Five Characteristics of the Entrepreneurial Mindset
What makes a person an entrepreneur? Is it simply the fact that they own a business of their own? Is it that they are willing to risk their own money to get their products/services out to a customer base? Is their a mindset that makes a person an entrepreneur? If so, can anyone learn it or is it something you are born with?
These are all good questions and worth answering. But knowing the answer will not make someone an entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur really means understanding and engaging in the Entrepreneurial Mindset.
A short history lesson is in order at this point. It has been said that at the turn of the 20th century, more working adults were entrepreneurs and business owners than employees. By the end of the 20th century that statistic had completely turned around. Nearly all working adults are now employees and entrepreneurs and business owners are in the minority.
What made the difference in such a short amount of time? Well, there were many factors that contributed. The transition from a rural agricultural economic base to an urban industrial base was the major cause. Couple that with two world wars, the mobilization of the citizenry through planes, trains, and automobiles, computer technology and a global economy and there you have it. It became easier and less risky to just take a job than to risk it all on your own thoughts, dreams, and ideas.
The problem with this worker bee approach is that, when surveyed, a great majority of employees do not like their job. They go to work to collect a paycheck and stay because they are so in debt that they can’t afford to consider anything else. They often have a desire for more but can’t find a viable way out.
Entrepreneurs know the way out! The biggest problem is to help people unleash the Entrepreneurial Mindset in their own lives. Entrepreneurs do not think like worker bees. They have several characteristics that cause them to stand out in the crowd:
o Entrepreneurs are free thinkers (some call them dreamers). They are people who always think beyond the moment and look for better, unique, or more efficient ways to do things.
o Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. Looking for better, unique, or more efficient ways to do things always lead from the dream to an idea to fulfill the dream.
o Entrepreneurs are innovative in their approach to change. They subscribe to the definition of insanity that says, “Insanity is continuing to do the same things you have always done, in the same ways you have always done them and expect different results.”
o Entrepreneurs are willing to fail to eventually win. Not everything they consider to be good or right works out in the end. However the real entrepreneur learns from failure and moves ahead to the next right project.
o Entrepreneurs abandon the employee mindset that looks to short term paychecks to building a powerful money making business that works for you 24 hours a day/7 days a week!
Entrepreneurs are not born, they are built. They first learn how to dream and then dream about things that are important to themselves. Then they work to bring their dreams to a viable business plan.
Anyone can join the ranks of the world’s greatest dreamers. The tools and knowledge are available to anyone who wants to learn. The secret is whether or not you are willing to learn the lessons that will change your mindset. Will you?
