There Is No One “Right” Personality to Succeed as an Entrepreneur
When we hear the word entrepreneur, most of us immediately picture a certain type of person. Adventurous. Aggressive. Confident. Charismatic. Someone who loves the spotlight and knows how to sell themselves effortlessly.
Popular culture has reinforced this image for years.
Take Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group. He is often portrayed as the ultimate entrepreneur—bold, daring, and flashy. Over the years, he has pulled off countless PR stunts, from cross-dressing as an air stewardess to driving a tank into Times Square. His public persona is loud, playful, and impossible to ignore.
Another common example is Steve Jobs. He was highly charismatic and an incredible presenter. His product launches attracted massive audiences, and he convinced millions of people to buy Apple products through powerful storytelling and stage presence.
Mainstream media loves highlighting these personality traits. Movies, interviews, and success stories tend to focus on entrepreneurs who are outspoken, confident, and persuasive.
The problem with this narrative is that it creates a dangerous assumption:
that there is only one way to succeed in entrepreneurship.
It makes people believe that if they are not charismatic, outgoing, or naturally good at selling, then entrepreneurship is not for them. Either you fit the mold, or you are doomed to fail.
But that simply isn’t true.
The Entrepreneurs We Don’t See in Movies
What the media rarely shows are the many successful entrepreneurs who are quiet, reserved, and uncomfortable in the spotlight.
A perfect example is Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford was not a stereotypical entrepreneur. He wasn’t known for being a great salesman, a strong speaker, or a media personality. Instead, his strength was systems thinking.
Before Ford, cars were built manually by skilled workers, one at a time. This process required a lot of time, labor, and money. Cars were expensive and only accessible to a small group of people.
Ford changed everything by introducing the assembly line production system. By breaking down the manufacturing process into simple, repeatable steps, he dramatically increased efficiency.
As a result, Ford managed to reduce the cost of producing a car by as much as 90 percent.
This single system innovation made his company wildly successful. Cars became affordable to the masses, demand skyrocketed, and supply struggled to keep up.
The most interesting part?
Henry Ford didn’t need to be an eloquent salesman or a creative marketer like Steve Jobs. His pricing and efficiency alone created massive demand. People lined up to buy his cars.
His success came not from charisma, but from operational brilliance.
“But That’s for Big Companies—What About Small Businesses?”
At this point, you might be thinking:
“That’s fine for billion-dollar companies, but what about SMEs? Don’t small businesses need sales to grow?”
That was exactly my concern as well.
I didn’t come from a sales background. I’m an introvert, and I prefer working behind the scenes. When I entered the agency business, I quickly realized that the industry was heavily driven by sales.
Traditionally, agencies acted as the sales arm of media companies like newspapers and TV stations. They sold advertising space and took a commission. Because of this, many agency founders were naturally strong salespeople.
Most of the pioneers and competitors in my industry grew through cold calling and one-to-one sales. These were confident, persuasive people who could talk comfortably with strangers.
When we started our agency, I did what many people do—I copied what others were doing.
We began cold calling. We hired people to cold call. We experimented with different opening lines and different databases. But no matter how hard we tried, it just didn’t work.
We barely closed any deals.
Eventually, I realized the problem wasn’t the strategy itself—it was that the strategy wasn’t aligned with who I was.
Even when I hired salespeople, I couldn’t give them proper direction because sales was not my strength. I was trying to force myself into a role that didn’t fit my personality.
Finding a Strategy That Fit My Strengths
Ironically, for a digital marketing agency, we didn’t even consider digital marketing at the start.
We assumed that following the traditional agency model was the “correct” path. But once we shifted our approach, everything changed.
Digital marketing worked extremely well for us.
I discovered that I perform much better with a one-to-many approach rather than one-to-one sales. Instead of cold calling, we started doing webinars, YouTube videos, and paid ads.
This approach allowed me to spend hours crafting the perfect message—thinking deeply about what we wanted to say, how we wanted to say it, and who we wanted to reach.
That suited me far better than having to come up with something persuasive within two seconds on a phone call.
I was finally playing in my strengths zone.
Our ad copies performed very well, and clients who found us online consistently said the same thing:
“Our message feels different.”
It wasn’t the usual annoying sales pitch like “Grow your business 10x” or “Make $10,000 a month.” A lot of thought and research went into our messaging, and that helped us stand out in a crowded newsfeed.
There Are Many Ways to Win in Business
What I learned from this experience is that business is not black and white.
Unlike mathematics, there is no single correct answer or fixed path to success. Just because a strategy works for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you.
The key is to find and leverage your strengths.
It took me many years to realize this, and I honestly wish someone had told me earlier.
Beyond charismatic entrepreneurs like Richard Branson or systematic entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, there are many other types of entrepreneurs.
For example, there are intellectual entrepreneurs like Robert Kiyosaki and Tim Ferriss. They built success by developing powerful ideas, writing books, and creating movements around their concepts.
Robert Kiyosaki popularized the idea of the Cashflow Quadrant and turned it into books, board games, and training programs. These intellectual assets became long-term revenue streams.
Even if you’re not in the education or training industry, this approach still applies.
In marketing, Dharmesh Shah, the founder of HubSpot, coined the term inbound marketing. By creating a movement around that idea, people who believed in inbound marketing naturally gravitated toward his software. HubSpot eventually grew into a billion-dollar company.
You can do the same in any industry—create an intellectual asset and use it to dominate your space.
Know Yourself Before Copying Others
There are also creative entrepreneurs like Walt Disney and networker entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey. The point is simple: there are many different paths to success.
To find yours, you must look at your own background.
Before digital marketing, I taught soft skills to junior college students and working adults. I enjoyed teaching and simplifying complex ideas. It was both an interest and a strength.
But I ignored that for a long time because I was too busy watching what others were doing.
Once we leaned into education-based content, everything changed. Over the years, our business grew from 2 people to 30 people and became part of the top 3 percent of agencies in Singapore. Today, around 80 percent of our clients come from this approach.
In hindsight, it sounds obvious. But at the time, it never crossed my mind that teaching videos could be our main growth driver.
Forge Your Own Path
The lesson is clear:
Don’t blindly copy others just because they seem successful.
When you copy someone else’s strategy, you will never execute it as well as they do—because it’s not in your DNA.
Instead, find your own path. Leverage your talents. Play to your strengths.
That is where real, sustainable success comes from.
