By Anne Violette, Owner, Awesome Writer

Psychology and gender play important roles in becoming a successful entrepreneur. Research shows that gender appears to be a factor in how businesses are run, and that men and women have different motivations driving them to operate their own business.

In addition, there are particular mental characteristics and attitudes that are shared among individuals who launch and run successful enterprises, and those considering entrepreneurship or forming business partnerships would be well-served to be familiar with them.

The role of gender

In the US, one out of every four companies is operated by women, according to the Small Business Administration. Men and women start businesses for different reasons, which influences how these businesses are run; according to businessinsider.com, women tend to start companies to better accommodate their home and family lives, while men tend to start businesses to make money.

Women's businesses tend to grow slower and create fewer jobs than men's, but female owners are more likely to have positive revenues (because they tend to take fewer risks and are often willing to settle for lower returns). In addition, female-owned companies tend to offer family-friendly benefits, but women have more difficulty delegating tasks than men do.

Nell Merlino told Entrepreneur.com that these gender differences can be attributed to women's recent entry into business ownership – many states didn't permit women to even hold an American Express credit card in their own names until 1974.

“Women are more likely to become entrepreneurs in an effort to balance work and raising children,” Merlino said, while men take a more aggressive approach and start businesses for the sense of achievement, power or confidence it brings.

The psychology of successful entrepreneurship

A 2010 study entitled ‘Entrepreneurial Postures and Psychological Traits’, published in the Research in Higher Education Journal linked certain psychological traits with entrepreneurial postures. These traits include the need for achievement, a low tolerance for ambiguity, an inclination for risk-taking and an internal centre of control (in which the holder believes he or she controls what happens in his life).

Why is it important to be familiar with these common personality traits? The information is valuable when selecting partners for new business startups and in making hiring decisions for high-risk ventures. It's also a useful tool for identifying students well-suited to entrepreneurial careers, and helps them select a major when pursuing higher education.

Hopeful entrepreneurs often lean toward business or marketing degrees, but having a clinical psychology degree may be helpful, too.

As recently noted in the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology (EAWOP) conference report; “The psychology of entrepreneurship is a relatively young research field that has much to offer to the understanding of successful entrepreneurship in all its facets (economic, social, personal and societal).” Whether or not these observations will become part of the curriculum to obtain a clinical psychology degree or a business degree remains to be seen.

Psychological entrepreneurial styles

Most entrepreneurs fall into one of the following types:

1.    Serial: A go-getter, thrill-seeking personality who enjoys thinking up many business concepts and decidedly moves forward with their development and execution. This person is apt to start one, two or more businesses consecutively. They work around the clock to launch businesses and get excited by growing it. Serial entrepreneurs often spend their entire careers starting businesses, but rarely stay committed to one for a prolonged duration.

2.    Mission-driven: Someone whose sole purpose of starting a business is to carry out a certain mission, concept or ideal and who is willing to sacrifice anything to accomplish it, even if it takes years to do.

3.    One-hit wonder: Someone with one specific product or service that his entire business model is based upon (think ‘inventor’). One-hit wonders are risk-takers committed to ‘one big idea’ which leads to the ultimate success or failure of the venture.

4.    Amateur: Someone who starts a business with little understanding of the scope of the undertaking. Amateur entrepreneurs learn the ropes as they go along, making many mistakes along the way, until finally they either get it right or give up. Some tenacious amateur entrepreneurs move on to become seasoned entrepreneurs.

5.    Seasoned: These are the professional entrepreneurs. They have mastered the art of entrepreneurship, know what works and what doesn’t, understand how to make a business profitable and evolve into industry leaders.

The fundamental psychological factor in being a successful entrepreneur can be summed up in one word: passion!

All other words used to describe an entrepreneur, such as persistent, powerful, ambitious, creative and driven, are psychological aspects. As detailed in the SGM Report ‘Advances in the Psychology of Entrepreneurship’; “Decision-makers consciously process and interpret informational cues, but are also subconsciously influenced by irrelevant, peripheral cues.”

This supports the idea that having the drive to succeed in any entrepreneurial endeavor is one of the most important indicators of success or failure. Those who believe they can, will.

As researchers continue to study the links and practical aspects of psychological concepts and gender as they relate to successful entrepreneurship, current and hopeful business owners everywhere would do well to keep tabs on this area of study. Knowing and analysing the strengths of gender and personality can help you propel yourself to success.