Be cautious of these 5 types of people when you launch a business; they pose very real business threats.

1. The Jester
The Jester loves to passively take shots at your business idea in a playful manner. Jester's are fond of throwing out barbs such as "any profits today haha", or "here comes Donald Trump". They quickly follow up their barb by saying "I'm just kidding". The Jester is among the most irritating of personality types, but also the most satisfying when you shut him up


2. The Lottery Winner
The lottery winner likes to empathize with your entrepreneurial challenges because they see themselves as an entrepreneur too. What separates them from you, is that they inherited all of their contacts and business infrastructure from a family member. They basically had someone else run the marathon, and let them take the last few steps through the ribbon. While occasionally well-meaning, lottery winners often feel compelled to brag about their huge earnings, in an effort to assert superiority over your accomplishments. Don't worry about Lottery Winners; your success will be far more meaningful than theirs (if you can call what they walked into success)


3. The Cynic
The cynic feeds off disparaging comments. They love nothing more than breaking the morale of anyone that is working to accomplish more than they are. Their primary means of destruction revolves around 'convincing' you that your idea has no possibility to succeed. They will drill in on every possible problem you could encounter, and completely neglect any reason you can succeed. They are fond of saying things like "I just don't think anyone is going to care for that". Take note of what the cynic has accomplished in life. Almost all have stagnated in the same position for years, without any motivation to improve. The toll of their frustrating advice is less obvious than other business threats, but they can wear you down if you're not careful. Avoid them


4. The TimeCop
The TimeCops live in a world where there's seemingly no time to accomplish anything special. Jean Claude Van Damme sums up their mantra in the movie TimeCop, with the line "There is never enough time". Even reading a short business book is out of the question for them; there simply isn't time. They love to say "well that's great for you, but I don't have any free time because I have a job". It doesn't matter that you might have a job too; theirs is so much tougher, that there isn't a second in their day to work on a business (or exercise. or read a book. or take up a hobby. etc). TimeCops live their whole lives without realizing how much free time they actually have. These individuals typically consume 3 hours or more of television each day (they will tell you that it's because they need to relax after their impossibly difficult job). Avoid the TimeCops. They will offer you nothing of benefit as an entrepreneur


5. The Genius
The genius loves to give you advice, and sneer at your decision making abilities. They honestly believe they know how to do everything better than you can; if they had their way,you would simply channel their ideas. Most of these 'geniuses' have never stepped on the battlefield of entrepreneurship, and their advice is typically useless. Unless the genius has had success as an entrepreneur (or similar career path), ignore them. After all, if they are so smart, why haven't they launched a successful business?

While these 5 personality types are the ones to avoid, you can actually immunize yourself with 5 personality types to help your business. We'll profile those in tomorrow's article.

Do you have any more personality types to add to the ones above? Throw them in the comments below!

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