Entrepreneurial mindsets and entrepreneurial spirits typically create different types of entrepreneurs. Some are technical and focused on the present, others are focused on the long-term. If each type of entrepreneur is different, however, the impact on success is very significant.
So, how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset? If the question is relevant to you, keep reading.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, though, it’s worth noting that this article is part of a series on entrepreneurial development. You’ll find a lot of information and tips on what to do (or not to do!) – if you’re interested in the subject, you have some reading to do!
Is there a typical type of entrepreneur?
Let us start with a little bit of background, first.
We, at Impactified, work with entrepreneurs on a daily basis. As entrepreneurs’ coaches, business coaches, or private advisers, we learn to know their business models. We challenge them. We support them. We give them food for thought and help them to take a critical look at their operations. And we see how their style, skills, and entrepreneurial spirit impact their performance.
In many cases, our interlocutors have a fairly similar type of profile.
They describe themselves as entrepreneurs, for starters, and they invest a lot of time and energy in developing new ideas and making their clients happy.
Some always had a conviction and went into it as fast as they could.
Others ended up running a business because an opportunity presented itself and had to be seized.
And, of course, many build their own activity to escape the good old boss and 9-5 routine.
Any pattern?
In all three situations, the daily schedules look very similar.
Managing teams is time and energy-consuming, so entrepreneurs struggle with the day-to-day management of business problems. They complain about a lack of balance between their personal and work lives. And, ultimately, they come to the conclusion that something in their business is missing.
This type of profile is in our experience very typical of what the life of a business owner looks like – before we start working with them at least. Still, the example is interesting because it helps to bring a fundamental double-sided question that most people never think about: what is an entrepreneur in the first place, and are they really entrepreneurs? Really, we mean.
Having an Entrepreneurial Mindset: A Matter of Perception
Believe it or not, the perception of what an entrepreneur should be is often very different from what entrepreneurs are like for real. From a daily routine perspective, we mean.
Entrepreneurship is a trendy word these days, and for many people, entrepreneurs are successful people who work from the place of their choosing and make a good regular income thanks to a business that works for them. But that, clearly, is the fantasy that people like to read and write about in international bestsellers.
From a much more pragmatic day-to-day perspective, being an entrepreneur is a very different thing that relates to small business management and entrepreneurial success really is a matter of organization.
Entrepreneurship tends to be a daily struggle that burns energy (and cash, so we’re clear).
It requires full-time availability and demands your permanent attention (way beyond email management, that is).
Value creation is a permanent concern.
Cash flows need to be managed, staff needs to be stimulated.
And, sooner than later everything turns into something that needs to be managed yesterday rather than tomorrow.
Not that fun, though!
In reality, the difference between the way people see successful entrepreneurs and the way their daily routine actually happens is however a matter of human psychology and awareness. That’s why we talk about the importance of building and nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset and an entrepreneurial spirit, really.
There are different types of entrepreneurs. For Real.
There are different types of entrepreneurs out there. The idea was explained particularly well in Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth – a must-read book if you ask us. Simply put? Well, when it comes to managing the way we do business, 3 types of entrepreneurs (or perhaps should we say entrepreneurial profiles) dominate. One is the technician, another is the manager, and the last is the entrepreneur. We like to add a fourth category, i.e. that of the business leader.
The Technician Entrepreneur.
The technician wants to focus on the detail-oriented part of the business – things and particularly products need to be neat and tidy – and wants to be left alone.
This is typically the type of entrepreneur interested in changing lifestyles, leaving their job, and ditching their boss. This also corresponds, obviously, to the type of entrepreneur who sees potential in an idea and does everything possible to make it happen. Alone, because nobody else can do it, because there is not enough money in the bank to hire staff, so forth and so on.
The Manager Entrepreneur.
The next type of entrepreneur is the manager. The manager doesn’t want to do technical work but is more process-minded and very happy to manage the technician. Yet, the manager is often stuck in a routine too because he/she doesn’t have a big enough vision of the business to actually decide on the directions it needs to take.
