"I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur
in order to keep my magazine going."
-Richard Branson
in order to keep my magazine going."
-Richard Branson
Do You Have What It Takes To Be
A Successful Entrepreneur?
By PJ McClure
"To do what?"
"Make it in business," Trish said with a deflated sigh.
I considered my next question carefully, "So... what do think it takes that you don't have?"
"I'm not sure," she replied, "but I'm certain I don't have it."
Trish was on her third business in six years and was tracking to fold it up in three months or less. She had followed all of the common wisdom, which told her to get a proven system and work hard. Franchising seemed like a good, proven system and she worked harder on her third than she did on her first. It wasn't working for her.
Through our time together, I learned that Trish hated the restaurant business, but that was what she chose in each of her franchises. The reason? It seemed like the easiest to learn and get going. She hated it because of the hours needed to make it go.
"If you didn't like it the first time, why did you keep coming back to it?" I asked.
"I've seen other franchisees with great success," she said in kind of a far-away voice, "but I end up miserable after a while and just can't keep it going."
Entrepreneur success stories are filled with tales of blood, sweat, tears, and triumph. Each story gives a slightly different perspective on what characteristics an entrepreneur must possess to win. When all of the results are distilled to their essence; however, there is one foundational characteristic left: the right mindset.
The entrepreneurial mindset is the one thing all successes share and need if you want to join their ranks. This mindset enables the winners to move swiftly and steadily through business landscapes that freeze most with fear. These entrepreneurs find and seize opportunities before their competitors can take a step.
By intentionally engaging their mindset, successful entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses that provide outlets for their passion and rewards for their wallets. On top of all that, an entrepreneurial mindset keeps all things in perspective and provides the holder with a happy and fulfilling personal life.
If you covet that life but are not sure where to begin, take heart. You too can have this mindset by engaging the seven personal elements present for every successful entrepreneur.
Element #1 - Awareness brings all things into play. Consistent winners are aware of themselves, their processes, and their results. Through awareness, we plan better and execute with greater precision. The keen insight gained through self-awareness helps the entrepreneur to evaluate what is working, what needs improvement, and where the next steps could lead.
Element #2 - Vision for the goal accomplished gives successful entrepreneurs the upper-hand over their short-sighted counterparts. Seeing the desired result long before it comes to pass allows us to recognize opportunities to make that vision reality. We must have a vision for what we want our businesses and our lives to look like or we'll never know if we've arrived.
Element #3 - Purpose keeps us on track and moving in the right direction. One of the biggest pitfalls of entrepreneurship is distraction. Successful entrepreneurs realize when we are faced with multiple opportunities; we must choose carefully and stay to our core strengths to have success. Knowing the purpose of our business makes those decisions easier and prevents the tendency to spread ourselves too thin.
Element #4 - Belief is the difference between bold movement and fearful paralysis. Those that win operate within their existing level of belief, accomplishing meaningful goals with smaller steps. Those that do not win try to convince themselves to operate beyond their level of belief and seldom get out of the starting blocks. Champion entrepreneurs expand their level of belief by accomplishing more inside their current belief.
Element #5 - Gratitude provides fuel for successful entrepreneurs. They are thankful every day for the opportunity to captain their own ship. We have to find gratitude in every corner of our businesses and focus on it relentlessly. Those that become titans in their industries and maintain amazing success in their personal and business lives are magnets for gratitude.
Element #6 - Forgiveness is the most often overlooked characteristic of success. To be an entrepreneur means to take risk. Taking risks makes it possible for us to make mistakes. Instead of beating ourselves up over mistakes, we must learn from and forgive them.
The other side of forgiveness is immunity. Great entrepreneurs know to grant themselves immunity from making mistakes before going into an endeavor. Living in fear of making mistakes and the potential guilt or resentment can handicap your efforts before you have begun.
Element #7 - Action cures many things and a bias for action is the most obvious of all entrepreneurial traits. In order for the greatest business ideas to take shape, something has to move. In their movement, successful entrepreneurs see things others do not. They realize the landscape changes and things become clearer with every step. It is only in the doing that people are served and money is made.
Taking charge of these seven elements in your life is a simple choice. Each one of them is fully within your control and you can shape them however you choose. Successful entrepreneurs use all seven to their advantage and build everything else on top of them.
The big factors in Trish's case were Awareness and Vision. She had no awareness of herself. The restaurants ran smoothly with her presence, but she completely ignored all of the signs that told her to get away. It could have all been avoided if she would have first taken the time to consider the most important question I asked her. "What do you want your life to look like?"
When we took the time to go through her ideal life, it was easy to see that the life of a restaurateur was not for her. Armed with the vision of her ideal life, she found a business that could provide the lifestyle she needed. It seems too simple in hindsight, but knowing how she wanted her life to look allowed her to be successful in her profession.
With this mindset fully in place, you will see the world differently. Events that once sent you into a tailspin reveal opportunities for growth and profit. Decisions, which once froze you in place, become fluid and obvious. Having the entrepreneurial mindset is the most important attribute a would-be entrepreneur must have.
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