As an entrepreneur, one of the things you desire in your business and personal life is success. When you have started your business, you will realize that you are struggling to book enough consultations to move your business forward and having challenges in making proper decisions which will move your business to the next level. There are different reasons which can lead to such a situation and if you are careful, you will realize that there is a certain mindset which is hindering your success. As an entrepreneur, you believe in yourself so much and you assume that each of the business decisions you are making is right.
Most successful business leaders will tell you they have made various bad decisions which prevented them from succeeding. Take the example of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. When he had an interview with Times Magazine, Bezos revealed that when he began Amazon, he gave it a 30% chance that it would succeed. This means he was expecting it to fail. But it did not happen since the online store has grown over the years to become one of the trusted e-commerce platforms by customers. The mindset of every entrepreneur is the key to success. The purpose of this article is to provide information on the mindsets of entrepreneurs which sabotage their business success.
Pre-Judging Your Clients or Customers
This happens when you are talking to your clients and you have already created a perception in your mind that they cannot afford the services you offer. You are judging the customers based on your own thinking. It also means you do not trust that your customers will buy your product or service.
In most cases, when you pre-judge your customers, there is a high probability that they will not buy from you. As Mark Cuban says, ‘Treat your customers like they own you because they do. Your customers are your key to success, the way you treat your customers will determine your success.”
If you are full of negative pre-judgments every time you are conversing with a client, begin changing the mindset and have a positive view of your customers.
Your Way of Thinking
Thoughts help to create a picture of your expectations and your destiny. If you want to succeed in your business, take a look at yourself and the ways in which you perceive yourself. It is easier to develop negative thoughts as compared to developing positive thoughts. Negative thoughts act as a roadblock to the success of your business. Negative thinking will not only prevent you from succeeding but it has a number of effects on your health.
If you want to succeed in your business, slowly begin by getting rid of the negative thoughts. Replace the negative thoughts with innovative thinking to move your business to the next level. If you have the ability to control all your thoughts, you will be on the way towards success.
Lack of Patience
Patience is what you need as an entrepreneur. Regardless of how big your ideas are, if you do not have patience, you will give up on them within the shortest time possible. Here is a fun fact about Walt Disney; he was fired from the newspaper company he was working for since “he was not creative at all”. His cartoons were also rejected by most of the newspaper publishers at the time since they were ‘too scary for women’. He made a series of artwork such as ‘The Three Little Pigs’ which were also rejected since it had four characters only. This did not stop him from establishing Disney Company which has a worth of over 98 billion dollars at the present.
Regardless of what you are going through as an entrepreneur, you must always be persistent and keep pushing your business to the next level. Have a long-term vision for your business and this will lead to your success. If you are looking for short-term success in whatever you will be doing, then chances are that you will not succeed in your business.
Lack of Commitment
If you need to achieve your dream and you are half-committed towards achieving it, then it is better you avoid it all the same. You cannot reach a destination if you are half-committed to where you want to go.
One thing you need to know is that driving your business towards the success path will be full of obstacles. If you are thinking of succeeding easily, it will derail your efforts and kill your morale. Creating a mindset that you will encounter obstacles will help you to be committed to growing your business.
Having an action plan of where you want your business to go will help you to be committed. It will also keep you on track and get you back to the right path every time you think of quitting.
Poor Time Management and Structure
Being an entrepreneur will mean that you will have a number of freedoms which other people do not have. You will have the freedom of setting your own schedule and deciding the time which you should work and where you can work from.
However, if you are not careful and you fail to have self-discipline, your business will fail. If too much freedom is given to someone who is unorganized and lazy, there will be no positive results which will be observed.
Begin by creating your own schedule so that you will be on the ladder towards achievement. It will also help you in coming up with appropriate strategies so that you can beat your competitors. In addition, being organized will increase your performance at work in terms of proper decision-making.
Ignoring the Importance of Proper Financial Management
Managing finance efficiently is one of the most important tasks of entrepreneurs. If you are not efficient enough when managing your finances, your business can crash down like a house of cards in no time. Proper financial planning is a must for any start-up, since it enables you to set realistic budgets, manage your cash flow, and more. So, you will need excellent knowledge in financial management. For example, you should master the art of cost saving. But it’s not as easy as it sounds because it might hamper overall customer experience. That why Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines who died recently, once said, “When someone comes to me with a cost saving idea, I don’t immediately jump up and say yes. I ask: what’s the effect on the customer?” Every financial decision that an entrepreneur makes has a business impact, and he or she has to make these decisions keeping the total context in mind.
At the same time, it is important to do a regular review of the expenses incurred by the business. Even though a strong vision and a great product/service are the central needs of a startup, don’t forget that proper financial management is necessary to ensure that a company keeps ticking over soundly. Proper financial management allows you to develop a framework that enables your organization to pursue synergy between the functional responsibilities and financial resources available.
Not Keeping Up with the Changes
Change is an important part of business life. To get greater business results, business needs to adapt with the change. In today’s fast-paced world, it is paramount to stay on top of the latest industry and business trends. While the pace of technological change is faster than ever, many businesses end up falling apart because entrepreneurs cling to traditional methods and are not that willing to embrace the change.
Change is crucial for any business because, without change, businesses lose their competitive edge and fail to meet customer needs. Entrepreneurs have a very important role to play when it comes to embracing change. They should know how to take employees out of their comfort zone and make them understand how crucial the change is for the betterment of the organization. It can’t just exist in a few people in the company; it needs to be embedded in the company’s core value. As an entrepreneur, you have to understand that it is so important for the modern business to shift expectations and roll with the punches.
If you have great ideas on moving your business or your dream forward, you need to get the right mindset which will propel you to the next step in your business. If you have any of the above-mentioned mindsets, begin by making sure you change them and you will see how successful your business will become.
