Shopify blog
To weather the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, you need passion, confidence, and resilience, among a handful of other essential traits and practical skills. But there are no hard requirements, other than a willingness to jump in.
In fact, entrepreneurs around the world concur that the barrier to starting a business today is lower than it’s ever been. In a 2026 Shopify survey conducted by The Harris Poll, between 61% and 84% of respondents across markets say starting a business is more accessible than ever and requires less formal training or credentials.
Read on to hear what ecommerce founders say it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
What is an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who builds or operates their own business. Entrepreneurship can also include other kinds of self-employment, like freelancing.
Entrepreneurs often assume financial or personal risk as they try to turn a business idea into an established company, and they need problem-solving skills, confidence, and resilience to embrace risk and overcome obstacles.
For the vast majority of founders, these risks and challenges are worth it: Between 78% and 90% of American founders said they’d choose to build their own business again, according to Shopify’s 2026 study. This might be because entrepreneurship is rewarding. Up to 95% of founders say building their business is one of their proudest accomplishments.
What does it take to be an entrepreneur?
You need a few essential skills and traits to become an entrepreneur. These help you attain the entrepreneurial mindset, which is critical to establishing a successful business. Here’s what other founders say you need:
Vision
Having a clear vision for what you want to achieve helps to establish the problem you want to solve, your business idea, your product, and your overall brand identity.
“Clarity of vision, to me, is determinative of which brands will succeed and which don’t resonate with people,” says Becca Millstein, cofounder and CEO of tinned seafood company Fishwife. “If you can’t articulate your vision, it will be really hard creating something that people connect with and understand.”
Defining your vision is a multipronged process. “The first thing is that you have to have a clear vision of what the product is and what problem that product is solving,” says Becca. “Then, what is the overall vibe of the company? What is the brand? What is the voice? What are the visuals?”
Crafting a vision statement helps you articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing and what you want to achieve at a high level.
Drafting a business plan with market research helps you prove why your vision can become a reality. A business plan also helps you envision the granular details of how your business model will function in pursuit of your goal.
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Resilience
Every new venture involves some risk, and unexpected challenges can and will arise. Suppliers might let you down; a new product may be a flop; customers might complain; a hire may not work out; a business relationship may fall apart.
“Whether you compartmentalize or simply develop a thick skin, you need to find a way to get over things really quickly,” says Becca. “Business owners have to deal with more conflict than most people do. The hard times and hard conversations are inevitable, so you have to get comfortable with them and not let them impact you too deeply or too personally.”
Take Michelle Razavi, cofounder and CEO of healthy dessert company Elavi. On Shopify Masters, Michelle recalls when a distribution partner experienced a cyberattack and delayed Elavi’s launch in Whole Foods with just a two-day heads up.
“At this point, Nikki and I have gone through so many obstacles that it was upsetting, it was frustrating,” says Michelle. Instead of ruminating on the setback, Michelle and her cofounder, Nikki Elliott, focused on areas of their business they could control. “We were over it after an hour, and that shows the resilience that we’ve built as operators,” Michelle says.
Building resilience doesn’t happen overnight. Michelle compares it to going to the gym: It’s uncomfortable the first time you go, but when you keep showing up, you build muscles and habits that give you a sense of accomplishment.
“I think it’s just flexing that muscle of resiliency, and repeating, and reminding yourself that you could handle whatever is in front of you, because you historically have,” Michelle says.
Passion
Passion helps an entrepreneur stay focused through all the challenges that arise. When you have a deep love for your company and the work you’re doing, it helps drive your stamina for dealing with hard work, long hours, and setbacks in day-to-day operations.
“There’s ups and downs in entrepreneurship, and you will burn out if you don’t have that underlying fire to you,” Hiyo cofounder and CEO Evan Quinn says on Shopify Masters.
Before Evan started Hiyo, which sells nonalcoholic adaptogen drinks, he considered selling charcoal-filtered coconut water. He realized he didn’t have passion for that brand. Hiyo, on the other hand, offered Evan a motivator.
“If we become bigger, that means we’re helping more people drink less, whatever that means to them,” Evan says. “If you’re not passionate and motivated to carry on your brand and see its scale and succeed like that, it’ll burn out.”
