Entrepreneurship is more of a mindset than a profession and
entrepreneurship and leadership development is therefore not only interesting
for those who want to start their own business, but for everyone else alike.
Whether you are looking for employment, wanting to start something for yourself
or have a satisfying job already, having an entrepreneurial mindset can help
you making moves on the metaphoric career ladder and in all other aspects of
your life.
An Entrepreneurial mindset basically means responding to
opportunities in innovative ways. In the traditionally sense entrepreneurship is
seen as starting a new business. But I want to argue to adapt entrepreneurial
skills in every aspect of our lives. As stated above entrepreneurial thinking
is nothing more than responding to opportunities and create the right
circumstances for yourself. Do you know
those people that always seem to be at the right place at the right time? Well that is because they are at the right spot at the right time,
but it is not a coincidence, neither was it handed to them on a silver platter
or are the particularly smarter, more social or talented than others. The only
thing that distinguishes them from you is their ability to recognize and pursue
opportunities, and they were actively part of the creation of that right time
and that right place.
The good news is: everyone can achieve more success in their
life by following some basic principles.
1. Be true to yourself.
There is no point in working
towards a goal you not really want to achieve. For the time being, use your
time wisely and learn as much as you can, but don’t try to find opportunities
in the wrong corner. Self-knowledge is very important before you throw yourself
into a job or any other project. What helped me to identify my path was to make
a SWOT analysis used by businesses to develop a strategy. The same way you can
do this for your own life strategy. In a SWOT analysis you focus on your Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. See an example below:
Strengths
Ability to absorb new information in a short time
Good in motivating and supporting people
|
Weaknesses
Loose interest if things go to slow and stay the same
Want to be excited and challenged all the time
|
Opportunities
Project base work
Working in close contact with people
Working with challenges
|
Threats
Losing interest
Getting bored and giving up
|
Basically, like a business
benefits from defining their product line, so do you from defining your own
skills and talents.
2. Be around.
Nobody gets anywhere by standing
still. So stop wondering why you don’t find your great job, your prince
charming or anything else you are hoping for. As long as you keep surrounding
yourself with the same people and go to the same places, things are not likely
to change. So move around! Take those dance classes you always wanted to take,
become active on a forum, go to another city or accept the invitation for that
party where you don’t know anyone. Only by moving around you will find the new
opportunities you’re looking for. For me it felt right to move from Amsterdam
to Cape Town and only there I found where I was looking for.
3. Be open and market yourself
While you are meeting all this
amazing new people and visit new places, be open and talk about yourself. Let
people know who you are and where you stand for rather than just talk about the
weather and what you did last weekend. You never know what can come out of it
and it will make them remember you. And don’t be afraid for promote yourself. I
am not telling you to start bragging, but there is no harm in being specific
about who you are and what you are capable of. So don’t just say: “I work for a
fitness gym.” Instead, you can say, “I work as a manager and I am responsible
for A and B, I am also very interested and involved in this aspect of the
company, etc.” Get your skills out there and next time they will be working on
something related, they will think about you!
4. Invest wisely
An important element in a successful
business and part of becoming a successful business man or woman is making the
right investments at the right time. In this case, what I mean with the right investment
is the investment in your own personal development. If you are already working,
try to do an extra course that can help you in your work or subscribe to a
subject-related (online) magazine. Invest your time and money in becoming an
expert in your industry and write, tweet or blog about it on social media
networks. If you want to start for yourself, invest in some professional equipment.
If you want to start your own catering, it would be wise to invest in kitchen
equipment, your own website and business cards. You never know if it is going
to work, but if you never try it will surely not.
5. Be patient
Success doesn't happen overnight.
The people who manage to succeed with their plans are the people with the longest
breath. To stay motivated and to believe in the feasibility of your own plans,
you need to be confident, dedicated and patient. Those people I spoke about
earlier, the ones that are always at the right place at the right time, most of
them, if not all of them, experienced many, many obstacles before they arrived
where they are now. But somehow, that did no retain them from pushing their
plans. So next time when things are not going according plan, adapt and try to
find creative solutions. Because a true entrepreneur doesn't see obstacles, but
new opportunities. And believe that if one door is closing, another will always
open.
