The Eight Habits Of Extremely Successful EntrepreneursGreat entrepreneurs dont write great books. In fact, they dont write many books at all.Neither fact is surprising. Successful entrepreneurs are typically too busy innovating to write down much of anything. And on those rare occasions when they attempt to create a book, its filled with what they did, and not what led to their idea in the first place. As a rule, they are not particularly introspective.So if we want to know what makes them successfulin order to improve our own companieswhether we work for a huge one or our own start upwe need to study them. And that is exactly what I have been doing professionally for the last 30 years.1. Look at How They Think, Not at What They Do. If you just observed the actions entrepreneurs take, you would conclude there isnt that much to be gained from studying them. Each entrepreneurs behavior is as idiosyncratic as they are. You would have to be Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start Google; Oprah Winfrey to found Harpo Productions.Butand it is a huge butif you look at how they reason, you see remarkable similarities. The process just about all of them follows in creating their companies looks like this. They:A. Figure out what they really want to do.B. Take a small step toward that goal.C. Pause after taking that small step to see what they have learned.D. Build off that learning and take another small step.E. Pause after taking that step.F. Build off what they learned in step two. And then take another small stepIf we were to reduce it to a formula, it would be Act. Learn. Build Repeat.Put simply, in the face of an unknown future, entrepreneurs act. They deal with uncertainty not by trying to analyze it, or planning for every contingency, or predicting what the outcomes will be. Instead, they act, learn from what they find, and act again.2. They Start with a Market Need. Ideas are easyI bet you can come up with 10 new product or service ideas within five minutes right now, if you had to. And because new ideas are plentiful, they are not worth very much. As with anything else, if there is a glutof ideas, in this casethe value goes down.Besides, there is no guarantee anyone will buy the great idea you have come up with. If you start with the idea, you need to go in search of customers. If you begin with the need, you already have a marketthe people who need what you have.If you can discover a market need you can make a fortune. But intriguingly, that is not the primary motivation of the most successful entrepreneurs, and that brings us to the next point.3. Dont Set Out to Be Rich. The best entrepreneurs dont have making a fortune as their goal, as they start off. Wealth is just (an extremely pleasant) byproduct.Why not focus on gaining wealth? Well, if your primary objective is to get rich quick, you are bound to cut corners, short-change your customers, and fail to take the time to truly understand what the market needs. And that is true whether you are trying to get your company off the ground, or are introducing a new product or service in order to make this quarters numbers.Instead, they identify the market need we talked about in point 2, and get to work.4. Marketing. (Psst. Compete Differently) The conventional wisdomfind a niche; zig when others zagis right, but not particularly helpful. It lacks, to be kind, specificity. Far better is to describe what the best entrepreneurs do and that is “compete differently.”How do they do it? Here are some examples:Make small bets. Your resources are limited and starting anything new is risky. You dont want to compound those risks by betting everything on one role of the dice.Make those small bets quickly. No, you dont want to lose money. But, since you are not risking much, you can afford to fail. Get out in the marketplace fast and let potential customers tell you if you are onto something. Action trumps everythingespecially planning.Where do you place those small bets? (I) Obviously, in areas where competitors dont exist, or are weak. Not so obviously, in places where you feel strong. That confidence will help you overcome the inevitable hurdles you will face.Where do you place those small bets? (II) No customer wants to be entirely dependent on just one supplier, no matter who it is. Ask yourself, what your competitors customers want. Better yet, ask those customers yourself.Let the market define you. People will tell you what they like, and what they dont, about your product. Incorporate their ideas with yours. Making the worlds best videocassette recorder does you no good, if what people really want are DVRs.Keep looking for placeswhere you have a genuine competitive edge. Thats where profitability and security lie. Tempting as it may be, dont try to buy your way into markets where you offer the same product at a lower price. Thats where youll be vulnerable.