On National Entrepreneur’s Day 5.9. the first Waffle Wednesday event took place at Wonderland’s coworking facilities. Waffle Wednesday is a series of events for creative professionals, startups and business leaders. For people who want to expand their horizons, network, learn and get inspiration from professionals in different fields. The morning events are free-form discussions with waffles that start with a 20-minute case study or an intro by the speaker. Then we eat some waffles and continue the discussion! Events are also open to non-coworking members.

Kim Heiniö, a restaurant owner and entrepreneur, was the first to talk about the challenges, tops and the importance of perseverance in his ten-year career. Heiniö has compiled a list of 10 skills and attributes that have been the keys to his success. If you’re wondering how to succeed as an entrepreneur, take a look at the list below!

ENTREPRENEURS TOP 10

1. CURIOSITY

It is important to be interested in things and curious about how businesses work and how things are run. When a restaurant owner walks in to a new restaurant, the eye automatically hits the number of waiters, the logistics of the place, the customers and how the kitchen works. Satisfying your curiosity leads to learning new things and deepening your understanding of your business field.

2. PASSION

Without passion, you will not succeed. It goes without saying that passion helps to cope with the challenges. However, it is especially important that passion is transmitted. Passion shines through meetings with investors, customers, and partners. Passion is the one who will separate you from your competitors and convince the stakeholders that it is worth taking a leap of faith with you to the unknown.

3. TRUST THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU

Trusting people is a difficult but important trait. When your business grows and hires more employees, delegating and giving responsibility to others is a must. This is particularly emphasized in Heiniö’s companies; The restaurant business is 100% a people business and individual restaurants cannot be controlled with precision. The same situation is for all growth companies: at some point you have to give up some of the control. Transferring responsibility to others is not easy, after all you have grown your business with love from an idea to practice. However, it is important to trust the employees and give them the responsibility. This frees up the entrepreneur’s time to handle the big lines, and in particular gives others the opportunity to grow and develop in their work.

4. TOLERATE STRESS

Entrepreneurship is a truly rewarding, but a rocky road. Most will experience failures, after which you have to find a way to continue with persistence. Many will believe and hope that you have failed. It can be hard financially from time to time and staff challenges fluctuate on larger companies regularly. Good stress tolerance is an indispensable feature for an entrepreneur to keep things in perspective and to look at different problems objectively without losing your sleep. Everyone will surely have some sleepless nights but stress should not be allowed to take over.

5. DO YOUR THING HELLA’ GOOD

It’s important to do your own thing boldly and simply really well. Do not do anything without effort; contribution to branding, business idea, product and any other essentials. If you need help with something, it’s always available. Keep the focus on your business’s core competencies where you are good at. Branching brings half done projects with it, that take more time and energy than bring in turnover or happiness.

6. NETWORKING

Networking has been talked about since school with such a passion that for many it has become a curse word. Although it is one of the biggest clichés in business, networking is really important. You never know who you will meet in any occasion later in your career. A successful concept is challenging to get launched alone, with no contacts.

7. SELL SELL SELL

Not all of us are sellers and that’s okay. However, the entrepreneur must be able to sell their business, be it to investors or customers. You may have the world’s best idea in the back pocket, but if you can’t sell your stuff to others, you can throw in the towel. So, learn to sell or hire someone who can.

8. BALANCE IN LIFE

As remote working, mobility and various forms of work increase, the limits of leisure and work are becoming more and more blurred. For entrepreneurs, the phenomenon is more pronounced than on line workers, as it is often assumed that they can be reached around the clock. This isn’t easy, so be sure to seek balance to your life. Family, friends, hobbies – everyone needs different things alongside the job to be able to push forward healthy and effective.

9. COURAGE

Every new innovation needs courage. No progress can be made without risk, and nobody can know what new things will become. The unknown and failing are frightening, so entrepreneurs need courage, sometimes even recklessness, to try their own thing.

10. ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS

As an entrepreneur, you will find that people are waiting for you to make decisions. You can consult, ask and think about things together with people, but in the end, you are the one who makes the last decision. So, learn how to make decisions with a quick and secure grip because you have to solve both small and big problems. You might be scared of the first big decisions, but you have to make a decision and move on.