Running your own business can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but it can also be challenging. To be successful, you need to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and be prepared to work hard. In addition, you can do many things to increase your chances of success, such as networking, learning as much as possible, and being willing to take risks.
There is a big difference between having a growth mindset and having an entrepreneur mindset. A growth mindset is all about learning and expanding your knowledge. An entrepreneurial mindset is all about taking risks and making your own opportunities.
People with a growth mindset always want to learn new things and improve their skills. They believe that intelligence can be developed and are not afraid of failure. People with an entrepreneur mindset are risk takers. They think they will never achieve anything significant if they don’t take risks. They are also not afraid of failure because they know it’s a necessary part of the learning process.
People with a growth mindset are always looking to improve themselves, while people with an entrepreneur mindset are always looking to improve their business. People with a growth mindset focus on their weaknesses, while people with an entrepreneur mindset focus on their strengths.
Albeit the entrepreneurial mindset and growth mindsets are not interchangeable, they do have some similarities, such as:
Just as you can cultivate a growth mindset, you can also nurture an entrepreneurial mindset. The steps to change are essentially the same.
Step 1: Recognize where your thoughts and paradigms were developed.
The first step is looking at your thoughts and determining where they came from. We know that the paradigms we have, can at times interfere with the well-being of your entrepreneur mindset, so we need to attempt to understand them and their origin. For example, the thought that resonates in your mind that “Only smart people succeed” can be looked at as originating from “IQ tests and other school-related tests.”
Step 2: Reframe.
The next step, “reframing,” is perhaps the most challenging because it asks us to reconsider these views as if we were speaking with a friend. You can have an idea that was fostered in school like “those in authority know best,” while reframing it as an entrepreneurial thought would sound somewhat like, “I know best.”
Step 3: Adopt an Entrepreneurial Mindset.
After you have done steps one and two, the challenge is putting these into action. To do this, you need to reach out to others and connect with a positive peer group, entrepreneurs like yourself, where you can share like mindsets. Attend a social event/networking event/ a conference where you can find like-minded people.
There is an old saying called “fake it until you make it,” which in this case would translate into getting out there and acting like an entrepreneur first, even though you may not understand everything from the get-go.
In conclusion, an entrepreneurial mindset is a key to success in any field. It allows you to see opportunities where others see obstacles and to take risks in order to achieve your goals. If you are able to embrace this way of thinking, you will be able to create opportunities for yourself and others and achieve great things.
“I started my own business in 1995. The Self Employed Business Academy gets it. Clear, concise, and actionable information. You may be in business for yourself, but with the self Employed Business Academy at your fingertips, you won't be by yourself"
Ed Carey, AMG, LLC