It’s not easy developing entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurs take risks and do things most people aren’t prepared to do. They see failures only as stepping stones to success. An entrepreneurial mindset is one which looks for opportunity for making money in the service of others.

Where most would quit, entrepreneurs tend to have a strong desire to accomplish something meaningful. A good example of the entrepreneurial spirit is James Dyson, best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, or “Dyson”.

After five years and over 5000 prototypes, Dyson launched the “G-Force” cleaner in 1983. But no manufacturer or distributor would handle his product in the UK, due to the valuable market in replacement dust bags. At this point many would have quit. But Dyson launched it in Japan through catalogue sales. It won the 1991 International Design Fair Prize in Japan.

After his invention was rejected by the major manufacturers, Dyson set up his own manufacturing company, Dyson Ltd.

Dyson’s breakthrough in the UK market came more than ten years after the initial idea.

Developing Entrepreneurial Mindset

There are five dimensions in a mindset: self-efficacy, locus of control, beliefs about our capabilities, motivation, and level of resilience. Here’s some of the main aspects of those which fall into the entrepreneurial bracket:

• Self Efficacy – Self efficacy is a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a particular situation. As Henry Ford once said “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right”.
• An internal locus of control – high achievers put themselves in the driving seat of life. They take responsibility for their lives. By contrast, those with an external locus of control look to blame others. They tend to believe in fate, luck and that others are in control, not themselves.
• Growth Mindset – Entrepreneurs have a growth mindset. They believe they can grow and change as necessary to create the outcomes they want. A fixed mindset is the belief that things are “set”; that your capabilities are inherent and can’t be changed. Neuroscience research attests to the growth mindset concept, that we can change, i.e. thinking and intelligence are not set in stone.
• Intrinsic motivation – Intrinsic motivation is doing something for it’s own sake, rather than for the sake of reward. Those with intrinsic motivation have higher levels of engagement and psychological well being. Introducing an extrinsic reward undermines intrinsic motivation.
• Resilience – entrepreneurs tend to have high levels of resilience and can therefore overcome difficulties more easily. Where others would likely quit, the entrepreneur persists. This can be due to a positive outlook and optimistic view, rather than a pessimistic one.

Mindset Habits Of Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs tend to have goals. They also continue to update and expand on their goals to maintain their focus over the longer term. Without a meaningful goal, it can be much more difficult to sustain a particular path over the longer term.

Learning to control your state of mind is a useful entrepreneurial skill too. This can be especially useful when facing adversity.

Time management is a skill which is useful to entrepreneurs too. You can’t really control time; only the activities you choose to do within a certain time period.

Entrepreneurs are good at seeing the bigger picture of what they want to create. This might mean creating long term plans for a decade and then focusing on the monthly, weekly and daily habits which support that outcome.

For more on goal setting see this article.

Entrepreneurs are aware of their speech. What you say is often the best indicator of how you think. So be careful of your thinking when alone, and your speaking when with others.

Successful entrepreneurs spend time with other entrepreneurial types. They know that they become the average of the people they surround themselves with.

See also mindset shift from employee to entrepreneur.