We all experience slumps in our enthusiasm for running our business. It is a rare person (if she exists at all!) who can maintain a high level of energy all the time. So how do you pep yourself up? Here are some tips:

• Use a business coach. A good business coach can give you the positive push you need, provide accountability and increase your enthusiasm immensely.
• Network with other business owners. Talking through struggles and triumphs with other business owners can be a great release and a great way to increase your energy levels. Mutual support and a shared understanding will improve your outlook.
• Find a mentor. While it is valuable and important to meet with other business owners, meeting regularly with a mentor who has more experience is a great way to be encouraged. Mentors can often be a source of advice and a sounding board for new ideas.
• Commit yourself to lifelong learning. There is no one who can profess that they have learnt ‘everything’: there is always something new to learn. And learning has the added bonus of increasing your enthusiasm.
• Take a break! Too often we fall into the trap of thinking we need to keep working and get the job done. But our energy levels will continue to drop, and productivity will suffer, if we don’t take regular breaks.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Are entrepreneurs born with innate qualities? Or can anyone become an entrepreneur if they work at it hard enough? Many psychologists and researchers believe that you need to be a certain type of person to be truly entrepreneurial, with some even going so far as to say you’re wasting your time if you’re not that type.

A US study by the Northeastern University's School of Technological Entrepreneurship showed that “nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs claim they were inspired to start their own companies by their innate desire and determination, rather than by their education or work experience”. What this suggests is that while many people have the ability to learn the required skills to be an entrepreneur, they also need an insatiable curiosity, a sense of adventure, a love of learning and the ability to spot opportunities and make a business out of them.

But does that mean you won’t enjoy success if you don’t seem to have all these qualities? There are qualities of successful people which can be learned and honed over time, including being:

• Visionary (forward looking, dreams and aspirations)
• Passionate (spurs on hard work and motivation)
• Courageous (no rewards without risk)
• Unstoppable (unwilling to quit despite failures)
• Willing to grow (change and growth is needed to reach goals – no one has all the answers straight away!)

So are you an entrepreneur? If so, how much of your success is from innate qualities, learned skills or just good old hard work?

In the words of Richard Branson: “I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.”

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender