The Surprising Psychology of Successful Entrepreneurs

“Many entrepreneurs are fully aware of the risks in launching a business, but they believe their idea is important enough that it’s worth trying anyway,” said Travis Howell, Ph.D., an assistant professor of strategy at the University of California, Irvine’s business school. “Even if there is a minimal chance of success, they won’t be happy doing anything else.”

Around 90% of the graduates after finishing their college degrees start searching for job opportunities in big enterprises; they end up standing in a queue that already has a long waiting list. A change in mindset is needed if we want to create more job opportunities as there is no possible way for already running organizations to accommodate every aspirant. It's time to take control of the situation and start building successful startups backed by strong, psychological entrepreneurial traits.

Businesses start and fail many within 2 years of their start, so what are those psychological traits which direct the energy in the right direction and make them keep going. Let's learn and explore together towards growing:

“Rather than taking huge risks, I think what characterizes the entrepreneurial mindset is a willingness to bet on yourself.” -Neil Kane, MBA, an entrepreneur and educator at Michigan State University’s Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Set High Standard Goals and Deliver

Always set goals higher than your expectations and put all your energy into them to achieve them. If you get an order to complete a task under a short timeline, don’t panic, but accept the order. Pushing your limits gives you an idea about your limits and your ability to work. One who can perform under pressure is the true professional. Entrepreneurs cannot refrain from working under pressure and often need to push beyond their limits to become successful.

Take a Practical Approach

Never underestimate your business and at the same time, overestimating it is a crime. Be practical because you have bills to pay and mouths to feed. So always be ready with a plan B. If you’re starting a business, then don’t have all of your eggs in the same basket. Build alternate sources of income that can sustain you until the business takes off. Use your different talents because you never know which one would open the success window in your life. Steve jobs worked with numerous companies before finding the kick-in Apple. So keep on moving until and unless you obtain the correct roadmap for your entrepreneurship journey.

Map it out

Before making any big investment, map out the project's blueprint and cover every possible point within the strategy. All aspects of the startup plan should be discussed prior and the pro and cons of the venture ought to be laid down clearly.

Just enough confidence

If any mindset epitomizes successful small business owners, it’s confidence, experts say. But too much can backfire.

“Studies that have looked at the long-run success of startups have found that more overconfident and more risk-tolerant entrepreneurs have less profitable businesses on average and ones that are more likely to fail,” Sorenson said.

Confidence in moderation, however, is necessary

While fear of failure (or success) can quash entrepreneurial dreams, Kane thinks the real showstopper is a feeling of impostorism, a lack of self-confidence that often develops when people rise to a significant level of responsibility or take on new roles they don’t think they deserve, and they no longer feel as qualified as others perceive them to be. More than eight in 10 small business owners struggle with this imposter syndrome. The wise ones know how to take some of the load off their own shoulders.

Treat and Raise your Business like a Child

When your child is growing, you love and nourish them to the fullest. But once they enter into adulthood, you set them free to explore the world. Treat your business in the same way. Put everything in your business when it's growing but when the time to sell it to someone else is right, don’t think twice. Don’t stick to it because you love it, and remember there is no place for sentiments in the world of entrepreneurship.

Gratitude is your Attitude

It’s doesn’t matter how successful your venture is or how much money you made this year. A successful person should always stay humble and grounded. A person's attitude should be full of gratitude, and one should never forget his roots since success is temporary and behavior is permanent. Always remember who you are and where you came from. Gratitude should be your attitude and is an important component of your entrepreneurial skillset.

Fear Equals Downfall

Fear gives you a business class ticket to the land of downfall. Don't fear and never let your fears impact your life decisions. Rule your fears and bend them according to your will. The person who lets fear take over his life will never able to survive in this world of opportunities since every opportunity is attached to the fear of risk. Empower and overcome fear to become an entrepreneur.

The myth of “risking it all”

Perceptions could help explain why entrepreneurs may seem like the type to “risk it all,” but their motivations are often much more mundane

“Most people do not quit good jobs to start companies,” Sorenson said. “Instead, they find themselves unemployed or stuck in a job that they do not like, so starting a company seems like a better alternative. Either that or they have an idea that they really believe in.”

Indeed, the simple, practical calculus of a person’s wage or salary versus debts and family obligations can quash startup urges, or it can inform the approach to launching a business, said Michael Goldberg, MBA, an associate professor of design and innovation at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Avoiding the risk, and avoiding loss of income and prestige, motivates most entrepreneurs more than any love of risk, one study found. Women entrepreneurs, according to another study, are driven less by money than by the social impact of their ventures.

Whatever motivates them, budding business builders don’t necessarily flip a switch and take on the risks of a startup all at once, Goldberg points out. Instead, many treat their passion as a side hustle, working nights and weekends on an idea, a product prototype, or perhaps a low-key launch. Goldberg, who is also an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist, agrees that money-making is rarely the sole motivator.

“If you're only focused on financial success, but you're not really solving anybody's problem, that’s probably a bad place to start,” he said.

Let's keep growing and achieve our human potential, what we were really made for. Young minds are full of energy and adventures and it’s said that the youngsters are the mirror of economic growth.

Rohan Girdhani

IT Consultant

Your Personal Sherlock Holmes

HAPPY LEARNING!!