David Kollar
Success has nothing to do with introversion, extroversion, or personality type. There’s a key set of traits that set truly successful entrepreneurs apart and allow them to achieve success.
I spoke with David Kollar, founder of multi-million dollar clothing brand Kollar Clothing, to find out what traits have helped him achieve his success.
Have a driving force behind what you do
Kollar learned that the way you dress can have an impact on your confidence from a young age. He took inspiration from observing people that were well dressed and projected confidence to inspire his line of clothing, and made it his goal that everyone who wears Kollar Klothing is able to feel more confident in their appearance. “I wasn’t that confident growing up, especially wearing clothes that weren’t exactly in style. When I started to being able to dress myself and put outfits together, I realized that it made me feel a certain way.” Kollar explained.
Be a self-starter
You don’t need to have a formal education to become a successful entrepreneur. In fact, many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs don’t have degrees or formal qualifications. What they do have is a desire to learn, grow, and develop themselves. Kollar is fully self-taught, learning from mentors, connecting with experts, watching tutorials on YouTube, and in general having a desire to become the best he can be in all aspects of his business from design to operations.
Resilience
You have to be ready for whatever comes your way as an entrepreneur. How well you’re able to adapt, pivot, reframe, reimagine, or reinvent your product or brand is the one determining factor in continued success. Without resilience, it’s easy to let challenges and setbacks weigh you down. With resilience, you’re able to push through challenges and come out stronger on the other side.
Creativity and problem-solving
Creativity is basically a requirement for entrepreneurs, and it’s applicable to all parts of a business from product creation to business operations. Being an entrepreneur often requires out-of-the-box thinking to find creative ways to finance your product, raise brand awareness, get things done a shoestring budget or with a limited number of employees, and manage your time while juggling tasks.
Relationship building
Kollar started out by saving up money to exhibit at a trade show, and from there was able to expand into retail stores and major outlets, all thanks to the relationships that he’s built over the years. Building relationships is only half the equation, however. Maintaining them is key to long-lasting success.
Kollar uses this to foster relationships with celebrity clients, including Stephen Curry and Shawn Mendes. “We maintain these long relationships through check-ins. Maybe once or twice a month I’ll personally message them, because these are really big relationships. I always make it a point to be genuinely curious about how they’re doing and then follow up with a quick ‘hey, do you need new clothes for the season?’ question at the end.” explained Kollar. He also reaches out to people who share posts with his clothing on social media, as those relationships can help grow the brand authentically and organically.
Tenacity
Drive, determination, and persistence are qualities that all successful entrepreneurs credit with their success. You have to be willing and able to push through challenges, not back down from adversity, and pursue opportunities to their fullest. If you’re wiling to take big risks and aren’t afraid of a challenge, you’re on the right path towards success.
