Do you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur?

Just before you dive into a new venture:

Leaving everything behind for launching a new startup? you might want to be sure you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. As an investor: you might want to make sure your money in placed in the hands of a competent team.

So are there any reliable self-assessment tools that one can take prior to launching a new venture, in order to provide some kind of feedback regarding one’s entrepreneurial potential?

Well, searching the web reveals several DIY tests who are really lame (see one here) or shallow (see here), limited and lack mentioning of any scholar validation for accuracy and quality.

But there are better self-assessment tools you might run into:

One is run by Psychology Today, which is a somewhat more robust (yet not highly appreciated by professionals I talked with) Initial report is free, yet full report requires small payment. A better self-assessment tool, which is free, is run by several academic institutes in the UK (try it here). One of the most comprehensive ones was developed by an EU team (try it here), led by Prof. P.S. Zwart, Professor of Small Business Management at the Faculty of Economics in the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. This is the longest test, and full report will cost almost $60 (!!)

But how accurate are those tests in measuring your ‘entrepreneurial capacity’ or predicting your ‘entrepreneurial success’?

The answer really goes back to the question of whether entrepreneurial capacity is ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’. As far as we know today, we are born with some level of core natural capacity, BUT, apparently, if this capacity is not extremely low, competences and capabilities CAN be further developed (usually be deliberate practice)!

So how good are those tests?

Firstly, like any other self-assessment test, they are more accurate when you are not trying to bias the results, by providing the ‘right’ answer.

Secondly, most probably, if your score is not extremely low, you can still ‘nurture’ yourself by, learning, practicing, and lots of hard work.