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This week I filled in an online survey about what drives people to become entrepreneurs. One of the little boxes demanded to know what quality I considered most important to succeed in business.

I wasn’t sure that I was qualified to give an opinion but – what was there to lose (except precious working time).

I started jotting down characteristics. I came up with, among others, ambition, control freakery, independence, non-conformism, passion, knowledge, foresight, the ability to see the wider picture, perseverance, networking skills and even plain being lucky.

None of these seemed to me to be the magic ingredient. I though other people might have better ideas so I turned to Google.

Googling ‘entrepreneurs’ quotes’ was predictably successful. (I imagine that at some time in the future we will be able to Google ‘blog’ plus the subject and the wondrous machine will write a complete article for us in 0.21 of a second).

The critical ingredient: get off your butt

Nolan Bushnell, the founder of video games maker Atari, believes that the true entrepreneur is ‘a doer not a dreamer’. "The critical ingredient is getting off your butt," he says.

Oprah Winfrey, possibly the most powerful woman in showbusiness, says "focus not on success, but on significance".

Estee Lauder, the grande dame of the cosmetics world, believes in sheer hard work: "I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it."

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, took innovation as his buzzword long before corporations began including it in their mission statements. He advised "find out what the world wants, then invent it".

Anita Roddick, founder of the beauty and cosmetics global empire The Body Shop, says successful entrepreneurship originates in having to survive, which stimulates creative thinking.

I guess that there are many answers, but some common themes: actions speak louder than words; stick at it when times get tough; learn from your experiences; try to be different; and learn to love hard work.

Strategies and shopping lists

When you’re running your own small business, planning your strategy at the same time as writing the shopping list for dinner, it’s difficult to know whether you’re on track.

Do you have too many things going on to really focus on the ones that matter? Are you too easily put off when things don’t pay back quickly? Is your business sufficiently different – does it really have a market?

The life of an entrepreneur is, it seems, more filled with questions than answers. 

So what did I eventually put in the box? <i>Bravery,</i> inspired by a quotation from American TV’s Lucy, Lucille Ball, possibly the most famous and (in my mind) the funniest television comedienne of all time. When asked about her success she said:

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