Have you ever thought of quitting your oppressive 9-5 job and venturing into the entrepreneurial world? In today’s technologically advanced world there are so many opportunities for people who want to be freelancers, business owners, influencers, and creatives! The opportunities are literally endless. And each of you has unique gifts and abilities that you can bring to your new life of independence. This article is going to challenge you to at least toy with the idea of entrepreneurship. What can you bring to the table business-wise? Why does the world need your specific strengths? Let’s find out!

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Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Why You Should Be an Entrepreneur, Based on Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

ENFPs and INFPs

As an NFP, you are intrigued by possibilities beyond the known. You have a sense that everything in your life is meant to be used in service of a higher purpose – whether that’s to bring meaning to the world, to improve the lives of people, or to create a fairer environment. You are open-minded, curious, and deeply insightful. Your eye for innovation makes you an ideal entrepreneur in many ways. Rather than “re-inventing the wheel,” you’re the type of person who will come up with something completely new and infused with meaning and personal significance.

Other Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Openness to risk. You’d rather be free to explore new opportunities than be bound by convention and rules
• Creativity and innovation
• Flexibility
• Imagination
• Independent mindset. You’re not afraid to go it alone or do something without a “group.”
• Ability to inspire others.
• Skill at understanding people and empathizing with their needs.

Things to Look Out For:

• Don’t lose sight of the details by becoming so wrapped up in possibilities! This can trip you up in the long run.
• Finish projects you start by breaking them down into bite-sized pieces.
• Get advice from people with opposite preferences to keep your blind spots in check.
• If you’re going through an emotionally tumultuous time, get help. Seek counseling when you have personal problems so that they don’t overwhelm you.
• Don’t burn out. Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming! Make sure that you’re getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and drinking enough water – it will help you to think more clearly and be more creative!

Read This Next: An In-Depth Guide to How INFPs and ENFPs Think

ENTPs and INTPs

What do you get when you blend creativity and innovation with unstoppable intellectual prowess? A world-changing entrepreneur with groundbreaking ideas. NTPs, you were MADE for the world of entrepreneurship. You are independent, ambitious, and you love dreaming up possibilities that are unpredictable and novel. You have a certain rugged individualism that makes the uncertainty of entrepreneurship manageable. There’s risk involved? Great! You don’t like anything predictable. There’s less job security? No problem – you’d rather deal with that than be stuck under someone else’s rules and procedures. So put on your thinking cap (oh wait, you’re always wearing that) and come up with a business or startup idea that will change the world and bring your strongest skills to the table!

Other Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Flexibility
• Creativity
• Imagination
• Analytical mindset. You enjoy exploring systems, understanding processes, and engineering solutions.
• Strategic skills. You are gifted at abstractly analyzing a situation and considering unthought-of possibilities and potential.
• You don’t mind going it alone, even if “the group” isn’t on your side.

Things to Look Out For:

• Don’t overlook the necessary details. In your quest for innovation and creativity, don’t forget all the nitty-gritty details that can trip you up (like paying the bills, looking up legal requirements, etc,.)
• Finish projects you start by breaking them down sequentially.
• Get advice from people with opposite preferences so that you don’t fall prey to your blind spots.
• Remember that winning people over is often part of entrepreneurship. Marketing, connecting, and networking are all aspects of it. This can be exciting for ENTPs and a little nerve-wracking for INTPs. Pay close attention to how others perceive you. Show tact and be considerate when listening. Don’t forget the interpersonal skills needed for entrepreneurship.

Read This Next: Here’s What It’s Like Inside the Minds of the INTP, INFP, ENTP, or ENFP Personality Types

INFJs and ENFJs

Visionary. Empathic. Strategic. These are three words that define the NFJ personality types. You grasp trends, patterns, and themes that span forwards in time and can predict endeavors that may actually work. You’re good at picturing a future goal and working backward to figure out how to get there. You’re also gifted at understanding people and how to get them on board with your team, idea, or product. This intuitive excellence can make you unstoppable in the entrepreneurial industry.

Other Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Imagination
• Planning capabilities
• You don’t mind reaching for a goal that is unconventional.
• Willingness to think outside-the-box.
• Unique understanding of people and what will motivate or inspire them.
• Insight into future possibilities/pitfalls.

Things to Look Out For:

• Don’t overlook details. You’re a big-picture person, but those nitty-gritty details are important to iron out. Don’t forget to pay your bills, take care of legal matters, and give team-members specific instructions.
• Don’t let emotions cloud your judgment. Sometimes you can get so caught up in the emotional needs of the people around you that you pick apart your business to make everyone happy. Remember to stand up for your vision, even if it means having to fire someone, give critique, or go against convention.
• Remember your health. Don’t get so wrapped up in the hard work of running a business that you run yourself into the ground. Get enough sleep, drink enough water, and eat healthy meals.
• Have realistic expectations. Being an entrepreneur is a lot of hard work and it can take a few failures until before you get your business off the ground. Don’t give up! Make sure you do some “reality testing” to ensure that you’re making wise decisions.
• Get wisdom from people with opposite type preferences so that you don’t overlook anything significant.

