Corporate superstars, business owners, and inventors who introduced products and services that reshaped our future are our most influential heroes. Most of these luminaries reflect the crucial part of the usual story. That is, an ordinary person sees an opportunity, takes hold of it, and along the way makes something innovative. While these influential people vary in their fields of expertise, they share the same way of thinking that typifies the entrepreneurial mind. This type of innovative thinking is adaptable, and when applied correctly can lead people to achieve productive results. Here is a rundown of the qualities that characterize the entrepreneurial mind.
Curiosity Paired with Creativity
Entrepreneurs are fueled by their ability to see holes in the marketplace and create innovations to fill them. This is the seed of entrepreneurship. While it is not a required characteristic to succeed, creativity paired with curiosity may be the basic foundation of mental skill. According to Entrepreneur, the thirst for knowledge and the bliss of learning are the basic factors that keep an entrepreneur efficient and effective.
Take Calculated Risks
A research conducted by the Kauffman Foundation discovered that 98% of company initiators believed that the usual stepping stone to entrepreneurial success lies on one’s willingness to take risks. Most successful businessmen trust their instincts or gut-feel when hiring people to work for their businesses. There are day-to-day situations that could call for quick decisions and most entrepreneurs rely on their gut feeling when calling the shots.
Seek the Counsel of Others
No matter how good your idea or how sound your decision making is, others who have walked the same road and emerged victoriously are great blueprints of success. According to John Rogers, founder of Wealth Creation Mastermind, he was able to get out of his $250,000 debt and climb the ladder where the top 1% belongs. He said that he was guided by a network of entrepreneurs who helped him make and execute the plan taught to him.
Be Unafraid of Failures
A research conducted by Duke University in Southern California discovered that more than 500 successful company initiators believe that the reason for their success was their knack to learn from their past mistakes. Success stories of the majority of the big names in the business, technology, and culture involve failures after failures before achieving the spots in history. An entrepreneur who makes it big on their first attempt and has not failed is a unique and rare story. To be able to be successful, one should not be afraid to fail and try again.
Trust and Assign
While it is a common knowledge that entrepreneurs are leaders, successful ones are delegators. Sir Richard Branson, one of the founders of Virgin Group Ltd., trusts his top managers to keep his business on track. He wants his people to chase their ideas and he offers the tools to make these successful. Branson believes that the growth of his empire in its primary days was because of his ability to trust his people to do their job. If you trust your employees to do their jobs right, they gain the confidence and initiative to actually perform well. On the other hand, if there is distrust between management and employees, the quantity and quality of output is affected.
While the list above is just a guide in order to achieve an entrepreneurial mind, not everyone can have all of these at once. Oftentimes, these are learned by successful entrepreneurs through tears, time, and practice. The entrepreneurial mindset is more of a journey than a destination. It is a process of learning day by day to shift our old beliefs that hinder us from exploring unfamiliar territories. It is a route that teaches us to create beneficial chaos, go beyond our limitations, and break through our personal barriers.
