How to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset

If you want to make it as an entrepreneur, the first step is to shift your way of thinking. Here's how to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.
How to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset

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There’s a lot that goes into running a successful business on your own. You have to have a strong idea, a solid business plan, and a good client base that you can grow and keep happy. But you also need to have an entrepreneurial mindset that will help you find the most success every day.

There are several things you can do to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset. Read on to discover some things you can do each day to become a more successful business owner.

Continue to learn and grow

If you want to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, the first thing you need to do is make learning and growing a continuous part of your life. As a freelancer, you always need to be striving for better in your company. This means you should always be on a journey of self-improvement, working to be the best version of yourself.

You also need to stay on the leading edge of your niche and your local market. This means you need to be up to date on the latest ideas, developments, and innovations in your niche and similar markets. You should always strive to learn more both on a professional and a personal basis.

Set goals

Another thing successful entrepreneurs do routinely is set goals for themselves. Setting goals keeps you moving forward and growing and helps to make that mindset of learning and growth concrete. It also helps you to figure out if the things you’re doing every day are working for you or not.

When many of us set goals, we’re tempted to shoot for the moon. But more often than not, this ends in us abandoning unrealistic plans before we ever make any progress. Instead, set manageable goals that you know you can stick to and take baby steps to reach your larger ambitions. 

Make daily progress

One of the best ways for you to achieve those goals and keep growing is to focus on making progress every day. Entrepreneurs approach each day as a new opportunity, and they leave any setbacks from the previous day in the past. Instead, they take the lessons from those days and use them to make progress the next day.

Try to do at least one thing to work towards your goals every day. Even if it’s something as simple as answering an email on time or going for a five-minute walk, make that day count. At the end of the day, you should be able to say you traded the say for something worthwhile.

Step outside your comfort zone 

As an entrepreneur, you’ll be stepping outside your comfort zone almost every day. You’re going to have to learn new aspects of running your business, find innovative new ways to meet your clients’ needs, and come up with creative new marketing schemes. You need to get used to the idea of stepping outside your comfort zone personally and professionally.

Make it one of your goals to do something that challenges you on a regular basis. Try new hobbies, learn new skills, and talk to people you wouldn’t ordinarily mingle with. Get comfortable with the idea of stepping out of your comfort zone and learning how to do something new.

Get comfortable with failure

The other uncomfortable experience you need to get comfortable with is failure. No one likes feeling like they’ve failed, but it’s a normal part of everyone’s life. And if you plan to run your own business, it is guaranteed that you’re going to take risks and some of them will fail.

Try to reframe failure as an opportunity to learn something new. Every time one of your endeavors doesn’t work, it moves you one step closer to a model that will work for you. And getting rid of your fear of failure will make it easier for you to take the kinds of risks you need to in order to make your way as a successful business owner.

Spend time with other entrepreneurs

Studies have shown that you become like the five people you spend the most time around. If you hang around people who are driven, passionate, hardworking, and successful, you’re more likely to take on those traits. One great way to take on the mindset of an entrepreneur is to spend time with other entrepreneurs.

Look for leaders in your local community who inspire you and ask them if they’re willing to mentor you. Seek out freelancer organizations in your community and start attending meetings (even virtual meetings right now). You can also look for freelancer or entrepreneur groups on social media and connect with a group of fellow leaders who are making their own way in the business world. 

Be independent 

When you run your own freelance business, you’re on your own when it comes to a lot of things. You’re responsible for making sure everything gets done on time, you have to call the shots on how to handle different problems, and you have to do the daily work of working with clients. All this means that, if you want to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, you need to be independent. 

It’s important to note that being independent doesn’t mean you have to be completely isolated. But you do need to be able to make decisions for yourself and handle the running of your business on your own. Focus on taking the lead on decisions in your day-to-day life and cultivating an independent spirit.

Take responsibility

One of the hardest things an entrepreneur has to do is take responsibility when things go wrong. Being your own boss can have a ton of benefits, but it does mean that the buck stops with you. When things go sideways, it ultimately comes back to you, and you need to be able to own that.

Learn to take responsibility for the things that go wrong or that you mess up in your life. Do your best to resolve the issue, apologize to anyone who was hurt, and figure out a plan to do better next time. This will be a crucial skill when you run into trouble in your professional life. 

Cultivate abundance

It may sound hokey to think that “you get what you give” or “what goes around comes around,” but there is some truth in those sayings. One of the best ways you can get into an entrepreneurial mindset is to cultivate a life of abundance. When you’re abundant with what you give, people will be abundant in what they give back to you.

If someone asks you for help or advice, give them as much as you reasonably can. When you’re investing in your business, do so as abundantly as you can afford to do. Those investments will come back to you; when you need help, you’ll have a group of people to ask, and the money you invest in your business will grow and bring you more revenue.

Seek feedback

One of the most important things you can do as a budding entrepreneur is to seek feedback. You can’t operate in a vacuum, and there’s no way for you to know if the things you think are good ideas are the same things that work for your business. You need data to keep your business on the right track and growing.

Talk to your entrepreneur friends and ask for their input and advice on what you’re doing. Look at customer data metrics to see which techniques are working and which aren’t. And send out customer satisfaction surveys to find out what your clients like and what they’d like to see you do differently.

Think long-term

When you run your own business, you’re going to have daily ups and downs. You can’t always make a decision today based on what your sales did today. Instead, you have to think about the long-term and what’s going to be best for you and your business over the months and years to come.

Try not to get caught up in the day-to-day setbacks and failures; look at them as steps to a longer path of success. And by the same token, don’t take success today as a sign that you can sit back and stop striving for more. Focus on your long-term goals, and keep doing the daily work to move towards those goals. 

Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset

Running your own business is hard, but cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset can help you find greater success. Remember to be independent and to focus on growing and improving yourself every day. But also reach out to other leaders around you and find ways to spread abundance in your life.

If you’d like to find more tips for running your own business, check out the rest of our site at Hectic. We believe you were made to build, manage, create, develop, and optimize, and we’re here to help you do that. Join us today and start running your business the stress-free way.

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Moxie
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Moxie
Our team of career freelancers writes about best invoice practices, what makes a great client, and repeats the mantra, "never work without a contract." We're opinionated about the future of work and will always be on the side of freelancers.
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