Sometimes when you're pondering what to do next in life, good advice can come when you wouldn't dare hoping anymore - like when you're getting your hair cut.

Joan*, the hairstylist giving me a trim, mused aloud about what she was planning to do with her career. Cutting hair was just one part of her livelihood; she was also a professional caregiver as well as the owner of a rig that her husband operated. But her husband was about to retire from the road, and now they were wondering, “What next?”

Over the course of our brief conversation, in no more than the time it took Joan to cut my hair, I picked up on three attributes of her success that are helpful for any entrepreneur:

Practical.

Listening to her brainstorm reminded me that successful entrepreneurs know how to keep their feet on the ground. First, they get inspired through personal observation, developing ideas from needs they see in the world around them. Second, they develop a concrete plan. They may work the plan, changing it as they go, but always with an eye towards getting a good return.

Purposeful.

People with a practical outlook seek opportunities that add value, as opposed to opportunities that just seem “cool.” (It’s easy to forget this distinction, especially in well-established organisations.) Their focus is offering products and services that customers need and will pay for. For instance, Joan’s second job as a caregiver: that’s a service for which there is always a need.

Impatient.

Sure, patience is a virtue in some cases. But for an entrepreneur, so is impatience. Joan is eager to make things happen so that she can continue to earn a good living. When it comes time for her husband to leave the trucking business, she will be ready with another venture. Her gumption and ambition make her impatient for success, and that drive increases her chances of getting there.

There’s one final trait that successful entrepreneurs share: They realise that inspiration is useless without perspiration. During my 15 minutes in Joan’s chair, we talked about three different industries she’s involved in — personal service, health care, and transportation. People who work for themselves have to rely on their own get-up-and-go.

Individuals like Joan appreciate working for themselves since it manages a level of freedom. With procuring still drowsy everywhere firms, I speculate we will experience numerous all the more such business people. The eventual fate of our economy may in fact rely on such people, regardless of whether they are running an organisation that trims hair, or running an organisation that makes microprocessors.

Individuals who can think and plan ahead, are OK with instability, and have the teach to buckle down are an advantage for any nation — and we should discover approaches to put resources into them.

*Names have been changed.

Tax Store Accountants Chatswood.

Harvard Business Review: The 3 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs