How to Think Like an Entrepreneur 

by Janet Slack
12/16/2008

There are very specific thinking patterns in the mind of an entrepreneur.  The entrepreneurial mind is the source of creativity, possibility, and growth in business. The success of the business is rooted in the business owner’s ability to think and dream. If you have been an employee for a while before starting your own business, then you may need to change your thinking patterns. 

1. Look for opportunities.

Because of the excitement and passion for what is being created, an entrepreneur is always actively looking for opportunities to make change happen. You want to look for change because of its potential as an opportunity for your business.  When you are employed by someone else, instead of seeking change, you often focus on the elements that are barriers to change. In thinking like an entrepreneur, you are aware of those barriers, but you focus your thinking on HOW to get around the barriers and WHAT to do instead of being stopped. 

2. Allow risks.

Entrepreneurial thinking often leads to behavior that includes a lot of risk taking in order to get the business rolling. This is especially true in the early stages of the business. Your thought would need to be, “Let’s try this and see what happens.”  In the first year of my coaching business, I did three free presentations at my local Chamber of Commerce. I risked a significant investment of time and information in return for free publicity and PR. The fact that I had never done public speaking before added to the risk, but was not a reason not to try it.  The entrepreneur is not taking risks for the thrill of the risk; the entrepreneur is taking calculated risks with the potential cost carefully considered.  

3. Foster positive thinking.

As an entrepreneur, you must be seeking out people and situations that will move your business in the direction of growth. You are constantly on the lookout for opportunities.  You think about what “can” or “could be” instead of giving much attention to the “can’t”. You again are calculated in your decisions and tend to err on the side of possibility rather than impossibility.  You understand and believe in yourself and in the business. When you are faced with a large project such as getting your website on-line, you do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed. Instead, you use your resources, break the project into reasonable steps and get help if needed.  

4. Relish responsibility

Some people are terrified about the thought of being a business owner – they do not like the idea that everything rests on them. Of course it is true that the responsibility for the business rests on the owner, but when you are using the mind of an entrepreneur, you don’t think of it as frightening. You realize instead that it is a challenge.  

5. Focus on action

The mind of a successful entrepreneur is focused on action.  This includes developing action plans and determining steps to take to reach a goal.  You find ways to have accountability carefully make note of progress and practice self-encouragement.  As an employee, it is common to get bogged down in information collection and you may still fall into this trap when you attempt to make the “right” decision for your business.  The entrepreneurial mind realizes the business cost of this kind of delay and stays in action.  There is a universal truth that says that nothing will happen until you make something happen.

Understanding this may be one of the most important characteristics of success. Business mavens now say that you shouldn’t wait to get perfect aim on your target. Instead get moving toward the target and make course corrections if needed along the way in order to reach your goals.

6. Be decisive

Great entrepreneurs enjoy making decisions.  If you are starting a business or trying to grow your business, one of the biggest decisions can be, “How can I best market my business?” When you answer this with your entrepreneurial mind, you ask, “what is the marketing technique that I am most ready to do?” Make your decision, get going and do it. Monitor your progress and if you find inferior results, then you can shift focus.  When you build your website, you get it done and realize that you will be changing things on the site as your business develops. 

Having no website because it is not perfect never works.  The thinking pattern of decisiveness can be the difference in the growth of your business in the age of technology.  The world is changing so rapidly that those who are able to move quickly in the business world have a distinct advantage. 

7. Employ a results orientation

The mind of an entrepreneur is that of a problem-solver.  Try to think about the challenge of figuring out a tough issue and the thrill of having a solution.  This trait means that you will employ a results-orientation.  You are constantly looking at the results of actions and deciding if the choice worked out as planned.  Be careful not to fall into the trap of judgment here.  The reason for looking at the choice is not to see if you made a good or bad decision, but to see if the action should be repeated.  This is a subtle but important distinction. On your website, you will be tracking your statistics to look for what is attracting your target market.  You may be running split tests on headlines or other details and finding what truly gives the best results.   

8. Use internal motivation

An entrepreneur must be self-motivated.  There is no boss, no board of directors, no manager looking over your shoulder and keeping you in line.  You can sleep late every day or take off all the days you want.  You can also work far too many hours and lose track of other parts of your life.  The successful entrepreneur is able to look inside and find a personal balance.  You find your natural initiative and your own type of self-discipline.  You know yourself and how to keep going in a way that is sustainable.  It isn’t about what others do or think, it’s what you know is right for you and your business.

9. Stay persistent

Don’t let anyone tell you that starting a business is easy.  It is a slow, often draining and difficult path to take.  Successful entrepreneurs are able to find ways to increase their persistence. You must have a clear vision of what you are building.  You must know yourself well and be ready to compensate where it is needed.  You must learn to be hopeful despite obstacles and keep moving.  Imagine the father rushing to the birth of his child who encounters a traffic jam on the highway.  He gets off at the next exit and takes a different route only to find that he gets a flat tire in a pothole.  He ends up walking the last mile to the hospital and makes it in time – this is the type of persistence your business may require of you.  

10. Hold both the vision and the details

This is a dual thinking pattern that requires the entrepreneur to be a visionary and to be a detail person.  You must be able to see and plan for the big picture for your business.  At the same time, you must be able to understand the details in order to make accurate decisions.  The tricky part is not to just swing back and forth between these two ideas; instead you want to be able to have both thoughts firmly at the same time.  Successfully mastering all of the other entrepreneurial thinking patterns will help this one fall naturally into place. 

In terms of building a website, I think that several entrepreneurial factors are important. 

The first trait is "Allowing Risks."  Using this skill means that the coach is willing to step into the world of technology and get a website even if they have not been technologically savvy in the past.  The entrepreneur is willing to walk into new territory for the sake of the business.  Building the first website is often exactly this type of leap. 

"Focusing on action" is another important entrepreneurial trait related to the coach's website.  Far too many people spend far too much time planning and fussing with the website instead of going ahead and getting it done.  It is important to get the site up and contributing to the business, later it can be tweaked and made perfect if that is important.

For gaining clients, almost all of the entrepreneurial traits can be important.

"Relishing responsibility" means that the search for clients is not a chore, but instead becomes a challenge.  It can even be a game. 

"Foster positive thinking" is the trait that allows the coach to really know themselves and why clients will be attracted to them.  It allows the coach to create opportunities to display to others the qualities that are attractive to clients. 

"Employing a results orientation" is critical in developing a coaching business and attracting clients.  Marketing techniques need to be developed and this requires problem solving, tracking results and making strategic corrections. 

All this effort towards getting clients requires both "Using internal motivation" and "Staying persistent".

Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching specializes in helping solo-preneurs such as coaches and consultants grow their businesses.  Her ebooks, blog and coaching programs are focused on learning what it takes to succeed in today’s business climate.  Janet is National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions where she is in charge of a range of Business Development programs.  Sign up to get weekly tips on succeeding in business – the Biz Tips for Coaches newsletter - at http://www.biztipsforcoaches.com.