San Francisco – December 1, 2017 – NodeSource, the Node.js® company, today released the results of a survey looking at the personality traits of entrepreneurs and the challenges they are facing in the fourth quarter of 2017, 2018 and beyond.
Work-Life Balance and Other Challenges
Entrepreneurs agree that, in Q4, the interruptions caused by holiday PTO (43 percent) pose a greater challenge than meeting goals (39 percent), coming up with ideas for the new year (36 percent), or closing the books (35 percent).
Looking ahead to 2018, nearly half (47 percent) of entrepreneurs are most worried about cybersecurity breaches, being able to find talent (37 percent), and decisions that will be made by the Trump administration (36 percent).
More generally, the majority of entrepreneurs agree that their greatest ongoing challenge is finding work-life balance (45 percent). Other top challenges include:
- Building a good team — 35 percent
- Fundraising — 30 percent
- Keeping up with email — 28 percent
- Market penetration — 28 percent
- Sales leads — 25 percent
When it comes to team building, entrepreneurs agree that a successful team generates more ideas and inspiration (59 percent) and increases productivity (57 percent).
As for fundraising, entrepreneurs agree that competition (57 percent) and lack of customers (34 percent) pose the greatest obstacles, although Millennial entrepreneurs (38 percent) also view lack of personal connections with VCs as a significant hurdle. When it comes to successful fundraising, Boomer entrepreneurs think patience is key (90 percent), while Gen X (71 percent) and Millennial (53 percent) entrepreneurs feel relationships are more important.
Top Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of entrepreneurs describe themselves as “creative," and more than two-thirds (66 percent) describe themselves as “goal-oriented." Other top traits of entrepreneurs include:
- Always on time — 65 percent
- Persistent — 65 percent
- Outgoing — 59 percent
- Funny — 58 percent
- Skilled at money management — 52 percent
Generationally, Boomers are most likely to describe themselves as goal-oriented (100 percent), outgoing (90 percent) and “street-smart" (70 percent)—a quality only about a third (35 percent) of Millennials feel they share. Meanwhile, Gen Xers and Millennials are most likely to describe themselves as creative (about 76 percent each).
"Being persistent and goal-oriented are certainly two qualities that I feel have helped me along in my journey as an entrepreneur," said Joe McCann, CEO of NodeSource. "However, I often remind myself to share ideas and seek creative solutions to business challenges from my team. It's important not to become a 'solitary genius' as an entrepreneur—a good team will bring fresh ideas to a stale problem every time."
More than half (52 percent) of entrepreneurs also describe themselves as "middle class," 17 percent describe themselves as “wealthy," and a minority—6 percent—describe themselves as “poor."
Almost half (49 percent) of entrepreneurs are only children or firstborns. Interestingly, women entrepreneurs surveyed were much more likely to be middle children (43 percent) than men (20 percent), but far less likely to be only children (2 percent) than their male counterparts (33 percent).
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted online within the United States by Propeller Insights on behalf of NodeSource October 23-24, 2017, among 103 adults 18+. The results were weighted to the U.S. census for age, gender, region and income.
About NodeSource
NodeSource is a technology company dedicated to delivering enterprise-grade solutions in support of a sustainable ecosystem for the open source Node.js project. We aim to drive and expand the Node.js ecosystem by providing best-of-breed solutions that specifically target the needs of businesses deploying Node.js and JavaScript at scale. Customers include PayPal, Condé Nast, Delta Airlines, Mastercard and other progressive Node.js adopters. For more information, visit NodeSource.com and follow @NodeSource on Twitter.
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