This blog by Bonita Richter, MBA, “Maximize Your Career – Business Tools for Women over 50” conference speaker, first appeared on www.bizwomenover50conference.com
If you are like me, you have spent countless hours reading, studying, attending business and personal success seminars. Yet, for some women entrepreneurs, the results and success they desire seems to keep slipping through their fingers.
Building a successful business does not happen overnight. However, what I have seen after advising and delivering business training to over 8,000 small business owners is often their behaviors, actions, and limiting beliefs get in the way and hold them back from dramatically growing their business
The good news is our business results provides the clues we need to decide what changes we need to make to achieve the success we desire. To create a profitable and successful business we need to get a sense of how to “Be” in our business—the daily actions, thoughts, and behaviors that will support us—our Entrepreneurial Mindset.
Examine Your Entrepreneurial Mindset
The women entrepreneurs I know love what they do, and are passionate about their ‘Why’ and desire to serve others. It is one of the main reasons they chose to start their business in the first place. Business owners, in general, fall into two different categories: the self-employed and the entrepreneur.
Self-Employed
The self-employed are those who have a talent or skill, and they know there are people willing to pay for their time, product or service.
When they start their businesses, they get business cards, website, set up a home office, and begin marketing their services. After awhile, they have a few customers. It is not too long before they find themselves working alone, working too many hours, and constantly trying to fill the pipeline with new prospects.
They cannot take too much time off because without them there is no business or income. Many home-based business owners, consultants, coaches, and other service professionals end up on this treadmill.
We are talking about talented professionals. Yet, unfortunately, a majority of business owners fall into this category. The fact is what they’ve got is not a business, as much as it is a glorified job with a lot more stress, anxiety, risk, and lower income attached to it.
Entrepreneurs
The entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are the business owners who seem to grow their businesses effortlessly, and maintain steady growth. You talk to them and although they work hard, they are off for a three-day weekend at the beach or a vacation somewhere. What do they know that the self-employed do not?
Most likely, they have an Entrepreneurial Mindset. Successful entrepreneurs also possess a well-researched set of beliefs, behaviors and actions they consistently take that support their success.
Developing your Entrepreneurial Mindset is one of the most intense personal development programs you will embark on in the world. It requires taking a close look at whom you are, what you think, your personal habits, beliefs and actions that will determine the results you get in your business.
Women business owners who do not take the time to seriously work on their mindset, and eliminate habits, beliefs, decisions and actions that are not working for them will struggle to grow their business. This sets them up for either, 1) being self-employed in a very expensive hobby that drains their bank account, or 2) having to get a job.
Become passionate about the potential of your business and determined to grow the strength of your Entrepreneurial Mindset. When you do, your business will grow and thrive in relation to the awesomeness of your dreams!