Passion can also stem from a hobby. Take Raquel Acosta, owner of ceramics brand Glaze Me Pretty. Evening classes in ceramics inspired a passion so strong that Rachel ultimately left her job as a data scientist. On Shopify Masters, Rachel explains how her love for ceramics drove her to make a “midlife, quite radical career change.”
“I felt the urge to do something with my hands,” Raquel says. “I found it fascinating that you could make a professional-looking product out of a bowl of mud. And the possibilities were endless. I love the medium.”
This concept is borne out in the data: In Shopify’s 2026 survey, between 61% and 69% of founders said starting a business felt like moving toward something they wanted, not away from something they disliked (like a 9-to-5 job).
Confidence
Becca from Fishwife says that for entrepreneurs, confidence in your business is even more important than confidence in yourself.
“If you really believe in the company, you’ll find the belief in yourself,” Becca says. “I think this is where a lot of founders stop working on their companies and startups fail: They have an idea and they enjoy it, but in their heart of hearts, they’re not totally convinced that this company needs to exist.”
Becca knew that a premium, sustainable tinned fish company needed to exist. “There’s no question that’s going to happen,” says Becca. “I thought, ‘Why not be the one to make it happen?’ And then I just followed that thread.”
Creative problem-solving
Before starting companies, entrepreneurs might do their homework by gaining hands-on experience, connecting with other founders for advice, seeking out mentors and industry professionals for guidance, or going back to school to earn an MBA or other graduate degree.
But no advice is one-size-fits-all, and every startup will face unique challenges you can’t find in a textbook. Unique problems require creative solutions, often on the fly.
“Nothing can truly prepare you for what it is to run a business venture until you do it,” Becca says. “You build your own educational curriculum as a founder.”
Becca recalls an early challenge in Fishwife’s first year. She was waiting on a massive shipment of smoked trout, but on the slated delivery day, the cannery called with bad news related to COVID supply chain delays: Not only would the pallets of fish not be delivered that day, but they wouldn’t be delivered for four months.
Becca fixed the issue with creative problem-solving.
“I realized this challenge was actually a growth opportunity to connect with our customers and bring them into our journey as a small business surviving through COVID,” Becca says.
“I got on the phone with our illustrator and we put together a graphic explaining the seasonality of the fishing season in the Pacific Northwest, how the cannery was short on staff because of the pandemic, and how that affected us as a new business. The response was incredibly positive.”
Self-awareness
You’ll juggle multiple responsibilities as a founder. To delegate effectively, you need a clear-eyed view of your strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to cultivate strong management skills.
Understanding and embracing your entrepreneurial skills helps you lean into your strengths, identify areas where you can grow, and hire people who possess complementary attributes. Small business owners might consider freelance platforms as an alternative to bringing on full-time team members.
“The most incredible thing about being a founder is that your imperative is basically: Do the jobs you’re good at,” Becca says. “You’re your own boss, and you can delegate the rest to people who are way better at that particular skill than you are. Talk about a dream job!”
Laura Thompson understood the importance of complementary skills when she founded the natural skincare brand Three Ships. “I loved group projects,” she says on Shopify Masters.
Laura met Connie Lo through a mutual friend, and the pair instantly hit it off—because of, rather than in spite, of their differences.
“I’m an introvert; she’s an extrovert. I’m a numbers person; she’s a people person,” Laura says. “We balance each other out really, really well. And we were also interested in polar opposite ends of the business.”
Laura asked Connie to be her cofounder. The two grew Three Ships from a bootstrapped startup into a multimillion-dollar business, hitting $1 million in revenue in just four years. “I don't think either of us would be able to run this business alone,” Laura says.
What does it take to be an entrepreneur FAQ
What skills are required for entrepreneurship?
Aspiring entrepreneurs need vision, passion, and confidence to bring their ideas to life. It’s also essential to develop self-awareness, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills to help guide you through the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Can anyone become an entrepreneur?
Yes, anyone can become an entrepreneur. You need a product idea and a handful of essential business skills and traits including creative problem-solving, confidence, and passion.
Why is being an entrepreneur hard?
Successful entrepreneurship requires the ability to accept operational and financial risk. You must also have resilience to overcome inevitable challenges. Becoming a successful entrepreneur takes patience and hard work; you’ll likely need to dedicate long hours in your quest to establish your own company.
