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Do Introverts Make Successful Entrepreneurs?
Is it possible to have success as your own boss if you are not an extrovert?
There’s a common relation when it comes to introverts that they are known as people who are shy, anxious, and mostly quiet. While this may be true, it’s important to remember that when it comes to success, introverts bring their own special benefits to the business world by being exactly the way they are.
Keep reading to find out how introverts make successful entrepreneurs.
Introverts In The Business World
Before we dive into the business world and if introverts make successful entrepreneurs, first what is an introvert? An introvert is someone who likes to:
- Recharge on their own
- Have their own space
- Keep to themselves
- Not always be around people 24/7
- Work better by themselves
If you saw yourself in any of these bullet points then you’re likely an introvert. If you are introverted, there's a chance you might be an empath too. An empath is a person who absorbs the emotion of others like a sponge and experiences these emotions as their own. While empaths are intuitive and compassionate people, their high level of sensitivity makes them prone to experiencing issues, such as anxiety, depression, and physical illnesses, especially when working in the wrong type of business industry.
"The workplace can be a place of great joy and self-fulfillment or a place of intense stress and emotional overload for empaths."-The Awakened Empath
In the book “The Awakened Empath” there is a very interesting chapter surrounding the topic of the workplace environment and where people such as introverts and empaths can thrive. There are also certain work environments where introverts do not succeed and shouldn't be putting their energy in based on their personality type.
If you're like me you might also be introverted sometimes but then other times you like to be extroverted, so you're not just one or the other all the time. This is why introverts need to carefully plan their career choices. Introverts thrive but only when in the right environment. Introverts flourish and feel energized when they feel they are contributing their gifts to this planet. This is because introverts are artists, visionaries, and inventors at heart.
For introverts to have true success, they need to choose careers that they feel are satisfying the desire of their soul. They thrive in jobs that are multi-layered, flexible, and varied because as introverts, they tend to get bored easily especially in restrictive environments such as large corporate places. Introverts naturally like to be by themselves and the worst environment for us introverts is to work in an environment with little privacy, too many people, aggressive work politics, and working on things they aren’t passionate about. Introverts don’t generally thrive in large corporations.
If you are an introvert and you find yourself in a job where you feel:
- That doesn't suit you
- Bored with your day to day work
- That it doesn’t align with your soul purpose
- You don’t like the people you’re around surrounded by
Then that my be a sign that your current job is not a good fit for you to succeed. The first step is to develop an escape plan and then decide what is best for you.
One of the most awful experiences is to feel devalued in your job and feel taken for granted especially when you have so much to offer this planet.
Introverts Success Path To Self-Employment
If you're an introvert and thinking about going down the path of being self-employed, first start to explore what you're drawn to and passionate about.
You can do something that aligns with your passion and look if there's a specific part of the market or a niche that you resonate with. Ask yourself "what do I want to change the most in this world?" Think big, not small. A lot of times introverts are entrepreneurs. One of the most popular introverts that you might know is Elon Musk.
He is an introvert, but he became an entrepreneur and forces himself to put the words together that are in his head to get it out there because he is purpose-driven to change the world, and he feels that it is his soul's mission. So I'm here to tell you if you're introverted, but you have that passion like Elon or even if you just like to have your alone time and you recharge by yourself best, then definitely look into starting your own business, because you don’t want to be held back in the wrong business and never get to contribute your gifts and your passion out there.
"Self-employment is one of the best options for us as empaths and as well as introverts" -The Awakened Empath
There are many different ways you can start your path to entrepreneurship, but one of the most profitable is by
providing your services online.
I always recommend people who are just starting to research Upwork.com, Fiverr.com, and Freelancer.com. Not only is this the best path for introverts, working online is the future.
A lot of times when people want to get started working online, people don't know exactly what they're good at or what their gifts are. If you are wondering what your gifts are, start to ask people around you, your friends, your family, and just see what type of skills you're good at. Whether you have a very analytical mindset and you like to break things down. Or maybe you're good at communication and it's second nature for you to talk to people and tell stories. Find what you are good at and passionate about and there will lie what your strengths are.
Some types of jobs that introverts do well in, are doing remote-work based jobs, work from home jobs, pet sitter jobs, writing blogs, freelance designers, editors, writers, independent contractors, consultants, and even therapists. That’s just to name a few. The best way to establish your career or own personal business as an introvert is to ask yourself:
What are my talents and strengths?
What am I most drawn and passionate about?
Is there an in-demand market or niche for my passion online?
What do I want to change the most in this world?
Write down all of your ideas, plans, and passions. Self-employment is different from typical employment. If you are not yet doing this, I encourage you to set time aside and
explore what you truly want, need, and value
to make working for yourself worthwhile, and success will follow.
Introvert Benefits In Entrepreneurship
Introverts benefit more by being their own boss vs being in a large corporation. This is because introverts do better when working in their environment, not because they can’t work around others, but because introverts like choosing the energy they are around and working on projects they enjoy doing. I didn't know if I'd be able to just full-blown be an entrepreneur but I worked my way there making freelancing my side-hustle at first.
Working for yourself is worth it when you can wake up every day and be comfortable in your environment and you don't have to physically put yourself around other people, commute in traffic and be in negative environments that unfortunately oftentimes are in the corporate workplace. There are many benefits for introverts in entrepreneurship such as the ability to:
- Set your own hours
- Be your own boss
- Work from the comfort of your own home
- Travel to family or around the world
- Work on creating your own dreams.
- Only need a laptop
It’s no wonder why this shift towards
working online is happening now.
Many people including extroverts are jumping on the work from home bandwagon because of all the benefits. You can be super introverted and still have a lot of success in the corporate world but you’ve got to love what you do, because you cannot be successful on a big scale doing stuff that you don’t enjoy doing. For most of your life, you are going to work, so it’s important to find things that you love doing and that gets you excited.
You can also outsource and get help from other freelancers with things that you're not good at. For example, with sales calls, as an introvert this part of the job can be uncomfortable. So If there are five things that you need for your business to be successful and you're only good at two of those skills, the benefit of being an entrepreneur is you can outsource the things you need help with such as sales calls.
These are some of the many reasons introverts benefit from being their own boss.
In Conclusion
For introverts, the type of environment you put yourself in crucial to how much success you will be able to have and how comfortable you will be doing it. If you want more on this discussion I made a video talking about introverts and the business world: Click here to watch. I am excited for you and I look forward to your future success!
- Paul Mendes,
Founder of Profitable Freelancer
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