What Does It Take To Be Successful As An Entrepreneur
The Rise Of The Entrepreneur
Taking the leap of faith, venturing out, or planning to?
What’s been interesting is that this whole work; time for money thing has again taken a turn for Entrepreneurship.
Being a boss is now the COOL and HIP title.
What Is The Motivation?
(Guidant Financial)
- 26% of entrepreneurs say their biggest motivation for starting their own business was the idea of being their own boss
- 23% wanted to pursue their passion
- 19% found it because the opportunity presented itself
- 6% because of being laid off or were not ready to be laid off
- 3% inspired by life events
What is being depicted by the media is that successful entrepreneurs are like celebrities.
- Richard Branson
- Elon Musk
- Jack Ma
- Jeff Bezos
- Along with all these so-called GURUS on social media, so…
By design or default here you are, THE boss! All the flexibility, bottomless success…right?
WRONG!
Not Enough Knowledge?
If knowledge were all we needed to succeed, all of us would be millionaires and not carry a few extra pounds on our bodies.
Why is it that we all can get the knowledge available to us, but we still do not carry out our goals, what does it take to be successful as an entrepreneur?
Read on and take it from one in the trenches, what it really does take to navigate this journey.
Real World Entrepreneurs
Whatever exposure, the reality is much different from the idealized version of what the media wants us to see.
The reality of running a business does not make one feel COOL or HIP…for me anyway.
The everyday struggles and pressures that are associated with starting and running a business,
- Money/Taxes/Debit
- Priorities /Problems
Also, the learning curb that is attached to skills that are needed…
- Operations/Project Management
- Marketing etc
It’s the reality that is much harder than people often speak through.
A Journey Of ONE
Whether you have a small business (1-3) people or even an online business the same message rings true it’s a journey of ONE.
After compiling a list of over 18 Million businesses In the US – 31.94% of the companies have One Employee. (DM Databases.com)
In 2020 there were estimated to be 6.0 million private sector businesses in the UK, and 4.6 million had NO employees. ( fsb.org.uk)
Entrepreneurs feel that it’s challenging to find the right high-quality staff for their companies, so because of that, many decide to go solo.
Reality Does Not Market Well
Talking about the difficult times we experience with friends who do not follow the entrepreneur’s path over drinks is difficult, for tough times do not sell, and this reality is the landscape the business owner knows too well.
The Good Stuff
Starting a business will most likely be the most demanding venture ever taken, but along with that, probably the most fulfilling one as well.
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What Makes An Entrepreneur Successful?
Here are some essential commonalities every entrepreneur has dealt with somewhere in their journey. Being an online entrepreneur and a brick-and-mortar business owner myself, I find this to be the same for both.
Four Common Characteristics Of An Entrepreneur
- Mindset
- Belief
- The UN-Comfort Zone
- See Failing and part of your path to winning
Mindset
Mindsets are formed (by design or default) through our experiences, culture, and leanings, which leads to the creation of beliefs, and behaviors.
These beliefs dictate decisions and actions taken, forming results; all this gets relayed back to the mind to process for new information.
We have all been through some form of this.
The good news is that mindsets that do not serve us can be CHANGED!
Changing a negative mindset to a positive outlook, in turn, helps better handle stress and anxiety and stay empowered.
Developing the mindset needed to work in the real-world every day as an entrepreneur is no different.
A Mindset of
- Flexibility/Adaptability
- Future Vision-ability to see change BEFORE it happens
- Creative thinking -Identifying opportunities and having the confidence to move toward them
Being constantly focused on growing/developing and improving is essential in an entrepreneur’s world. So adopting healthy mindsets will always be necessary on the path to change and success.
Belief
Belief in oneself is crucial.
Even if other people do not, belief in YOU will be one of the most driving forces in life.
We all feel inferior on some level.
Some Common Limiting Beliefs
Feeling that age is a factor.
Fact
Of people who start small businesses most were between the ages of 40 and 60 and interesting enough, 4% of entrepreneurs were actually over 70 years of age. (Guidant Financial)
So it’s never too late to start a business.
Having NO college education.
Fact
In the US, a third of all small business owners never got any further than high-school. (Guidant Financial)
Only 9% of entrepreneurs have a bachelor’s degree in business. An even smaller percentage of owners (3%) went beyond to get either an MBA or a Ph.D. in business. (TSheets)
Along with that, 32% of owners have taken a couple of business classes, while most (46%) do not have any form of business education at all.
So carrying out goals without going to college is a REALITY!
