Date: May 2012 - Page 2

I woke up this morning at 3.30am and could not stop thinking. My brain was on overload. All I could think about was business.

Expanding a business internationally is not exactly the easiest task to undertake. It requires a lot more work than you think and some serious planning.

When a person has a big business goal, it can be all-consuming. It's a 24 hour, 7 day a week gig. And when you put that sort of effort into something, you are looking for one hell-of-a-return. I know I am!

Most entrepreneurs think about the end goal. What is it that they are trying to achieve. Then they work back from there. What steps need to be taken to achieve this goal.

To me, this is the norm, but what sets one successful person apart from the run-of-the-mill entrepreneur can often come down to a set of traits. So, what traits make a successful entrepreneur?

21 Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur

Learning to surf a wave is not the easiest task in the world to do. It requires a certain amount of skill, some balance and a whole lot of determination. And... it requires practice.

In the dotcom boom, everyone who was not inventing an online business, were buying up shares so that they felt part of it. The problem was, that by the time the publicity hits and consumers are encouraged to buy shares, the fat cats in corporate finance and early investors have already made their dough.

Thinking outside the square is getting harder and harder to do. Creatives are now more challenged than ever even though they have more platforms to be creative on.

I am on a very personal journey right now with my business. 8 years ago, I had a dream and after years of fine tuning the business, I am ready to make it come to life. To reach the next level.

What that means is continually putting myself out there, sharing my experiences and taking my business to a level that no-one else in the industry has been able to achieve to date.

Basically, my dream or more precisely, something that is on my bucket list, is to build a company valued at $100 million. I am finally on that road and I know that within 5 years, this is now a reality.

It's a wake up call on how one communicates with others that they come into contact with and what lasting impression that leaves.

Over the years, I have met many inspirational women who have had some impact on my life in one way or another.

When I was just 25 years old, the then Chairman of Citibank in Australia organised for me to meet Wendy McCarthy, who at that time was on numerous boards including John McGrath's, McGraths Real Estate board and acted as a mentor to senior managers in many of Australia's top companies.