Entrepreneurial Mindset – Do You Have These 12 Signs?

How many of these describe you? If you have more than 6 you may be an entrepreneur at heart!

1. You are the ultimate optimist.

Entrepreneurs are fearless; they know their hard work and money they put in will eventually pay off. Robert Irvine, chef believes an entrepreneur will see the potential when others only see risks and will then avoid taking action. Being fearless means they don’t hold off running up their credit card or leveraging their house because they know what they need to do to get a new venture going.

2. You are focused on the important stuff.

Micha Kaufman from Fiverr knows, “Entrepreneurs fall down and pick themselves up until they get it right”. An entrepreneur’s life can have an endless borage of challenges. These can be nerve-wracking but when you figure out what matters, you’re on the move. Kaufman and his team know what they needed to focus on, “The single biggest challenge every marketplace has: building liquidity. Without liquidity, there is no marketplace.”

3. You use your resources.

Have you ever watched MacGyver? Now, this guy could make a great entrepreneur! Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos says, “Because he never had exactly the resources he needed but would somehow figure out how to make everything work out. Ultimately, I think that’s what being an entrepreneur is all about.”

You can have all the resources in the world, but being an entrepreneur, you have that extra skill of being very resourceful with what you do have.

4. You are focused on money, money….

Are you obsessed with having cash flow? Joe Gustafson when bootstrapping a venture called Relational Courseware said “All I ever thought about was cash flow and liquidity,” “There were seven times in eight-year history when I was days or hours away from payroll and didn’t have enough cash to make it.”

Joe says, “You need cash”, “You could step up and put expenses on your personal credit card, but that can only go so far.”

5. You can ask for forgiveness.

An entrepreneur will take opportunities when they arise, this means they are more likely to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Stephane Bourque from Incognito says, “Entrepreneurs are never satisfied with the status quo”. Bourque learned the importance of stirring the pot, although early on it didn’t go well with his corporate bosses. Now he believes that if his employees are on the lookout for opportunities that means they are looking to improve the companies operations or themselves.

6. You think you are an outsider.

Sometimes entrepreneurs can be a little opinionated, demanding and quirky, they aren’t always accepted by everyone. Vincent Petryk from Licks says, “They are often rejected for being different in some way, and that just makes them work harder”.

7. You can step out of your comfort zone.

Entrepreneurs are constantly tweaking, they are smart and know that they must be able to evolve to meet what the market wants. Rosemary Camposano from Halo Blow Dry Bars says, “If you have only one acceptable outcome in mind, your chances of making it are slim”. You need to listen because your clients will tell you what they want, you have to be able to bring them the most value.

8. You think challenges are fun.

Many will run away when faced with problems, but an entrepreneur, well they love them. Jeff Platt from Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park franchise says, “An entrepreneur doesn’t think anything is insurmountable … He looks adversity in the eye and keeps going.”

9. You don’t just plan.

Taking action is key. A belief from Barbara Corcoran from TV’s Shark Tank is overanalyzing is a common mistake for those studying business. She recommends “Invent as you go”, don’t spend time at your desk only planning.

“I hate entrepreneurs with beautiful business plans”, she says. People who have a concept rather than a lot of strategies are more likely to have the pieces needed to makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur.

10. You have stamina.

You don’t feel sorry for yourself if you fail, a successful entrepreneur will fail over and over again. When you get here Corcoran believes the trick is moving on to the next big thing as soon as you can.

11. You have ears.

You need to have open ears and an open mind. Actress Jessica Alba from The Honest Company says, “It’s important to surround yourself with people smarter than you and to listen to ideas that aren’t yours. I’m open to ideas that aren’t mine and people that know what I don’t, because I think success takes communication, collaboration and, sometimes, failure.”

12. You have fear.

Corcoran would rather have someone who is scared to invest her time in. She says, “I want someone who is scared to death.” Being scared and nervous about failing can make you so focused and willing to keep striving for that thing you want, in order to make it succeed.