The traits of success according to those who made it: a survey of successful entrepreneurs in northeastern Thailand

One of the most common questions business students have is what characteristics successful business people possess. This study interviewed 200 successful entrepreneurs in Northeast Thailand between 2010 and 2011 to find their common, vital characteristics. Atlas.ti software, frequency-weighted average scores (FWA), the Pareto method, and Venn diagrams were used to determine five important categories of characteristics. Results reveal three characteristics with high FWA scores at the intersection namely, joy of developing, integrity, and striving. These three characteristics are a common personality trait among all successful business people (regardless of gender, age, education, length of time in business and type of business). Smaller replications of the study were carried out in 2012–2013 and 2014–2015, respectively to validate the findings. The findings demonstrated the same three characteristics as outstanding personality traits of successful entrepreneurs in the North-eastern region of Thailand.