5. Entrepreneurial Achievers Are Effective Risk-Takers

Entrepreneurs make their living assuming the risk of a business or enterprise. It follows, then, that risk-taking is a significant activity and that those who do it best are the real entrepreneurial achievers.

Although accepting risk is a continuing part of entrepreneurial life, it's not for everyone. Many prefer to "go with the flow." Avoiding a decision becomes a part-time job for them as they position themselves away from the battle. Not only do they not have to make decisions, they remove themselves from having to deal with any negative repercussions of those decisions. What a dull life!

"Don't exceed your comfort zone" is the first rule of risk-taking.

As Harry Truman would say "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." There are many good, valuable people who are very uncomfortable with risk. That's OK.

Those who aren't risk-averse need to proceed with intelligence.

As in decision-making, risk-taking is at its zenith when somewhat intuitive. But it needs support from objective information. A high risk might make sense when coupled with a very high potential reward. A low risk, however, is hardly appealing when married to a low reward. That's because functional focus allows one to develop only a limited number of ideas. And if you want to achieve something significant, those ideas must yield financial mileage. More often, moderate risk/moderate reward ideas emerge, and because they are the most often available, they're the entrepreneurial ideas most commonly implemented.