Mindset and the entrepreneur
Solopreneur or entrepreneur? It may depend on your mindset.
What kind of mindset does an entrepreneur need to be successful?
If you consider yourself an entrepreneur, it depends on what kind of entrepreneur you are and how you define success. I know, that leaves it pretty wide open. So let's take a minute to explore what it is to be an entrepreneur.
The term "entrepreneur" conjures all sorts of interpretations. That's why people who have a consultancy, coaching practice or some variety of service-based business that utilizes their talents, passion and experience struggle labeling themselves as entrepreneurs. Business owner seems like a better fit.
But, there's something sexy and innovative about calling yourself an entrepreneur. Have you ever stopped for a moment to consider what an entrepreneur is for you? Do you think of yourself as an entrepreneur? For me, I struggle calling myself an entrepreneur because in my mind, I'm not taking a huge risk or creating something entirely new that is changing how we do business or something that has a really big impact.
But what if I am actually doing that? What if YOU are actually doing something entrepreneurial?
Implied in the definition of "entrepreneur" is risk. It makes it sound edgy and a bit dangerous, yet people still bravely move forward into entrepreneurship despite the risk—not just financial risk, but the risk of doing something innovative, something that may totally disrupt how we live. So if you look at it through that lens, anyone who starts their own business—whether a tiny side hustle, part time gig or a full-time company with the "inc" letters after it—is an entrepreneur.
When you leave the perceived security of a full-time J-O-B (notice how I used the word perceived since no job provides true security) to start a new venture, you have NO assurances that it will succeed. In the beginning, we interpret success two ways: 1) the endeavor earns revenue and 2) it can be sustained and grown.
I attended Tony Robbins' Business Mastery program not long ago. In the training, Tony shared three distinct types of business owner which are derived by our "true nature.” This is how he broke them down, and after he introduced this model, I had a big aha moment. I started seeing these people in my clients, peers, role models and other successful business owners I’d come across over the years.
This is how he broke them down, and I added a few observations of my own:
The artist/skilled producer who is someone that has incredible talent, competency and can serve, serve, serve. They can get overworked, focus so much on their craft and how they are providing service (and pleasing their clients) that they can often overlook the management of the business.
The manager/leader is about the bigger picture, and they manage people naturally and well, they have a broader view of the business operation and reliably get the job done by and through their leadership. The aren’t typically emotional about the product or how it’s delivered or what it’s about; they are more focused on getting the job done, getting the invoices paid and keeping the business in the black.
The entrepreneur is about opportunity. They boldly move the business forward despite the risks, can pivot quickly, weather the economic and emotional ups and downs of the business and work with managers to build the business so that it achieves a significant payoff. In many cases, the end game of the entrepreneur is a big financial win, and why they can take on more risk than most have the stomach for.
I found Tony’s classification of business owner types to be quite insightful. It was as if there’s no “perfect type” per se, but orientations, or bents if you will. Identifying your true nature and who you are can help you know where you need to grow or get support. It can also help you understand why shifting your mindset can be a challenge.
Let's talk about each of these types. The first one, the artist, oh boy that's me. I am literally not only an artist, writer, creative—yes, I went to art school and all of that—but I am a full-on technician and I know how to get stuff done. My first job out of art school was setting type for a small family-owned typography business in Pittsburgh. Now, this is pre-desktop publishing and the internet, so setting type was all about a lot of typing for the local ad agencies to lay out everything from books to brochures to business cards. From that job forward, I was always hired for my skills, creative talent, problem solving and ability to get the job done.
When I finally went into business for myself, I naturally continued that behavior. It was all about being the technician, the creative, the turnaround chick, always bending over backwards to please my clients. It took me a long time to make the shift from being a technician to being a business owner. This behavior was driven by a mindset I had never addressed when I made the switch from worker to owner. I was doing basically the same things, designing, writing, creating marketing collateral and designing websites for people, but I never made the clear distinction about worker vs. owner until later.
I see this quite a bit with people who held similar capacities in the J-O-B world and when they launch their own business, they are challenged with the same issues I was. Those challenges and what I learned is why my company is set up the way it is today, and why I now have the mindset of a business owner instead of a worker.
The second type, the manager/leader, that's my friend Anne Marie. In many ways she is a lot like me. She knows how to get stuff done, she's a professional, but her strength is in seeing the big picture and managing. I've seen Anne Marie expertly manage an energetic business owner who was like me, the first type—an artist/skilled producer. I've seen her lead a team of people to get large projects completed on time, save the company headaches and dollars with her smart recommendations and leadership. She’s currently in a role where she’s having to be both the skilled producer and the manager, and at times it’s taxing for her as her natural type is manager/leader.
The third type, the entrepreneur, is the full-out risk taker with a big idea. The goal is the big payout, the build it big and focus on exit strategy. This type is the visionary, the one who has the idea AND does whatever it takes to bring it into reality. You see these people on the cover of Wired magazine, written about in Forbes and quoted in just about every non-fiction business book. They are the Bill and Melinda Gates, Sara Blakely who invented Spanx, Steve Jobs, Mary Kay Ash, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos—the mega-successful. There’s more. Ted Murphy who founded Izea, a leader who defined social influencer marketing. And how about the trio who redefined the lodging model with Air BnB, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk. Look at Marie Forleo, who started building her online empire while tending bar and teaching hip-hop? Entrepreneurs are everywhere.
