People start businesses for different reasons. Many want to make a fortune, others want to leave a legacy, others want to change the world, others want freedom, etc.

Some people become entrepreneurs because of the circumstances. Some could not find a job after graduation. Others were not intellectually gifted enough to make it to college. This means that formal employment was not for them.

Some people start businesses because they got fired from their current position. Others want to prove a point to people who never believed in them.

No matter what motivated or pushed you to become an entrepreneur, thank God you are now one.

After starting businesses, entrepreneurs become so diverse based on how they run their businesses. This is mostly determined by why they are in business in the first place.

People who became entrepreneurs because of circumstances rarely make it big in the entrepreneurial world. They are just there to sustain their livelihood. After they have enough revenue every month, they stop growing a desiring more.

Those who are entrepreneurs in their DNA know no limit. They want to turn the world upside down. They rarely stop. They want more and more. It is all about the mission and the higher purpose they have for humanity.

Here are 4 entrepreneurial DNAs. This concept was put forward by Joe Abraham at TEDx Bend.

At the end of this article, you should be able to identify your DNA as an entrepreneur. This does not necessarily mean that you cannot have some traces of the other 3. It just means that there has to be a dominant one for you.

Let’s go right into them

1. Builders

These are the entrepreneurs who build scalable and sustainable businesses in a short time. They will increase the revenues of the company high enough to attract buyers.

Builders will then start another business, scale it and sell it. They do this in a very short time. No one can understand how they do what they do. They are just gifted at building sustainable businesses.

Every other entrepreneur envies this type. They want to be like them. They will do anything possible to become builders. All of it is in vain.

Builders easily attract investors and great talent almost effortlessly. These people tend to be very controlling in the way they do what they do. They are very excited and obsessed with what they do.

Builders measure success, not by the personal income, by the quality of infrastructure they have created. These are things like; how big is our payroll, office space, etc. They are also very concerned about dominion over their competitors.

Because of this attribute, they approach everything from an infrastructural point of view. This is why they build scalable and sustainable businesses.

Their key weakness is relationships. They use people and blow relationships away.

2. Opportunists

These people want to get rich quick. They want to make a fortune and retire to enjoy life.

These people love fast money-making deals. They jump in, make money, cash out, and go for a holiday.

Opportunists see business as a vehicle. They will jump from one business to the other looking for opportunities. They will move from the stock market to real estate, to financial services, etc. All they want is quick money.

These entrepreneurs are very optimistic. They will lose money today and embark on a new project tomorrow. They are incentive-driven and mostly focus on future income. They love to make big money.

Due to their love for money, these people establish multiple streams of income. They do a bit of this and a bit of that looking for that light-bulb moment.

Their greatest weakness is lack of focus. They want to do everything. They make a lot of cash and lose it all. This becomes a cycle for them.

3. Specialists

These are the experts. They have gone through many years of school and developed great skills. They are lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc.

These people pick one industry and stay for almost a lifetime. This is what they are trained to do. They are just typical employees in a business.

Specialists are very analytical when it comes to decision making. They want to know every single detail. They slow every decision to get to the root of it. They are very methodical and risk-averse. They are the complete opposite of the opportunists' DNA.

These people plateau when they hit a certain income level. This is because their motivation is not to have a flashy life but a comfortable life. They just need to earn as much as they would have earned in formal employment.

Specialists get sales through networking and referrals. This is because they hate selling. They would rather have someone introduce them to a prospect. This makes their work in the sales process easier.

The main weakness of specialists is lead/demand generation; they struggle with that. This is because they are not typical salespeople.

4. Innovators

These are accidental entrepreneurs. They discovered a business idea as they were doing something they love. They went into business, not because they wanted to but because a business popped up.

These people mainly focus on product development. They want to do research and development to create an amazing product. They do not want to be on the business front.

These people mainly focus on the mission and not the money. They want to change the world and make an impact through their wonderful ideas. Everything else is secondary.

These people control most of the intellectual properties of the world. This is because of their focus on research and development. These people hate publicity and are horrible business operators.

These people fail if they do not get people to take care of the market side of their business.

Conclusion

For a business to be highly successful and impact the community, entrepreneurs need to team up with others who have a different DNA from themselves. These people will complement them and give the business what is missing.

This is why businesses founded by several entrepreneurs have a higher success rate than businesses founded by a single entrepreneur.

As for me, I am a 50% builder, 30% opportunist, 20% specialist, and 0% inventor. What about you?