Read This Next: Inspiring Morning Routines for INFJs, ENFJs, INFPs, and ENFPs

The Unique Intelligence of INFJs, INTJs, ENFJs, and ENTJs

INTJs and ENTJs

With your long-range vision and eye for effectiveness, there’s almost no goal too out-of-reach. As an NTJ you have the capability to not only see what’s possible but to strategically organize everything around you to achieve your objective with the least possible expenditure. You’re on-time, efficient, and decisive. These characteristics give you a leg-up in an industry where too many people play it safe or get lost in procrastination and over-thinking.

Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Rational Thought. You want to know the logical reason for everything and can keep a level-head about business matters.
• You’re able to keep your eye on the end-goal without getting distracted by a lot of unrelated activities or alternatives.
• Vision for long-range implications
• Independent mindset
• Ability to anticipate trends
• Ability to assimilate and synthesize complex information

Things to Look Out For:

• Value the art of diplomacy and tact. This will help you to get people on board with your ideas or product.
• Because you’re so sure of your vision and competence, you may appear arrogant to potential employees or investors. Take time to listen actively. Make sure you’re not making incorrect assumptions.
• Be flexible and willing to get a second opinion before rushing headlong in one direction.
• Get input from people with opposite preferences (Sensors, Perceivers, or Feelers) to make sure you don’t have any blind spots that might trip you up later.
• You’re a big-picture person, but don’t forget to get the more mundane details taken care of that might cause problems later.

Read This Next: Inspiring Morning Routines for INTJs, ENTJs, INTPs, and ENTPs

The Career Nightmare of Every Myers-Briggs® Personality Type

ESFPs and ISFPs

Boldness, flexibility, and individuality are three things that embody your personality type. You have the gift of not only being resourceful and pragmatic, but creative and nuanced in your emotional expression. You have the gumption to take risks and trust your instincts. In fact, you become restless when life feels too predictable. You also have the bravery to be uniquely you without feeling like you have to “jump on a bandwagon” and replicate others. This means that whether you’re creating music, selling something, or creating comedy skits for YouTube, you infuse your one-of-a-kind energy and raw emotion into all of it.

Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Strong negotiating skills
• Ability to improvise and be flexible
• Precise attention to detail
• Realistic, pragmatic outlook
• Authenticity and emotional sincerity
• Ability to stay calm in a crisis
• Ability to contextualize things and see what’s relevant
• Creative and experimental approach to life

Things to Look Out For:

• Don’t be so quick to take action that you “leap before you look” and wind up regretting it later.
• Emotional roadblocks. If your life is in turmoil then it can be next-to-impossible to focus on work. Don’t be afraid to get counseling or ask for emotional support when you need it.
• It can be easy to start a project and then find yourself looking to more entertaining options. Remember that a certain amount of boredom is built-in to almost any successful project being completed. Push yourself through the boredom with the sight of a reward at the end.
• Make sure to cover your blind spots by seeking input from people with opposite preferences (Thinking types, intuitives, and judgers).

Read This Next: The Unique Intelligence of ESFPs, ESTPs, ISFPs, and ISTPs

ESTPs and ISTPs

You’re not the type who tries to play it safe, so while entrepreneurship scares off some –you’re up for the task! You are someone who isn’t afraid of risk, adapting, and acting in a crisis. You’re also someone who wants to have an immediate impact – so whether you’re selling your own creations, setting up a consulting firm, or recording your performances for YouTube – everything you do has a way of making people’s eyes light up. You enjoy the rush of seeing results and you pay attention to all the details that make a business compelling. Your skill at troubleshooting and strengths at presenting are all things that will help you succeed.

Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Impact-Focus. You know how to make your product or business compelling.
• Improvisational skills.
• Not afraid of risk
• Ability to think-outside-the-box
• Quick use of logic to anchor decisions and actions.
• Knowledge of systems and underlying frameworks.
• Ability to contextualize things to see what’s relevant.

Things to Look Out For:

• When you’re in the middle of a task it can start to become slow and mundane and other experiences may distract you. Learn to accept the boredom that is inevitable when you have a long task to complete. Give yourself a reward to look forward to at the end!
• Don’t get lost in the details. You are so intensely observant and detail-oriented that it can be easy to get wrapped up in making something perfect and lose sight of the big picture.
• Look before you leap! Before acting on something, take some time to assess the long-term implications or possibilities.
• Embrace diplomacy and tact. These things will help you to better sell your product or idea to clients or investors.
• As I’ve suggested with all the types, try to get input from people with opposite preferences. This will help you not to have any blind-spots in your process or planning. This means talk to some feelers, intuitives, and judgers to make sure you’re not missing anything important.

