and adaptable. They are best at redefining the status quo but tend to feel weighed down by details and structure.  

As the most extroverted of the four types, Pioneers are also energetic and expressive, and have broad social networks and collaborative styles. They adapt easily to change and like to jump in and lead the charge toward new directions. When it comes to decision making they are more likely to rely on their gut than small business entrepreneurs from the from the other classifications. (Hint: With not liking structure it can be hard to put processes in place and stick to the.)​

​As a business owner, you are undoubtedly bombarded by dozens, if not hundreds of decisions each and every day. While there are many things demanding your attention, one decision that you don’t  want to overlook or make without some serious background info is which colors to select to represent that brand that you’ve worked so hard to build. The color of your logo and other brand visuals can elicit a specific set of emotions and reactions from your audience, and you want to be extra sure that you’re conjuring up the ones that you intended!

But have not fear- when it comes to color theory for business, there are just a few key components that you need to be aware of, followed by some easy-breezy, super simple steps to help you take charge of your brands’ colorful endeavors. 

​When you try to make decisions, do you struggle to figure out what to do? Have you been called a people pleaser? When you finally make a decision, are you filled with guilt or anxiety? Has it been awhile since you’ve said no to someone? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this could be due to you needing help setting healthy boundaries. Boundaries are not just for our personal life, but professional boundaries in the workplace are needed just as much!

When someone is referred to as a “productive” person, the first picture which comes to mind is someone who is constantly busy. To be more precise, the definition of a productive person is someone who can accomplish many tasks in a short length of time. So yes, a productive person can be synonymous with a busy person but more importantly, a productive person understands how to manage their time and resources. With practice and the right tools, being productive can become a new form of normal.

We’ve all heard it before, sometimes you have to learn to say no. While this is a profound and simple statement, the follow through is difficult.  Most of us often struggle with how to say no without feeling guilty whether this is in our personal lives, while at work or while conducting business - personal or professional.