ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the thoughts, actions, and behaviors of the entrepreneurs themselves and common characteristics that many people believe, often incorrectly, creates successful entrepreneurs. It provides few examples of entrepreneurs' attitudes; thoughts, behaviors, and the external situation, demonstrating how these collectively can support entrepreneurial success. The chapter examines entrepreneurial identity and how it can impact entrepreneurial community involvement and presents discussion of some of the challenges of being an entrepreneur within an entrepreneurial community. The quote from entrepreneurial restaurateur Danny Bowien, co-founder of three independent restaurants around the United States, describes the challenges of opening, operating, and maintaining a successful entrepreneurial business venture. Identifying stable entrepreneurial characteristics is attractive because they would help identify potential entrepreneurs by simply administering a basic personality or job aptitude test. A significant amount of entrepreneurial personality research, in particular, has been criticized for low effect sizes, small sample sizes, poor theoretical framework, and chiefly correlation designs.
