[Part 2] 3 Keys To Business Success: Mindset

Make the shift to a business owner mindset


“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

In this three-part series, we’re taking a deep-dive into the three keys to business success: discipline, mindset, and resilience. Last week, we talked about the importance of building discipline as a business owner. Today, let’s talk about mindset.

Mindset is defined as “the established set of attitudes held by someone.” The attitude, or the mindset, that you bring into your business on a day-to-day basis defines your short and long-term outcomes.

Establishing (and maintaining) a business owner mindset can be difficult for new entrepreneurs, particularly in home-based businesses. But being able to make that shift from an employee mindset to a business owner mindset is perhaps the best thing you can do for your business. For employees, there is always a tomorrow. When you’re collecting a paycheck, you can afford to put off until tomorrow what should be done today.

But, when you’re a business owner, you need a get-it-done mindset. All. The. Time.

You need an optimistic mindset to keep you going through the long days and nights that success requires. The benefits of creating a business owner mindset far outweigh the work it may take to get there.

 

4 Steps to Creating a Business Owner Mindset

According to Home Business Magazine, you can create a business owner mindset in four steps.

1. Develop a proactive mind

We tend to default to reacting to our environment and circumstances. But when you’re a business owner you need to think three steps ahead. One important example of proactive thinking is to think about your customers’ pains and needs. What are service gaps they need that aren’t being fulfilled? How will those needs change in the future? Thinking proactively will help you get ahead of the game, rather than being blind-sided by changing needs and requests

2. Destroy excuses

There is no space in the business owner mindset for excuses. Period. You will experience many external and internal forces working to throw you off your goals. But you’re certainly not alone in this. Every business is struggling with market forces and more to grow. The difference between those that succeed and those that fail is the mindset to use those forces as excuses or opportunities. You’re ultimately the only one who can make that choice for yourself and your business.

3. Understand your customer 

Business owners can’t get away with not intimately understanding their customers. Researching and building intimate customer relationships is now a huge part of your job. Entrepreneurs with a business owner mindset embrace this responsibility and reap the rewards.

4. Become a list keeper and follower

Keeping a to-do list helps you break big, daunting tasks up into digestible chunks. It also helps you make sure you’re not letting important tasks slip through the cracks as you become more and more busy in your business. Some people like to keep hard copy lists in a notebook or journal. Some great web tools for lists are Google Tasks and Wunderlist.

One of the many changes you’ll experience as you become a business owner is making the transition from an employee mindset to a business owner mindset. Being able to think about your business as a company and a going concern will allow you to move beyond simple self-employment to building a business that works for you.

Stay tuned, because next week we’re going to talk about the second key to business success: Resilience.

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