Can You Be A Successful Introvert Entrepreneur?
A lot of introverts want to be business people. They want to be a work-from-home introvert entrepreneur because it means they can limit their interaction with others and all the other bonuses that come with that.
Yet there are a lot of examples and misconceptions about what an “entrepreneur” is, and even “studies” to suggest that CEO’s are six foot white fifty year old men with highly charismatic, narcissist and extrovert tendencies.
Add that to the general “woe is me” that a lot of introverts feel… and you get the common question,
“Is it possible to be an introvert entrepreneur?”
Your Introversion Basically Has Nothing to Do With Anything
Introversion is basically a term to describe people who feel energetically drained by social interaction and rejuvenated by time alone.
Here’s what MBTI nerds won’t tell you: most of the “profiles” of different personality types are rubbish. They’re overblown in the same way that astrology is.
Do some people prefer their own company? Yes.
Do some people take more information from sensory experiences as opposed to intuitive deductions? Yes.
Are some people more open to seeking new experiences while others seek a single better experience? Yes.
But this idea that you’re either an extroverted charismatic cult leader type or the shy tragic romance hero, brooding in a corner and wistfully being misunderstood by the world, is nonsense.
In reality, personalities are malleable and you’ll adapt to the stimulus you place on yourself.
Now, to return to business talk… there are introvert entrepreneurs and there are extrovert entrepreneurs. The split is probably as even as the ratio between introvert and extrovert in the wider population… I don’t know.
There are extroverted computer programmers and there are introverted performing artists. Most of the general perceptions about what introverted behaviour and extroverted behaviour are as accurate as parodies.
Now… if you hate being around people for more than an hour at a time, then you probably shouldn’t be a party planner. Analyse your strengths and build a business plan around it. But the idea that you have to be some charismatic people person to succeed in business is false and demonstrably untrue if you just go outside.
I don’t really know what more to say so let’s address the biggest problem.
Introvert Entrepreneurs Get Business Without Networking?
I don’t do any networking. I’ve never done any “conscious” networking and yet I’ve had over 500 clients from every continent except Antarctica. I’ve met a small proportion of my clients in real life, and a lot of them I’ve never actually spoken to over Skype or the phone.
The majority of my clients come to me through email or some approximation of it.
We live in the Internet age. The networks have been built for you.
You can start a freelance business, create lead generation systems and never speak to a client or customer until they contact you.
Or you can go and find a forum or build one yourself. You can start a Twitter or hang out on your industry’s Reddit section.
I’d recommend you put out good content, help people solve their problems and generally build a reputation as someone that’s worth working with. Unsurprisingly, if you do this, then people will want to work with you.
If you don’t want to do serviced-based business and instead sell products, then you don’t need networking at all in the early stages. You create or source products and can automate the whole thing.
Generally, with the right email sequences, auto-responders and strategic approach to business, you can go weeks with your business ticking over without having to speak to another person if you don’t want.
… but you probably should.
Introversion Is Nothing New… But We’re The First Generation That Doesn’t Have To “Deal With It”
Let’s wrap this up with an important message. Introversion isn’t new. Personality quirks are pretty stable across generations and probably come from some evolutionary psychology principle about tribe cohesiveness needing a range of different skills and personality types.
For most of history, introverts had to deal with it. Extroverts had to deal with it too in different ways.
Now is the best time to be an introvert, because you can organise your whole life according to your introversion. You don’t have to go outside because everything can be delivered. You can build a business from home and limit your interaction with others. Finally, you can learn and experience all kinds of different skills, cultures and subjects just by watching videos delivered to a screen a foot in front of your face.
But should you?
You probably shouldn’t.