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a moderate degree of risk, provided that outcomes are dependent on their own abilities and decisions, rather than chance.

8 PERSISTENT PROBLEM SOLVING
Successful entrepreneurs are prepared for the challenge of problem solving. They are not intimidated by difficult situations. They expect such situations to happen. They can identify and state problems clearly. They can identify alternative ways to overcome the problem. They are prepared to make decisions even in situations of incomplete and ambiguous information. They see problems as challenges, and opportunities to develop their own self-confidence by overcoming difficulties.

9 TAKING INITIATIVE/PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Successful entrepreneurs are doers. They are action oriented. They willingly put themselves into situations where they are personally responsible for the success or failure of the operation. Care must be taken in assessing this trait. If you have constantly been in situations in which you have been held responsible for certain outcomes, but do not have the authority to take the steps to achieve those outcomes (a notorious practice in government and big business) your common tendency would be to not invest much initiative or risk your own sense of personal responsibility. Imagine situations in which you have volunteered, or actually had the resources and authority to assess whether you are an action-oriented person.

10 TOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY/AMBIGUITY
Many systems advocate a systematic process of decision making, involving such steps as identifying all the alternatives, researching each option, selecting the optimal alternative, and such. In the world of small business, this scenario just does not happen. In decision-making, job security, financing, etc. information is incomplete and uncertain. Successful entrepreneurs learn to operate effectively in ambiguous situations. They are not afraid to be wrong, because they understand that few decisions made in business are perfect. The aim really is to improve one's "batting average", or increase the percentage of good decisions. Self-confidence is acquired as the percentage of good decisions increases, and bad decisions are corrected.

11 USE OF FEEDBACK
Successful entrepreneurs always look to improve their performance. As such, they regularly review documentary feedback to see if outcomes are satisfactory. Perhaps more importantly, entrepreneurs seek verbal feedback from others. They see other people as valuable resources. They seek opportunities to "pick

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