Do you know having an entrepreneurial mindset is the key to starting and running a successful business?

In today’s time, starting a company or having a side business to earn some extra income has become even more important. Not only because people are less satisfied with their jobs, but also to create a safety net in case things don’t go as planned.

The irony is that, while many people are attracted to entrepreneurship and starting a company, it is only the select few who succeed.

According to a research,

20% of small businesses fail in the first year
30% of businesses fail in their second year
50% of businesses do not get past half a decade
70% fail after their 10th year

The question is, what is special about the mindset of people who run successful businesses and how to become like them?

So, if you want to be an entrepreneur and want to learn these traits to succeed, this is the right article for you.

What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

Entrepreneurial mindset is the combination of beliefs, focus and attitude that collectively constitute a way of thinking, reacting and feeling in an entrepreneurial way.

Vision and Focus

In order to achieve something big, you need to set your eyes on a particular goal and then put all your energy into achieving it.

An entrepreneur is focused on achieving his vision and does not easily get distracted along the way.

1. Focus on the Key Problem to Solve: Businesses exist to add value to the lives of their customers and the key behind adding value lies in understanding the problems that customers have. 42% of businesses that failed said that their business had no market need. The company, Patient Communicator, realized that doctors simply wanted more patients and not necessarily an efficient CRM system, which the company was marketing. This makes the focus on customer problems one of the most important aspects of an entrepreneurial mindset.

2. Focus on the Goal: This could be starting a successful blogging business or any other online business.

Belief and Confidence

In an entrepreneur’s mind there is no room for doubt and even if any uncertainty creates some sort of ambiguity it doesn’t affect their belief in their own ability.

They believe in their products and services and that they are on a path to solve a real problem for their target customers.

When Steve Jobs re-joined Apple in 1997, the company was close to bankruptcy. But the belief, confidence and skill of Steve Jobs turned around the fortunes of the firm, launching iPod in 2001 and iPhone in 2007.

Attitude

Attitude refers to how you mind works and how you handle difficult situations.

Accepting Uncertainty: Entrepreneurship involves chartering new territories which essentially brings with it various kinds of uncertainty. An entrepreneur is comfortable dealing with ambiguity on a daily basis and it doesn’t deviate them from their chosen course.

Resilience and Persistence: The next logical problem that follows ambiguity is that certain times there will be failures and things will not go according to the business plan. In the light of such situations, the entrepreneur perseveres. They try harder and come back stronger, but they don’t give up.

Adaptability: Plans may not be fool proof right from the beginning and a business model may have to go through several iterations before it becomes successful. Adaptability helps the entrepreneur to be nimble enough to adjust with new learnings and changing environments.
Curious and Creative: The key to solving the right customer problems begins with asking the right questions. The innate curiosity of the entrepreneur enables them to ask the right kind of questions. This sets their creative minds on the path to solve problems in an innovative fashion.

Bias for Action: An entrepreneurial attitude is biased towards taking action and driving results. An entrepreneur doesn’t just ideate, but is ever ready to get hands dirty and implement the business idea to achieve the required goal.

Positivity: Optimism is an important trait in any entrepreneur, not just to keep themselves or their team motivated, but to form a great culture to run the company. It doesn’t mean that you simply ignore any problem that comes your way and declare everything is good. It means that you are clearly aware of the risks and problems. But still focus your energies on using them to your advantage or taking the right decisions.

Maintain Laser Focus with SMART Goals

To develop your focus and vision, the first thing to do is to create goals which you believe are achievable and manageable given your current circumstances.

A good goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.

Evaluate Risk Return Trade-off To Deal With Ambiguity

Decision making amidst ambiguity means letting go of some alternatives in favor of others.

One good way to become comfortable with uncertainty is to clearly quantify risks and opportunity costs. This will help you make decisions to maximize gain and minimize risks.

Risk return trade-off is generally involved in taking decisions when there are many alternatives available.

Return can be measured by the amount of output you can make by investing a certain input and risk by understanding the downsides.

Talk to People you Trust to Stay Strong in Adversity

Never hide in a shell if you are hit by a failure. Always keep an inner circle of people you trust. This could include your friends, family, mentor or teacher. Basically anyone who is close to you.

Look at failure as a learning opportunity, and then change your approach if required and move on.

Know When to Change Course to Avoid Failure

It is important to understand when something is not likely to work out.

Some of the indicators are:

+ When the opportunity cost of slogging on is much greater than the reward
+ When the only thing making you stick is the pride of proving something at the cost of everything else that is important to you
+ When consistent unbiased feedback points in some other direction
+ When your future self will have more relief than regret by giving up
+ When the scenario since your resolve to now has completely changed and new information has led to changed probabilities

Focus on Things You Can Control

We can control our choices but not necessarily outcomes in all cases. To develop positivity, always focus on things that you can control and influence and try to take the outcomes as a learning opportunity of what works and what doesn’t.

For example, if you think you have become overweight, focus not on the issue, but on what you can control that can affect the issue. Taking a good diet and exercising are things in your control. So, focus on doing that instead of fretting over your weight.

Practice these basic exercises in your everyday routines and you can certainly find yourself inching closer to an entrepreneur mindset. This is the basic state of mind that will help you set the foundation of achieving your dream.