Entrepreneurship requires a different kind of thinking than working as an employee, and if you’re still thinking like an employee it can trip up your chances of success. So what attitude adjustments do you need? Here are the facts.
- A Hunger For Risk
Entrepreneurs trade the security of employment for the freedom to make their fortune on their own terms. This means you need to be comfortable with risk. All business ventures are risky. If you’re afraid to take chances then your chances of success are small.
However, this doesn’t mean you have to be headstrong. Find the risks that give you the most benefits combined with a minimum downside. This will let you fail and learn from those failures without tanking your business.
2. Personal Responsibility
When it’s your name on the business, the buck stops with you. Doug Zanes, partner at Zanes Law, can attest. “When I was just starting in law, there were people between me and the worst possible consequences. Now that I’m a partner, I have to face those consequences. But I also get much greater satisfaction knowing that I’m steering my firm toward success, no matter what storms we face.”
Remember that you’re the boss. Ultimately, it’s your responsibility when something goes wrong, and right as well. So make sure you’re ready to accept the responsibility when you need to, and celebrate the successes when you can.
3. Knowing Your Worth
The value of your work as an employee is much smaller than the value of your work as an entrepreneur. Employees offer their time and energy to do a task in exchange for wages. An entrepreneur, on the other hand, has to convince others of the true value of their product or service. Don’t think about how much those are worth. Instead, think about how much you would pay to relieve the pain caused by not having your business. That will point you in the right direction.
4. Celebrate Everyone’s Success
You can own a business and still not be entrepreneurial. Many business owners fear the success of others as a threat to their own. But entrepreneurs celebrate the successes of others because they are confident in their own ability to make money. This doesn’t just make working more pleasant. Celebrating other people’s successes can help turn your competitors into allies. It makes your network strong.
5. Treat Employees Like Gold
Richard Branson says, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” We can’t say it any better ourselves. That’s not to say you can’t hold your employees to a high standard. You should! But if they are proving their worth you should reward them.
Keep these principles in mind when you start your venture. They will keep you on the right path toward your dream rather than floundering in wrong thought patterns. One final thing, talk with other entrepreneurs. There’s nothing better than getting first-hand advice from someone who has done it before you.