We all feel overwhelmed or intimidated to start something new, but consider this, no matter the age/culture/gender…
- Nobody has all the answers
- Nobody has all the skills
- Nobody can do everything
Do NOT fall into the trap of well he/she is better because…..
The UN-Comfort Zone
In today’s world of change and uncertainty, how do we not survive but thrive?
This path to freedom is NOT a straight line.
It’s a path of …
- Wins and losses / Highs and lows
- Uncertainty /Sleepless nights
- Critical thinking/Hustle
Anyone that has embraced the entrepreneurial life knows this, factors you have not seen, not heard.
You must learn to be uncomfortable and be comfortable with that. In the US Military, the SEAL teams call it “Embracing the SUCK.”
It all about pushing the limits and boundaries of what is known to the UN-Known, feeling uncomfortable, and feeling like that MOST OF THE TIME.
Learn to put yourself in a constant state of discomfort, push the confines of the comfort zone, raise the bar on yourself, experience your true potential.
“The comfort zone is the great enemy of courage and confidence.“
Brain Tracy
Failing
Failing will happen as soon as you step out of the comfort zone, that is a given.
Entrepreneurs FAIL all the time, it’s part of being a business owner.
An entrepreneurial perspective is that this is a GOOD THING>
Unlike popular belief, the one thing NOT wanted is a perfect record.
Why?
It might mean not trying or pushing from where you are to something new.
Every entrepreneur has things they will try even if it doesn’t work, but the difference is… they will try again with something different, but the key here is trying.
Failure is a calculated risk and an opportunity to grow and develop.
(ie Eric Schmidt – CEO of Google has implemented a 70/20/10 rule based on his risk level towards Failing)
- 70% of the time focus is on the CORE of your Business
- 20% of the time focus on tasks that is related to Side Business and
- 10% of the time shoot for the Moon.-Most likely failure but trying could produce new insights and results
From every failure, the entrepreneur receives valuable information…
So as to apply it to the operation/growth and flow of the company.
Apply this 3 Step Process to Failure and Calculated Risk.
- Where are you now? Orient yourself, the new landscape, what is coming that is seen from the existing position.
- Make educated decisions based on the orientation and the existing landscape.
- And MOST importantly, get results by taking action, and see how they can serve you.
All effort is reasonable because this process will repeat so as to begin moving back in the direction of recovery and growth.
Based on the risk level of the company this can be done as often as needed.
See failing as the path to winning. pick up new pieces of information and as quickly as possible make changes until the results needed appear, what is not wanted is to sit back and study the problem or worse not taking a risk at all.
“It seems that to do really big things, you have to start by doing deceptively really small things.”
Paul Graham
On The Fence?
Want to start the journey as an entrepreneur but not sure HOW.
If you think that being an entrepreneur will provide some changes that your present job doesn’t, a dream lifestyle of…
- Flexibility/Freedom
- Meaning/Money
Look to…
The Power Of Breadcrumbs
Look at the things that attract curiosity, whatever that may be.
Follow interests.
Look at strengths.
What turns you on?
What area can you say, “I got this; this is my space.“
Those are the breadcrumbs and do not dismiss them.
And if that scares you even better, because often what we most need to do is frightening.
Whatever that answer is, start TODAY and do not wait. now is the time there has never been a better moment.
Share a product, service, skill, or knowledge that people need.
Touch people’s lives, believe in oneself, be ALL IN.
If everyone can find a purpose, no matter how small, the world could be a better place for us all.
“Find something that does NOT make sense and follow it.”
Jeremy Stoppelman, the founder of YELP
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Your Exciting Journey Starts HERE!Bonus Hack
Often progress and growth are NOT about adding, but subtracting factors in life that NO longer SERVE us.
- Routines, or habits
- Thought processes
- Tasks or physical objects from life
Take them OFF of the plate.
Look to do LESS but with more focus and energy, this allows for clarity and fulfillment.
“You can do anything but not everything”
David Allen
Did You Enjoy This Post
Check out my Benefits of a GIG Economy article.
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Featured image courtesy of Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
This post was proofread by Grammarly
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Great post, great content and very engaging! Very uplifting and informative to encourage anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit! Great tips to pursue success and fulfillment in one’s career path!
Hello Fran
Nice to see you on the site
Thank you for the kind words and feedback.
Glad to hear that you found the article to be insightful and helpful.
Its true the fear of failure. Thats a major holdback amongst people. Very interesting article, well worth the read.
Thank you Rob for the Visit and the Feedback.
Nice piece and a quick read Dino.
Thanks for this post.
Hello Nick
Thanks for the comment and the visit to the site, appreciate your feedback.
Good article!
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