Four entrepreneurial mindsets you need to adopt

What makes someone a successful entrepreneur? Are they just lucky? Have they randomly stumbled on a brilliant, money-making idea? Or do they think and act differently to the rest of us?

To start and run a successful business, you need a success mindset. And to help you find out what that is, and adopt it yourself, digital entrepreneur Rachel Hill shares her experience.

Four entrepreneurial mindsets you need to adopt

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, here are four mindsets that can help you.

1) Embrace learning

At the root of success is education. And I don’t mean in the traditional sense of going to school or university. So many of the most famous entrepreneurs have not followed a traditional education route – it just shows you don’t need a degree or have been top of your class at school as these are not true indicators of an entrepreneur.

People who are entrepreneurial think differently to others and aren’t afraid to just try things out. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done. And if it doesn’t succeed, they learn from what has gone wrong, and move on without regret or any emotional attachment to any financial losses.

Sharing ideas and brainstorming with other like-minded individuals is vital to long term success. It’s a common belief that we are the average of the five people to whom we are closest. If you averaged out the salaries of those five people, you’ll no doubt find that you get a figure that’s pretty close to what you’re earning right now – that’s just the law of averages. Think about the sayings: like attracts like, and birds of a feather flock together. Give it a go and see what happens.

So it makes sense that, if you surround yourself with people who are entrepreneurial in their outlook, you’re so much more likely to succeed – you’ll also gain amazing opportunities to learn from their successes and mistakes.

2) Keep your digital skills updated

Digital skills are vital to your self-improvement and ultimately to making your business much more automated, as opposed to just exchanging time for money like you do in a traditional job.

Technology is changing constantly and the availability of user friendly digital platforms means we need to keep ourselves up to date. Too often we think we’re ‘too old’ and that technology is ‘just for the young people’, but moving with the times keeps us current.

When I first started out setting up my own tuition business, I was slow to embrace social media, but I felt the fear and did it anyway. Change is happening all the time and we must all continue to learn new skills. Education is an ongoing process and no, it doesn’t mean more exams, it simply means keeping ahead of the competition.

3) Live your passion and be your authentic self

How often do we go through life earning a living by doing something that we think everyone else will approve of?

I went through six years of education and training to become a solicitor. Since I was six years old, I had been determined this was the path I wanted to pursue and nothing was going to deviate me from that path.

And, even after a lot of poor experiences in legal firms and a nagging voice telling me that perhaps this wasn’t the right career for me, I was still blind to any other options. A voice in my head kept telling me that I needed to follow through because all that education would have been wasted.

I’m not saying you should give up on a passion just because the going gets tough. But, if the path you are pursuing truly feels wrong, trust your sixth sense and make the change. Allow yourself to think differently and the opportunities will start to unfold.

Once you are living your passion, you align with your authentic self. In other words, what you think and what you want join in perfect synergy. This, in turn, creates an energy which can only lead to one thing: fulfilment.

4) Think long term, not short term

What would more freedom to do the things you want to do really mean to you? In recent years, the government has changed the retirement pension rules meaning that many of us, still of working age, are operating within a system where goal posts just keep moving.

On top of that, today’s employment deals often mean zero contract hours, no sick pay, no pension and no real perks whatsoever. A People’s Pension is certainly not going to pay for a lifestyle (let alone a comfortable one) and the government state pension definitely won’t give you the life of your dreams either.

So think about protecting yourself and those you love by making sure that you rely on yourself right now for the life of your dreams. An employer’s decision about your working life can change your life in an instant and not necessarily for the better. Instead, put your future in your hands and your control. It’ll definitely be worth it if you’re prepared to put in the time and effort.

Want to learn more about starting your own business? Find out how Rachel can help you here.