Read This Next: Here’s What It’s Like Inside the Mind of an ISTP, ISFP, ESTP or ESFP

ESFJs and ISFJs

A steadfast sense of purpose is something that drives you and helps you to succeed as a business owner. As an SFJ you hunger for responsibility, usefulness, and structure. These are things that make you stand out as an entrepreneur. Your careful, detailed planning abilities help you to build a strong foundation for your business. Your patience and methodical working style help you to stay on course without getting distracted. You’re not someone who will forget the important details like filing the right paperwork with the state or paying your taxes on time. You’re also someone with a strong insight into human needs and motivations. This helps you to create products that people actually want and need. Your diplomatic skills help you to make strong connections and win over clients and investors. Your dependability and follow-through help you to stick through the long and tiring hours that are inevitable in building a business. You know that at the end of all your hard work you’ll have the security and joy of being your own boss, setting your own rules, and creating a work environment tailored to your specific values.

Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Logistical skills. You have a knack for getting things to the right people, at the right place, at the right time.
• Patience
• You take your decisions seriously and will run a business with integrity.
• You naturally create a sense of order, sequence, and schedule in your business.
• You’ll make sure that you aren’t getting tripped up over minor oversights.
• Attention to detail
• Skill at empathizing with people and understanding their needs

Things to Look Out For:

• Getting lost in the details. Don’t spend a month trying to get the perfect brand colors before you start creating content or develop a clear strategy. Prioritize your tasks so that you don’t lose time and money on minor details.
• Get support. A certain amount of risk and insecurity is inevitable when starting your own business. In order to stay strong and confident be sure to have supportive friendships or counseling available to get you through the rough times.
• Be strong with criticism. It can be hard to deliver critiques to employees or to accept criticism from clients or consultants. Remember that this is just part of being an entrepreneur and you can handle this! Remember your strengths and remember your support group.
• You’ve got the Sensing/Feeling/Judging side of things figured out, but what about the other parts of the equation? Get input from thinking types, perceiving types, and intuitives so that you don’t have any blind spots in your strategy or plan.

Read This Next: 10 Unique Qualities of the ISFJ, ISTJ, ESFJ & ESTJ Personality Types

ESTJs and ISTJs

As an entrepreneur, you are determined, decisive, and detail-oriented. These three qualities alone give you a leg up on any competition you might have. You’re also gifted at planning, logistics, and organizing ideas and information in a usable way. You’re not just a dreamer – you know how to get things done. When you get a business idea and you’re ready to run with it, you build a solid foundation for that business by attending to every detail, creating contingency plans, and making sure there aren’t any loopholes that you’re forgetting about. You’re not a natural risk-taker, but that can be a good thing. This means that you won’t fall prey to neglecting any little details that trip up more impulsive types. As an entrepreneur your common-sense and responsibility make you stand out.  The beginning phase of starting a business can be scary – you might have some failures or you might have some uncertainty. But if you can be steadfast and push through that phase, you’ll love the increased independence and freedom you get from being you own boss.

Strengths You Bring to the Table:

• Logistical skills.
• Strength at creating outlines, prioritizing, and planning.
• Skill at breaking large projects down into sequential steps.
• Responsible, reliable nature.
• Attention to detail.
• Leadership skills.
• Methodical, determined work style.
• Practical outlook.

Things to Look Out For:

• Don’t play it too safe. Entrepreneurship involves a certain amount of risk. Sometimes it means hiring new people instead of doing everything yourself. Sometimes it means actually going after your dream without paying attention to naysayers. Network with other entrepreneurs to get support in your journey.
• Don’t get lost in the details. You’re kind of a perfectionist when it comes to all the nitty-gritty details that make a business work. This can be a good thing AND a bad thing. Don’t get so caught up in more minor details that your bigger plans get off-track.
• Don’t de-value tactfulness and diplomacy. Whether you’re hiring employees, pitching your startup idea to investors, or marketing to clients – knowing how to win people over and prioritize their needs is essential.
• Get insight from people with opposite types so that you don’t wind up with any blind-spots in your planning.

Read This Next: The Unique Intelligence of the ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, and ESFJ Personality Types

What Are Your Thoughts?

Do you agree with this article? Disagree? Do you have any tips for other people of your type? Let us know in the comments!

Find out more about your personality type in our eBooks, Discovering You: Unlocking the Power of Personality Type,  The INFJ – Understanding the Mystic, and The INFP – Understanding the Dreamer. You can also connect with me via Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!