Abstract

One of the advantages of having a robust ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in a country is related to the number of jobs generated. Specifically, there are 1,992,578 entrepreneurs in Chile alone, representing 8.1% of GDP (INE, 2017; Ministry of Economy of Chile, 2017). However, statistics indicate that eight out of ten businesses fail to reach the year of life (Núñez, 2018) and that only 5% of new businesses will survive more than five years (Musso & Echecopar, 2012). Understanding the failure factors of entrepreneurs includes external aspects of the specific industry (market and competition) and internal elements associated with the lack of the necessary skills to be a successful entrepreneur (Campos, 2018). This study considers the internal perspective of entrepreneurs, and through qualitative interviews, more than 200 people sought to identify the competencies that constitute the essence of entrepreneurs, their knowledge, their skills and relationships with the environment. The analysis of these interviews determined the main 20 competencies of successful entrepreneurs, where empathy, Self-Awareness and Self-Motivation stood out. Additionally, the research addressed the challenge of designing an instrument that would determine the fundamental competencies that an individual should develop according to their purposes and personality and character traits. This study was part of a project funded by the CORFO agency in Chile, which aimed to create a digital tool to train entrepreneurs in various skills.