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Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration.
Thomas A. Edison
We have great news for you! You don’t need to be born with an entrepreneurial mindset, you can learn it! Let’s now break down the key characteristics of entrepreneurial thinking so you can start upgrading your business skills today.
Vision is like a guiding star in the vast canvas of your business. It helps you define where you go and shows you the direction of the many options you may have. Vision is like a distant point on the horizon and goals are like individual stepping stones on the whole journey.
You know yourself and build your agency by knowing what your life values are. You know your highest desires and dreams and you pursue them. You are also aware of your limits, respect them and know when you need to set healthy boundaries for yourself, your teammates, and your business as well. Remember, it is OK to say no.
Going towards your visions means that sometimes you don’t fully know what the next steps are or what exactly is the next thing that you should do. This is completely OK and if you let go of perfection, you will see that the things you cannot control will be unfolding on their own to your highest best.
Not knowing exactly what the future holds doesn’t mean you need to be worrying about small little things and what-could-happen scenarios. Many psychology studies show that optimism can be learned, so take your attitude into your “hands” and start practicing your happy mental muscles.
You are not afraid of challenges as you see them as they are – the natural building blocks of life. Challenges help you to learn, self-reflect and grow. You can also help yourself a lot by doing good research and planning sufficiently before you go ahead with some new projects or partnerships.
Making mistakes is a natural part of learning, so don’t be afraid to make a mistake. We will be talking about the fear of failure in the next course section, so stay tuned.
As an entrepreneur, you need resilience to survive. Because you are going to fail a few times but that should ultimately not hold you back to keep going! You are taking a lot of risks with your entrepreneurial spirit so know that’s something that doesn’t come easy. Resilience means not giving up! Take that energy from your learnings to push yourself further!
You have “no” by default if you don’t ask for what you want or need. The other person may not know at all what is on your mind, therefore it is so important to learn to ask for it. Most people are open to discussion, and if they choose not to, they usually have good reasons for it. So do try to ask, you don’t bother.
Being resourceful means that as an entrepreneur, you can think of solutions with limited resources. You can be innovative and open-minded to find opportunities and strategies, especially in crucial times!
Cashflow is important for every business so you have to take care of it! Manage your invoices well and increase profits. You can also consider raising your prices. Most importantly, you should always be wise in how you spend your company’s cash flow.
There are so many peaks and troughs; so, you have to have an inner fire for your business, otherwise one would just give up. When you do what is important to you, then you will stay at it.
Verena Pausder, Founder of Fox & Sheep
If you feel that the list is too long and overwhelming don’t get discouraged. As we have said in the beginning, you don’t need to be born with all these traits. You already possess a lot of them, and addressing that can immediately boost your self-esteem. We would like to encourage you to go over the list one more time and mark the traits that you feel as your strengths. And praise yourself for that. And then also note down the traits you don’t feel well-versed right now. Approach it as if it is just something you need to learn and build a short strategy plan for how you can improve these skills in time. Remember the quote at the beginning of this lesson by Thomas A. Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99 % perspiration.” You can do it!
