Starting a Business QuickStart Guide. Ken Colwell PhD MBA

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СКАЧАТЬ Chapter Recap

       Many self-limiting beliefs that hold would-be entrepreneurs back are based on misconceptions.

       The common idea of a “typical” entrepreneur is also usually based on a misconception. There is no single path that will guarantee success. Successful entrepreneurs come from a variety of backgrounds and take diverse paths to reach their success.

       A lack of “business skills” does not disqualify someone from being an entrepreneur—many famously successful entrepreneurs started their businesses with a lack of formal training (but having a business background certainly helps!) Two key skills to develop are self-awareness and interpersonal skills.

       Startup costs are much lower than they once were. Some businesses can be started with low financial commitments or commitments that are spread over time, and with little more than a laptop and an internet connection.

       There is no “right” time to start a business. Younger entrepreneurs have freedom of time but lack experience and a developed network. Conversely, entrepreneurs who are older tend to have more experience and developed networks but more time constraints.

       Failure is by no means the end of an entrepreneur’s journey. It is important to reframe your conception of failure as a learning tool and an indicator of progress and experimentation rather than a brick wall.

       Every new venture should take the time to construct and maintain a business plan. Business plans are important strategic documents as well as discovery, measuring, and communication tools.

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       Reaching Success

       What You Really Need to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

       Chapter Overview

       Intangible versus tangible aspects of starting a business

       The intangible aspects that have the greatest impact on success

       The importance of mindfulness, achieving a state of flow, work-life balance, and living a self-actualized life

      This is the part of the book where I’m supposed to give you a list of traits you need to be successful as an entrepreneur. Or I would if I was writing clickbait rather than a serious book. I recently googled “Do I have the entrepreneurial spirit?” and got nearly 65 million results. Most of the relevant results were lists of traits. Some common themes:

       Passion

       Resiliency

       Vision

       Calculated risk-taking

       Hard work

      I don’t dispute the importance of any of these characteristics for entrepreneurial success, but these traits are widely held by many people and they certainly don’t guarantee success. I’ve been observing successful entrepreneurs for a long time, and I believe there is one characteristic that’s most critical for success: mindfulness.

       Mindfulness

      Mindfulness is a term that seems to be everywhere these days. It is used to the point where it can seem meaningless. At its most basic, mindfulness means being focused on what’s actually happening in the present, without spinning a narrative about what it means, or comparing it to what other people are doing or thinking. It also means not continually regretting or reliving the past or worrying about things that might possibly happen in the future.

      Truly mindful individuals always know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it. This may seem simple, but if you really think about it, a lot of the things we do on a day-to-day basis are essentially mindless. We do them out of habit, because someone told us to, or just because they are part of a routine. If you are looking at your day mindfully, you are carefully considering the purpose and desired outcome of all your actions and making sure you’re doing them for the right reasons rather than chasing false hopes and expectations.

      Approaching your life this way will profoundly change your perspective in very fundamental ways. Let’s take a simple example—driving. People have a tendency to get angry and aggressive when they drive, for no good reason. And it only hurts them. Let’s say the light you’re waiting at turns green and the car in front of you is slow to start moving. You get furious and curse at the other driver, maybe even blow your horn. Where does the anger come from, and what purpose does it serve? Mindful individuals realize that their anger does not help them in any way. They’re not going to get where they’re going any faster, and the aggravation just raises their blood pressure and makes their day worse.

      As you can see, mindfulness encourages you to examine your thoughts and emotions to truly understand where they’re coming from. Doing so allows you to see much more clearly why you’re doing what you’re doing, and whether it fits into your goals or even whether it makes sense at all.

      With this in mind, let’s examine how mindfulness informs the internet’s list of “essential entrepreneurial traits.”

       Passion

      Are you doing what you’re excited about? Is it meaningful to you? Do you feel strongly that it’s what gives your life purpose? If not, you’re probably pursuing entrepreneurship for the wrong reasons. Many people are attracted to entrepreneurship because they want to make a lot of money, but starting a business purely to make money is a mistake. The road to entrepreneurial success is long, hard, and extremely uncertain. Chances are good that you will fail, at least at first. Not to mention that the process of starting a new business will take up most of your time and energy. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, chances are you’ll lose interest, and at the very least you’ll waste a lot of time being unhappy.

      You may have heard that many people are attracted to entrepreneurship because they are independent and want to work for themselves. This is largely a myth. There is no such thing as a “lone wolf” in business. You are always accountable to someone, even if you don’t have a boss. Entrepreneurs are accountable to stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, investors, and employees. You can’t just do whatever you want, and the more your business grows, the less freedom you will have. There are occupations that are essentially solitary, but the domain of business is largely a social network.

      Being mindful means understanding what you’re passionate about and why. If you love what you’re doing, you’ll excel at it. If you don’t, you’ll be miserable. It’s important to make major life decisions for the right reasons.

       Resiliency

      Starting a business is hard, and there will be many failures and frustrations for each success. This is simply a reality of starting a new business. Mindful individuals accept these bumps in the road for what they are—setbacks on the path to achieving larger goals. They don’t worry about things they can’t control, stress out about possible future outcomes, or engage in negative self-talk when things don’t СКАЧАТЬ