The professionals in Business Development I’ve worked with have learned to think like entrepreneurs over the years, and that’s why they’re successful. They’ve all learned how to think differently along the way, and that’s what’s allowed them to rise to the top of their profession.
Entrepreneurs struggle with their business opportunities for a number of reasons, including a lack of capital, a lack of marketing knowledge, and personnel issues. Despite my own entrepreneurial experience and knowledge of others, there are three main reasons people fail in business.
Their self-worth is tied to the success of their business.
They don’t set realistic business and personal goals.
They are not prepared to pay the price of success.
Entrepreneurs with the right thinking survive and prosper over time. They understand Roles, Goals, and Tolls.
Roles
Successful entrepreneurs have learned to separate their roles in life from their self-worth and self-identity. They understand that their role performance or failure on their own venture doesn’t mean anything about them.
People who tend to equate their self-worth to their composite role identity are inherently risk-averse and try to hold on to the status quo. Being able to differentiate between these two identities lets them be risk prone vs. risk adverse, which is a key ingredient to success as an entrepreneur. Those who have failed, experienced it, and learned from it have not only learned how to differentiate their role identity from their self-identity, but also how to learn from failure.
Entrepreneurs know that early failures are a natural part of startup success. To be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to be able to embrace those experiences, learn from them quickly, and move on. In order to succeed over time, you have to be willing to deal with early failures.
Goals
People talk a lot about setting goals and planning for success as an entrepreneur, but few people learn how to do it. It’s not the plan that matters, but the planning itself. Setting goals gives them the confidence to take risks and fail.
Entrepreneurs who succeed aren’t just goal-driven and goal-oriented; they also know how to set and plan strategic and tactical goals. Setting goals down, writing them down and making a detailed plan to get there gives you confidence and motivation. They don’t just have business or operational plans, they have life goals too.
They have learned early that if they don’t work their own plan, they’re probably working someone else’s. They chart their own destiny, embrace leadership positions with risk, make adjustments as needed, and prevail.
Tolls
Last but not least, entrepreneurs know that there is a price to pay. In order to succeed in any field, you have to be willing to pay full price. You can’t get overnight success as an entrepreneur. I’ve heard it takes 15-20 years for overnight success to happen. Early on, entrepreneurs are forced to re-make themselves, which means growing beyond their current circle of friends.
Because most people tend to stay within their own psychological comfort zone, they begin to lose identity with risk takers. They are more comfortable with people who are more like them. A lot of entrepreneurs move on to a different circle of associates who get it.
As a result, old relationships can become stressful again. It’s lonely to step out, be your own person, and go into the risk prone unknown on your own. We’ve heard that pioneers get shot in the back and front, so only by differentiating role performance from self-worth, being risk prone, surviving adversity, sticking to your goals, and adjusting your plans will you be ready to deal with it every day.
It takes a lot of learning to be an entrepreneur, including how to run a business, create products, deliver services, make money, and deal with people on a daily basis. The biggest challenge is understanding yourself. Once you figure out what you want and what motivates you, you’re more likely to win in the long run against adversity. Entrepreneurs who are successful have learned to change their thinking, so they can succeed where others fail.
