Today, FALL/WINTER 2008 1 - University of the Ozarks

That EntrepreneurialSpirit
Successful business owners share common traits
Growing up, I had the opportunity
to watch my grandfather,
the late John Plugge, operate
Plugge Brothers General Store in Hartman,
Arkansas, and my parents, John
and Estella Hilton, operate Hilton Motor
Company and Jamestown Fina Station.
In addition, I observed my aunts
and uncles operate a number of small
family businesses in the area, including
Hilton Coal Company, Inc., and Clarksville
Parts Wholesale.
After I returned to Clarksville in
1984, my brother, Randy, and I started
Hot Hits Dance Company, a DJ business
which we operated for 23 ½ years. This
past year, I helped my wife, Dayna, start
her company, Firehouse Dog Publishing,
LLC, through which we sell children’s
fire safety books and audio books featuring
our Dalmatian, Sparkles, the fire
safety dog.
As a young child, I thought all parents
owned a family business. When I
learned otherwise, I realized just how
lucky I was. Each day after school I
could not wait to spend time at my parents’
business helping out in whatever
way I could.
My primary motivation for attending
college was to help my parents operate
their business. As a senior at Clarksville
High School, I spent many hours with
the late Dr. James W. Perrett, Chairman
of the Division of Business Administration
at the University of the Ozarks,
discussing how a college degree would
help me achieve my plans for eventually
operating my parents’ business.
While in college, I wrote several papers
on leadership. It was then that I first
began to study the characteristics of successful
entrepreneurs. Fortunately, I was
in the unique position to not only study
entrepreneurs, but also to observe and
interact with them on a daily basis.
The following are my top 10 characteristics
of a successful entrepreneur,
based on my personal observations and
experiences.
(1) The most important characteristic
of an entrepreneur, in my judgment, is
the ability to identify and satisfy unmet
customer needs. An entrepreneur is very
creative, having the ability to identify
customer needs before others and being
able to attract the necessary resources
to satisfy those needs. The late entrepreneur,
Ray Kroc, of the McDonald’s
Corporation is a perfect example of an
entrepreneur who performed this function
very well.
(2) An entrepreneur is a risk taker, often
mortgaging property, taking on debt,
and using available savings to supply the
products necessary to satisfy customers.
An entrepreneur has an opportunity not
only to earn a profit, but to suffer a loss
as a result of taking the risk. Yet, despite
the known risks, the entrepreneur acts on
the idea and does not quit. The late Walt
Disney, who failed in business several
times before successfully launching Disneyland,
is the epitome of a risk taker.
(3) Possessing an extremely high energy
level and always being “on” when
at the business or in public is another
entrepreneurial characteristic. Generally
positive, on the move, and happy to
meet people, the entrepreneur works at a
very rapid tempo and “sets the pace” for
the entire company. My late uncle, Leo
Wiederkehr of Wiederkehr Wine Cellars,
Inc., taught me this important lesson.
(4) An entrepreneur has stamina and is
generally in good health. Often working
long hours and refusing to get sick
accurately describes my dad. He could
not take time off from work for illness
because the work had to get done. An entrepreneur
rarely takes time away from
the business since there is often no replacement
for the leader. My dad never
missed a day of work due to illness; he
was always there.
(5) The entrepreneur knows the importance
of repeat business and has a good
understanding of the 80/20 rule. That is,
80% of sales are derived from 20% of
16 Today, FALL/WINTER 2008