Did you know that only about 30% of adults in the U.S. become entrepreneurs? Starting a business is a dream that many aspiring entrepreneurs have, but few pursue it, and even fewer succeed. Why is that?
There are many steps to starting a business successfully, but one of the most important is to approach your personal life as a business owner. Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset means changing the way you think so that you can create the life you want.
You do not need an MBA or formal education to become a successful business owner. Instead, try training your entrepreneurial mindset. It will help guide your business through its highs and lows, which is necessary for success.
If you want to start thinking as successful entrepreneurs do, then keep reading!
Skills Needed For an Entrepreneurial Mindset
A few select skill sets are needed to become a successful entrepreneur, but the most important one is resilience. Having the right mindset and being able to bounce back from failure is something every entrepreneur will go through. Even the most successful CEOs and Silicon Valley billionaires implement resilience in their daily ventures.
Not only does resilience help you, but it helps the people around you. Setting an example for your employees to follow keeps the flow of creativity and inspiration.
The good news about entrepreneurship is that your fate is in your hands. The bad news is that your fate is in your hands!"
As a business owner, you’re a leader. Seeing a leader give up is the most discouraging situation an employee could be in.
Another critical aspect of an entrepreneurial mindset is accountability. When you recognize your mistakes and take responsibility, you can resolve them. Sweeping things under the rug won’t work anymore as a business owner. Instead, everyone will look to you when big things go wrong.
And as a leader, you must be the voice for the business and solve the problem. Solving the problem starts with accountability.
After going through different characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset, it’s time to learn eight tips on how to bolster one.
How to Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Mindset
No matter how small your business is, it all starts with your entrepreneurial mindset. But unfortunately, developing entrepreneurial thinking may not seem very easy if you aren’t a CEO of a thriving business.
But in reality, anyone can develop these skills no matter their job. Here is how to succeed as an entrepreneur:
1. Face Your Fears
As a business owner, you may need to do some public speaking. Public speaking is among the most popular shared fears in the United States.
But it is also one of the most valuable skills to have.
Public speaking is a skill to practice and improve, which is why many universities offer classes for it. Communication skills are a gateway to new opportunities, so you must get it right.
Through speaking, you can also learn about the timing and delivery of the things you say, which is essential to develop for sales success.
Speaking in front of a group is only one example of common fear, but most people also fear failure or rejection. No matter your fear, it’s best to face it and take advantage of these types of learning opportunities.
Before you know it, you will be able to speak confidently in any type of situation.
2. Practice Decision-Making
Every business owner faces decisions on a daily basis. Whether posting on social media platforms, selling tactics, or even responding to customer help tickets, you’re making decisions that represent your brand.
Practice decisiveness by making small decisions to help you prepare for more significant decisions and challenges down the road.
It’s easy to practice making decisions throughout your daily life. For example, when you visit a restaurant, try to decide on a different dish than usual. Or you can help plan different events such as barbeques or work parties.
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
3. Set and Organize Your Goals
It’s one thing to write all your goals down on a sheet of paper, but it’s another thing to organize and plan around them. There are both short-term and long-term goals. And every day, you can work towards either of the two you have.
In general, writing down goals is a way to hold you accountable for them. It can influence you to work towards them each day. But knowing how to work towards these goals comes with organization.
For example, let’s say you have a short-term goal of reaching 500 followers on your company’s Instagram page. Once you write down your goal, think about ways you can achieve that goal. Posting with a regular cadence and promoting your page through advertisement may help you reach your goal of 500 followers.
If you have a long-term goal of owning a storefront one day, think about little things you could do each day to help you reach your goal. For example, coming out with new products, trying to increase sales, and having your products sold in other stores may be tiny steps to reach your ultimate goal.
4. Take Risks
Taking risks is one of the best ways to grow. You’ll either succeed or learn from your mistakes. And in this case, you should embrace failure because it will set you up for success in the long run.
If you want to change your mindset drastically, you can use failure as a benchmark. Some entrepreneurs may note that if they’re not getting rejected enough, they’re not taking enough calculated risks.
For example, James Dyson created 5,126 prototypes that failed before creating the Dyson vacuum. Oprah Winfrey was “demoted” from her newscasting job to a talk show host, not knowing that her path as a talk show host was about to make her a billionaire.
The truth is, you never know what the next step will lead you to. But it’s important to not only embrace the risk of your choices but to embrace the flow of life.
There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.
5. Learn From Other Successful Entrepreneurs
Spending time with other entrepreneurs helps you gain insight you wouldn’t have noticed before. Not to mention, the people you surround yourself with define most of your circumstances.
You’ll find yourself doing the same when your friend group or business network is made of negative people who constantly complain about their own life. But if you’re surrounded by inspiring and motivating people with confidence, their optimism will affect you.
You can learn from the successes and failures of other entrepreneurs that you can apply to your own business. And you can sharpen your skills alongside these entrepreneurs who’d be happy to help you.
6. Nourish Creativity
Creativity is what your business stems from. It is imperative because the best entrepreneurs are always looking for the next big idea or innovation.
Even if you’re not in a “creative” field, there are plenty of ways to get creative. For example, just trying to optimize your business is an example of creativity.
You can apply creative thinking to whatever you do, whether designing a new graphic or presenting a new sales approach. But before thinking of ways to apply your creativity, you must start taking responsibility to nourish it.
This means you must do things that allow you to tap into your creative thinking. For example, painting, playing an instrument, or reading a book may help get your thought processes and creative gears turning.
7. Use Intrinsic Motivation
There are two main types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. When someone has intrinsic motivation, it means that they are self-motivated and action-oriented. Extrinsic motivation refers to using outside sources as motivation.
As an entrepreneur, there aren’t many people to rely on when you need the motivation to run your business. The entire reason you started your own company was that YOU wanted to. But there are a few ways to cultivate intrinsic motivation if you feel you lack it.
One of the best motivation tactics is to focus on the big picture. But, again, this goes back to creating long-term goals and taking small steps to reach them.
8. Embrace Failure
As mentioned above, resilience is a quality entrepreneurs must have. When you welcome failure, you train yourself to survive in an unpredictable environment.
The most important thing to remember is that if you get knocked back five times, stand back up six times. Adapting from mistakes made in the past help create stronger decisions and ways to solve problems in the future.
Failure is a sign that you’ve tried to do something, which is not a failure at all. In fact, that’s what you’re supposed to do as a business owner.
So instead of looking at failure as something negative, think of it as a learning curve in the process you are going through.
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations."
Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Becoming an entrepreneur is not hard, but learning to develop an entrepreneurial mindset takes practice. With these tips, you can reflect on and revise your outlook and attitude, as well as set clear goals.
Though you could do this independently, it’s always helpful to learn from experienced entrepreneurs with the knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit to encourage you. In addition, business coaching can help you develop your ideas faster, overcome challenges and step into your power as a business owner.
If you’re interested in business coaching, contact us for more information!
Grab a complimentary copy of our newly revised 2023 Strategic Planner—a great tool to help “Get Your Year in Gear” in 2023!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
