Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process of creating incremental wealth. Entrepreneurs willingly take part in the process of creating something new that has value by devoting time and effort and assuming the financial, psychic, and social risks. Luckily, we, as entrepreneurs, also receive the resulting rewards of independence, monetary profits from our endeavors, and the personal satisfaction of creating something viable.
As the president and founder of the Association of Web Entrepreneurs and the National Association of Women Writers, I have had the pleasure of networking with, collaborating with, and learning from web entrepreneurs on a daily basis for the last six years. It has been an ever-changing, exciting, and passionate journey!
My journey helped me discover 10 mindsets I believe every entrepreneur must have to be successful. To adapt these mindsets you must put them into practice. It isn’t enough to want to believe something–you have to act on it and practice it before it becomes a habit.
One: You Must Be Passionate
As a web entrepreneur, you will often feel like you are on an island–all alone. But if you are passionate about those you serve, the passion will be your fuel as you labor to build a sustainable business with a solid foundation. And the blessing of being passionate about your work is that it will spill over into every part of your life.
Two: You Must Be a Risk Taker
Web entrepreneurs must understand that one of the keys to accomplishing our goals is to be willing to take risks. This “active” mindset means there will definitely be failures. But failures are just indicators of which direction to go next.
Three: You Must Be Creative
All individuals have a need to fulfill creative urges. But successful web entrepreneurs thrive on creativity. They are energized by new ideas and possibilities. You must embrace your creative force and embody it because it will give you the ideas and solutions you are looking for in your web business.
Four: You Must Love To Learn
Over the last six years I have networked with hundreds of successful web entrepreneurs and every single one of them continuously invested their time and money in furthering their knowledge base. And they were at all different levels. All 7-figure successful entrepreneurs I have personally met and networked with love to learn.
Five: You Must Focus
Success expert and entrepreneur Melanie Benson-Strick taught me about what she calls the “bright shiny object” syndrome. It is where we try working on every project or idea we have and then suffer from the end result of overwhelm. Melanie teaches web entrepreneurs that through focus (a force or intensity that gives importance to something) we accomplish more because we are concentrating our energy in one direction. Successful web entrepreneurs understand that they have to consciously refocus every day.
Six: You Must Serve Others
Successful web entrepreneurs love serving their customers. They love answering their customers’ problems with new products and/or services. Through service, web entrepreneurs build a database of loyal, trusting customers. And your database is your golden egg.
Seven: You Must Value Freedom
Most successful web entrepreneurs have worked for a large corporate company at some point in the past. That experience serves them well because they learned to value their freedom. Many of you are familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, number seven being self-actualization or finding self-fulfillment and realizing one’s potential. Many employers do not allow you the ability as an employee to meet this need on the job. Successful entrepreneurs recognize and value this freedom more than anything else.
Eight: You Must Build a Team and Delegate
Letting go and delegating is the hardest of the 10 mindsets to master for web entrepreneurs. Web entrepreneurs must adapt the “investment” mindset when building a team. You must be willing to pay for high-quality dynamic people and be able to delegate tasks and projects. Web entrepreneurs are innovative people that like things a certain way and often fall into the trap of doing everything themselves. Build a team, delegate, and build a strong foundation for your business that will prosper even when you go on vacation.
Nine: You Must Be a Big Thinker
This is my favorite mindset. I love thinking big! It energizes me and is what makes my “job,” if you can even call it that, so much fun! Thinking Big Expert, Michael Port, says “in order to do big things in the world, you have to do them with other people, you can’t do them alone.” So you must think big and leverage everything you have to network with and collaborate with other big thinkers. Success is guaranteed to happen with that kind of synergy!
Ten: You Must Evolve
All successful web entrepreneurs evolve–they continuously improve themselves and set higher goals year after year. Understanding and honoring your growth is crucial to your success. Author Jill Badonsky says that, “we evolve only when we participate, not when we sit on the sidelines fearing inadequacy. And the more we act, the more wisdom, confidence, and excellence we receive.” Have you ever heard the phrase entrepreneurial spirit? Having an entrepreneurial spirit means that you evolve and you have a high energy level and a spirit that propels you through all the tough days.
Black Entrepreneurs Must Have Courage!
With the economy tightening and everyone holding on to their pocket books, it appears that the best thing to do would be to sit still and not do anything to get your business going.
This is a big mistake.
Some of the best businesses and products are made or created when there is a major shift-taking place in the economy. In tough times people are always looking for a better product, or a more efficient way to get something done.
People are looking for a way to save time and save money. And if you can offer a product or service that does just that, you can find yourself thriving when it appears that everything around
you is crumbling.
Every day the news is revealing some pretty scary things, numbers from the home builders, the sub prime mess being larger and more dangerous than originally thought and the dollar falling
to HISTORIC lows against the Euro and Pound and other major currencies has everyone screaming that a recession is on the way.
The Stock Market has many investors and those with 401ks, IRA’s or retirement accounts nervous. The point that I am driving at is as an entrepreneur you are going to have to make decisions that will put you out there.
I am not talking about unchecked financial risk, although from time to time you are going to have to put your money where your mouth is.
I am talking more about your ego, self-esteem, reputation, relationships, and dealing with the ever-present what will he/she/they think of me?
Black Entrepreneurs must have Courage!
You need courage to act on your ideas. You need courage to go against conventional wisdom or so-called expert advice you solicit when you believe your ideas are better.
You need Courage to start before you are ready, which means you may stumble around in the dark and make mistakes.
You need courage to face embarrassment, feeling humiliated, and being rejected. In fact you are not on the track of entrepreneurship until you feel embarrassed, feel humiliated, and get rejected.
You need courage to make rules and set boundaries and define how your business will be conducted. You need courage to put an end to relationships that are totally unproductive.
You need courage to take control of your time and not feel bad about not letting people suck up your time. You need courage to define and pursue goals that are important to you.
You need courage to sell and promote you. You need courage to ignore destructive criticism and to stay focused on what it is you feel you must accomplish.
