Ever wonder what makes one entrepreneur more successful than another?  Or whether you have what it takes to beat the odds?  I went in search of the characteristics critical to success and came up with the following (courtesy of about.com):

An Entrepreneur needs to work hard.  Really hard.  It isn’t enough to simply have an idea, even if it’s a great idea.  You need to put your energy into making that idea a reality in order to succeed. 

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer."
- Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's

It’s also helpful to have a positive attitude.  Coupled with a hard dose of reality (optimists need not apply), a positive attitude will help you navigate around obstacles, create solutions to unsolvable problems, and motivate your team.

"When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure."
- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

While it’s probably safe to assume Fort Minor didn’t write “Remember the name” about entrepreneurs, the chorus caught my attention as a perfect description of what it takes to succeed in starting a business: “It’s 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, and 50% pain…”  Starting a business is no simple task, and it’s important to go into it knowing that knowledge and talent (while helpful) aren’t enough.  For each success, there will likely be a couple of painful failures, and for each moment of professional bliss, there will likely be an hour of misery.  I’ll leave you with this thought:

"If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business there'd be millions of no-brained, harebrained, and otherwise dubiously brained individuals quitting their day jobs and hanging out their own shingles. Nobody would be left to round out the workforce and execute the business plan."
- Bill Rancic, winner on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"