Let me get straight to the answer, here. In the end, successful entrepreneurship requires intellect and will. By very nature, an entrepreneur is a risk taker with a will to make things happen. But what if you’ve got doubts about the intellectual part?

I was talking to a friend recently about high school, explaining that I was a really bad student. And I was. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but the truth is, I spent so much time surfing and goofing off with friends that I barely maintained eligibility for school sports!

Let’s just say I didn’t run with the intellectually gifted in those days, and I’ve got the SAT to prove it.

Lucky for me, I chose to become an entrepreneur.

Frankly, entrepreneurship is a profession with a very low barrier to entry. Anyone can jump in. There’s no degree required. No special testing, and no need for an impressive pedigree. All that’s required is an individual with an idea, passion, and an iron-will.

I recently read an article by Thomas McCraw about Joseph Schumpter, a famed economist and highly successful entrepreneur. Schumpter was a bright and interesting man who liked to say that he aspired to be the greatest economist, lover, and horseman in the world. Then he’d pause before delivering his punchline: Things weren’t going so well with the horses.

He also had a lot to say about the entrepreneurial psyche. He carefully explained how innovation and creativity were at the very root of successful entrepreneurship. Schumpter had a keen appreciation for the tremendous obstacles that business operators must overcome.

Schumpter held that successful innovation, and therefore, successful entrepreneurship is “a feat not of intellect but of will.”

I like that. While I believe that both will and intellect contribute to success, basically what Schumpter says here is true. The profession of entrepreneurship requires will, heart, and tenacity more than it requires intellect and book smarts.

The irony is that through the obstacles of entrepreneurship, the obstacles that require an iron-will to push through, one is forced to think through every detail and find smart solutions. They’re forced to develop some intellectual capacity.

So, successful entrepreneurship definitely requires will. No doubt, intellectual capacity goes a long way in entrepreneurship, too. The good news for late bloomers like me is that even if all you’ve got to start with is the will to succeed, then go ahead and move forward because the very process of entrepreneurship will eventually develop your intellect, too.

For more information on this topic, check out these great blogs posts:
Success Principles: 11 Keys
The Attitude of Success
Survey: Few believe a good education is necessary
Do you think a degree is still necessary?