A first-quarter survey of startup entrepreneurs’ confidence levels found a whopping 91 per cent were “confident” or “very confident” that their companies would become more profitable in the coming 12 months.

Nearly half anticipate hiring more employees in that time, according to the April poll of nearly 2,000 CEOs by LegalZoom.

That doesn’t surprise Corrine Sandler, CEO of business intelligence company Fresh Intelligence Research, who has worked with Fortune 500 companies for more than 20 years.

“Any natural entrepreneur is bursting with confidence, both in him- or herself and in the conditions they control,” says Sandler.

This is the first of five essential personality traits that successful entrepreneurs tend to have.

1. Confidence

Confidence is the first of the five key traits shared by successful entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurs need risk to thrive, so believing in themselves and the people they’ve put in positions of responsibility is essential,” she says. “There’s no room for doubt and second-guessing yourself.”

Use your strengths to shine and hire people to handle the jobs that don’t play to your strengths, she advises. You’ll reinforce your own positive self-image and you’ll give those around you even greater confidence in you, which will help feed your belief in yourself.

2. Passion

It can’t be developed through leadership training, but everyone has the capacity for it, Sandler says: “It’s the source of incredible energy that feeds on one of our most powerful emotions and compels entrepreneurs forward with excitement and enthusiasm.”

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