Interviews by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Since entrepreneurs tend to fill many roles in their business—especially in the start-up phase—they need an impressive cadre of skills and traits to become successful. We recently asked area business leaders about what traits they believe entrepreneurs should possess.
“Patience! It can take hard work for a long time. Most people do not find huge success like suddenly winning the lottery. It’s usually step by step and over time you’ve added many miles and growth. The ability to ‘grind’ and make things happen even when you’re told, ‘You can’t do that.’”
Anthony Pauldine, Owner, Anthony M. Pauldine General Contractors Inc., Oswego
“They should be self-starters. Entrepreneurs are people who are willing to go above and beyond the current task at hand. They need to be someone who is able to tackle any challenges and who looks for problems to be solved for other people. People will pay to have their problems solved. Entrepreneurs don’t get deterred from negative situations. They have the ability to have a good relationship with customers.”
Rob Born, Dispatcher, Chiasson’s Heating and Air Conditioning, Oswego
“An entrepreneur needs to possess skills to first be able to communicate with others and to always be motivated about what they do. They always need to have a vision for change.”
William Galloway, Broker-owner, Century 21 Galloway Realty
“Hard work. The harder you work, the ‘luckier’ you become. ‘Never give up, never give up, never give up.’ I stole that from Winston Churchill. Remember to treat others as you yourself would like to be treated. It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. All that matters is what you do today.”
Bernard Brzostek, Owner Brzostek’s Auction Service Inc. & Brzostek’s Real Estate Auction Co., Inc., Baldwinsville
“An entrepreneur is a person who markets and promotes. I read Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biography recently. He’s one of the most successful immigrants in history. He has had all kinds of businesses. He says everything is a sale. You’re selling something with every interaction in business and socially too. If you’re asking someone out on a date, you’re ‘selling’ yourself on the other person. You can be the greatest artist or writer in the world, but if no one knows who you are, the paintings or books won’t sell. You have to market. You have to increase your outreach. Arnold said his movies did better than his competitors because he was willing to go on the road, engage in the grind and promote the movies. He was putting backsides in theater seats.”
Ben Rayland, Certified strength and conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and owner, Rampage Strength and Conditioning, East Syracuse
“I think you’ve got to be persistent. You have got to put everything into it. You have to work hard at it; it doesn’t just come to you, that’s for sure. In this type of business, you definitely have to be people-oriented. You are dealing with the public all of the time. You certainly wouldn’t be able to succeed with zero personality or if you were nasty to people. You’ve got to enjoy being around the public to do this kind of work.”
Jim Barnes, Manager, Fulton Taxi Service, Fulton
“I think the biggest trait is to not be afraid to take on jobs, work or challenges that you’re unfamiliar with. Success is born from failure and attempts to succeed. If you’re not trying, you’ll never succeed. You need to be a self-starter who has ambition. The ability to listen is important. You need to acknowledge any weakness and flaws you have. You have to especially embrace the idea that you may not know everything. That’s a big one. Remain teachable. No matter how long you’ve been doing something, you may be able to learn something. Depending on the business, you need the ability to identify with customers and to empathize with them.”
Bob DeStevens, Owner, Fulton Appliance Repair, Fulton
“Consistency and diligence. Those are the two big ones for me. In my opinion, if you stick with it, and stay on track with the goals you set, it’s inevitable that you’ll meet the goals eventually. That’s what it takes to be an entrepreneur.”
Ryan Mackridge, Owner, Hands On Home Inspections LLC, Pennellville
“Entrepreneurs need self-discipline and work ethic because there’s so much work to do. If you can’t be a self-starter and get up in the morning and figure out what is most important to do and have an action plan, you’re going nowhere. I also think adaptability is crucial because every day something changes and you really have to move and roll with the punches. One of the things in real estate is being tenacious and having perseverance. You can’t give up. Things will go wrong but you have to be a problem- solver to change course sometimes and stick with it. Don’t give up. Keep going. A lot of people quit too early. The thing that I don’t have that my parents, Jack and Faye Beckwith, have is vision. Even though I’m an entrepreneur, I’m not a person who comes up with the big ideas. My parents run the tree farm, their music business and the real estate business. They look for a need to fill and it’s something they have a passion for. There are so many hard days. If you don’t have a passion for what you’re doing, you won’t stay in it.”
Noelle Beckwith Salmonsen, Accredited buyer’s representative, licensed salesperson with Freedom Real Estate in Hannibal
“Motivation is a big one. You have to have confidence. I believe you have to have a knowledge of whatever business you’re going into to be successful. You also need ambition.”
Mike Poppe, Finance manager Guy’s Automotives, Syracuse
“You need a lot of patience—a lot. You need good skills in what you’re going to go into.”
Bob McCarthy, Office manager, CJ’s Car America, Cicero
“They need to have a growth mindset and be able to embrace change to ebb and flow with their business. They need to find a workaround and not quit at every failure so they can get to that path, that goal that they’re working towards.
Shelley Hoffman, NYS licensed real estate broker, HHC Realty, Baldwinsville
“These days, you need patience — a lot of it. Finding good help is impossible. Impossible! I’m always looking for good help and am yet to get good help. I have help that comes in when they want and leaves when they want and do what they want and I can’t say anything about it because I need the help.”
Ryan Shmitty, Manager, JD Motors, Fulton
“Perseverance and motivation. Everyone wants to be lazy. You’ve got to get up and get going to be successful.”
Ricky Clark, Sales manager CNY Drives North, Fulton
“You have to know your market and find your niche. That’s how I figured it out here, what my customers want. We provide Southern vehicles that are rust-free. You have to be thick- skinned to handle whatever is thrown at you. Entrepreneurs have to be able to take risks.”
Sam Reina, Owner Reina Motor Car, Oswego