That tends to make the business stagnate until the manager realizes that the point is not to manage but to structure. Which gets us to the third type of entrepreneur on our list.
The Entrepreneur Entrepreneur.
Then, therefore, comes the entrepreneur type of entrepreneur (yes, exactly), who doesn’t want to manage the manager but wants to focus on setting the direction in which the business is going. The mission changes dramatically here because instead of doing or managing, it becomes a matter of building a strong vision people can relate to, and putting people on a mission to turn that vision into reality. Quite a program, don’t you think?
The Leader Entrepreneur.
The last (but definitely not the least) type of entrepreneur we like to talk about is the leader entrepreneur. Typically, this type of person is behind (or on top of) a business that runs on its own and looks for ways to get to another level of entrepreneurship.
Some do it by becoming investors, others do it by becoming promoters of their vision. The ways differ, but the idea is the same: the fourth type of entrepreneur focuses on the future.
Why that matters.
This, obviously, is where things start to get complicated. Take a minute to re-read the above and think.
How do you get things done? What do you focus most of your time on?
What is, overall, your own entrepreneurial mindset and how does it differ from the entrepreneurial mindset of others? Does it work for you? Could you do better?
You see yourself as the entrepreneur, the boss around the place. Right?
In practice, however, chances are that you are still stuck somewhere between the technician and the manager. Things need to get done, someone has to get it done, and someone needs to manage – but who better than you?
So what?
Said differently: most business owners see themselves as entrepreneurs when in reality they are blocked under a glass ceiling, doing and managing things the best way they can – without however filling the shores they ought to be filling.
Said differently again? Well, those who understand the difference between the entrepreneurs’ profiles we just described can see how to optimize their own impact and how to develop more efficient businesses. It’s as easy as that!
Shift from one type to another and your preoccupations shift too, creating a stronger dynamic for your business. All it takes a great dose of awareness, first, and a serious dose of personal and company organization to ease processes and change your operations in a way that gives you more room for leadership.
Shifting to the next level: a matter of organization (and mindset)
The point here is not to be judgmental – as mentioned before, following and helping different kinds of entrepreneurs is our mission and we know better.
No, the point is first to help you with creating an entrepreneurial mindset that really works for you. It is, also, to help you realize that the reason why your business is probably not delivering the way you think it should depend on your ability to realize that you, for one reason or another, match one of these entrepreneur types. Perhaps even a combination of two, but perhaps not the third yet. The entrepreneurial journey is a progression, isn’t it?
Once you realize that, things can really begin. Does being a technician hold your business back? React. Are you too much of a manager and not enough of a visionary and strategist? React! In both cases, becoming an entrepreneur will become a matter of thinking differently (that’s important) and a matter of organization.
So, what type of entrepreneur are you?
Now, let’s come up with a clearer mindset definition – it will give you ideas on how you can start to improve your entrepreneurial life. Action plans need to be built on a case-by-case basis, to be fair, so there is no secret or magical recipe – except for trial and error of course. What we can do, however, is ask some general questions that you can use to try and build your big picture.
- Do you spend time on the technical bits, whether daily or on a weekly basis?
- Would you work less if your business was organized differently?
- Do you ever wonder if the business could be managed without you?
- Could you work more on future orientation definition?
- Is organization a challenge at all?
- Do you see room for improving your leadership methods?
- Could your entrepreneur mindset be different?
If you have answered “yes” to one of these questions, chances are that you have great potential! The question is, how to develop and entrepreneurial mindset, build it or cultivate it?
Think about the various types of entrepreneurial mindsets out there and pick one that works for you. Define what is your definition of entrepreneurial mindset (and what isn’t). Work on your entrepreneur’s profile and things will get into place. Don’t stay on your own, ask for help and assess your situation. Things can only get better, all it takes is a decision to act…
One last thing…
One last thing before we let you go. A very efficient possibility to make a difference and improve the way you run your business is to start working on your business, not just into it… Stay tuned for more on this topic soon!
