What is the importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset?

Lean Start-Up Coach & Growth Marketing Specialist — Visualise Solutions. Working with early-stage start-ups and organizations globally.

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An entrepreneurial mindset, sometimes referred to as a growth mindset, is a collection of skills that allow individuals to harness opportunities, overcome obstacles, learn and implement strategies and thrive in all sorts of competitive environments. The entrepreneurial mindset is highly valued by employers, promotes educational achievement and success and is essential for building new companies. Additionally, the ability to "think outside the box," or in unique and unconventional ways, is vital to overcoming many of the obstacles that stand in the way of entrepreneurial growth. Many successful startups are made possible because of an entrepreneurial mindset — often an unusual combination of technical savvy, creative problem-solving, personal attributes and business acumen. However, it becomes increasingly important for those who lack these abilities to understand how to harness the entrepreneurial mindset.

To overcome obstacles and achieve entrepreneurial success, there must be a belief in one's self and in one's product or service. Cultivating a growth mindset requires believing that one's vision and goals are attainable, developing motivation, improving performance, developing systems, developing trust and commitment and gaining the support of others. A growth mindset is not easy, as it takes time and effort to develop. Startup companies often need support from friends, investors, mentors, colleagues and suppliers in order to grow fast. The right support can help spur the entrepreneurial mindset in startups and help them overcome obstacles and achieve success.

To effectively cultivate a growth mindset, a startup needs to be willing to be rebellious and get into the "nitty-gritty" in order to achieve its goals. It takes boldness and a willingness to explore innovative new opportunities. But being bold does not mean ignoring the laws of science or society or the requirements of one's moral code. There is an appropriate balance of innovation and discipline that lies in the middle of the entrepreneurial mindset.

The entrepreneurial mindset demands that the entrepreneur possess strong leadership skills. Therefore, the entire organization should be dedicated to the development of solid entrepreneurial leaders. Every employee needs to understand its culture and know how it impacts the enterprise and each employee. The culture of a startup is defined by the values, policies, practices and business techniques of the company and the willingness of employees to participate in and adapt to those policies and practices.

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Entrepreneurial leadership begins with selecting the right leader, finding mentors, creating the culture, developing trust, developing performance management, communicating effectively, providing recognition, creating a vision and implementing changes. All of these actions contribute to the entrepreneurial mindset. In order for startups to effectively communicate and develop the culture, there should be a mission statement, policies, goals, strategies and a clearly defined purpose, structure and rewards. Without these things, it is challenging to create motivation within the startup teams.

Each startup team member must be committed to the company's vision, beliefs, purpose, practices and contributions. The culture of startups is dependent upon the level of involvement of each member. When members are highly invested in the company, trust develops because they are convinced that their work matters. When trust is developed, individuals feel competent and are able to make creative decisions in a timely manner.

As a general rule, it is important for an entrepreneur to view their business as at least partially successful. If a new company is not achieving its goals, it may not be a good idea to continue funding and participating in the business. It is also important to keep in mind that although businesses may appear to fail at first, some companies manage to thrive, which demonstrates that even when a venture flops, it can be rescued.

In conclusion, the entrepreneurial mindset requires members to be willing to take risks, believe in their product or service, and communicate their ideas clearly to others. Entrepreneurs must realize that they are just starting, so they shouldn't get too overly confident. Being realistic about one's abilities allows them to become better leaders in their business and make better use of their entrepreneurial mindset.

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As I reflect on what separate the successful business owners from all the others it’s clearly one key thing – an entrepreneur mindset.  No matter what the problem small business owners face, in crisis or under regular circumstances, their mindset hugely impacts the outcome.

I can confidently say this has always been the case, but our current crisis has brought this factor to the surface in a big way.  Back at the beginning of the pandemic my message was consistently – stay on the offensive and look for opportunity.

Recent webinars I’ve been conducting on the 3 reason business owners get stuck in their business.  All 3 reasons stem from not having an entrepreneur mindset, but what exactly does that mean?

How an entrepreneur mindset is different

Many people believe if you own a business then you’re an entrepreneur, but that’s just not true.  Entrepreneurs think differently. It’s about more than just owning a business. I have written on the topic often in the past including my posts Inventor vs Entrepreneur: Transitioning to Turn Your Vision into Reality  and Business Ownership ≠ Entrepreneurship!

Much of the problem stems from the fact that most business owners were employees before they owned their business.  So, they start their business and run it with the skills they used as an employee.  They focus too much on the operational aspects and forget the other owner factors that influence business growth. The  result is they get stuck!

An entrepreneur mindset means looking at your business as an income generating asset, and building your business that way.  It means building a self-sustaining business!

It does not mean, lets see if “I can do 5 more jobs this week to make more money.”  It means, how can I get someone else to do 5 more jobs for me this week and take a profit for it. While it seems like a very small difference, the results of this shift in mindset will transform the success of your business.

So I ask you…do you have an entrepreneur mindset?  Or, are you still thinking like an employee?

To begin shifting your mindset you need to develop different competencies.  There are 5 competencies which successful entrepreneurs apply that include:

• they look at the world differently
• identify a need (problem)
• create solutions to the right problems
• generate cash flow by selling their solution
• create scalability in the delivery of these solutions

Which of these competencies do you currently lack?  BGS designed the Business Growth Simplified process to help you develop these competencies.  Click the Business Accelerator image to get registered to begin developing your entrepreneur mindset so we can add you to our list of success stories!