No matter what sector you enter into, starting a new venture involves tonnes of risk and little sleep. Trading up a regular salary for the promise of bigger returns down the line can be terrifying, so are some people more cut out for the game than others?<\/p>\n This week, we\u00a0<\/i>headed to Sydney to hear from a range of entrepreneurial minds about what drives them. Here are six qualities these company founders attribute their success to. Are you able to harness them?<\/p>\n Founder of Sydney property buyer agent Your Empire, Chris Gray, was \u201csemi-retired\u201d by the age of 31 but says his business acumen stems from thinking well into the long term, rather than focusing on immediate gains.<\/p>\n Speaking during an Entrepreneur\u2019s Organization Sydney\u00a0panel event at Vivid Festival, Gray said he got started in the property market when he returned home to the UK to live with his parents after a stint as a backpacker; he realised he could start a career in the property market through one initial investment.<\/p>\n \u201cI just had the foresight to say, I need to get into property and once you work the numbers I\u2019ll actually have more money to go to the pub with,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n However, with his own property portfolio and business on the go, Gray says entrepreneurs should understand long term value isn\u2019t without downsides and risk. The trick is to see through that.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see the beautiful story and it\u2019s all passionate, but there is the darker side of debt. My life is pretty much about debt \u2026 and I\u2019ve pretty much been in debt all my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Richard Branson has said that for a business to be born in the first place, someone has to have been brave. But the question is, how do you harness that bravery?<\/p>\n One option is to put yourself in situations where you don\u2019t have a Plan B, like L&A Social founder Gina Lednyak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lednyak started her social media agency in 2008 after landing in Bondi from the US the year before, and says at the time, she had no choice but to persist with the business because to fail would mean completely uprooting her life again.<\/p>\n At 23, and without any savings or support, losing momentum would mean moving back home.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t go move back in with my parents, that would mean going back to America with my tail between my legs,\u201d she told the panel event.<\/p>\n Lednyak also had the instinct that \u201csocial media was about to explode in Australia\u201d, so she followed her gut and started chasing clients, knowing that while there wasn\u2019t a formal \u201cPlan B\u201d, she would always find a means to support herself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was knowing that worst case scenario I could go work on a sailboat, or something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Starting a business out of spite might not be on everyone\u2019s agenda, but for retail queen and founder of Showpo, Jane Lu<\/a>, a multimillion-dollar business was born out of a desire to prove everyone wrong.<\/p>\n After some false starts with business ideas that didn\u2019t go to plan, then 24-year-old Lu had quit her corporate job, had no business partners and no idea what to do next.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden I was unemployed, I lost money during my first business, my business failed and it was all in the middle of the GFC [global financial crisis] \u2014\u00a0I didn\u2019t know what else to do,\u201d Lu said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy only go to was to start this business, to start Showpo was to start another business.\u201d<\/p>\n Still living with her parents, Lu pretended to keep going to the corporate gig she\u2019d quit each day and it was during those fake commutes that she realised she had to turn her frustrations into action.<\/p>\n \u201cThat spite, not wanting to go back to work, pushed me into making it, I guess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Plenty of entrepreneurs find themselves in high-pressure, low satisfaction roles before breaking out on their own, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re ready to start a new venture.<\/p>\n Michael Frizell, founder of pet food delivery platform Pet Circle, was tired of his banking job and looking for a change. He said the first step was straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first step was to decide to quit my job.\u00a0I\u2019d always wanted to start a business \u2026\u00a0One day I just decided, \u2018this is not what I like, I\u2019ve learned enough, I\u2019ll leave\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He took off travelling, but quickly learned this wasn\u2019t the way to come up with a stellar business idea; you need to prepare and do deep research before finding the thing that will fit for you.<\/p>\n \u201cOne day you just get this bug that you have to do something, you\u2019re bored, there\u2019s more to life,\u201d Frizell said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cruzandco.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/bigstock-Successful-business-man-agains-12152636.jpg\")
<\/a>If you\u2019re an entrepreneur, chances are a garden-variety office worker has looked you in the eye at some point and asked: \u201cAre you crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n1. Foresight<\/strong><\/h2>\n
2. Bravery<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. Harnessing emotion<\/strong><\/h2>\n
4. Preparation<\/strong><\/h2>\n