8 Traits of the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Growing up with my dad was like entrepreneurial school. He taught me that I had the opportunity to shape my own future by applying myself to something I loved. I just needed to look for the right opportunity.

That first opportunity, at age 11, was selling boxes of all-occasion cards. Honestly, it was a bust. I was turned down by my neighbors and didn’t have the tenacity to pursue strangers. A couple years later, I started my own lawn-mowing business. That didn’t last long either. But it did last longer than the cards venture. In fact, with each new entrepreneurial venture, my perseverance and determination grew.

Entrepreneurial success isn’t a linear path. The only way you really learn is by trying, failing, gaining resilience, problem-solving, and applying yourself to fresh opportunities. Success is less about being in a particular position and more about mindset. Here are eight traits of the entrepreneurial mindset essential to long-term success.

1. Openness. Entrepreneurs are uncannily open to opportunities. They see problems others don’t and fixate on challenges others dismiss. They know that the answers to these sorts of problems could be products.
2. Ownership. Entrepreneurs don’t wait around for somebody else to solve the problems they observe. They’re compelled to find solutions and take the initiative.
3. Grayscale Thinking. Entrepreneurs see and make indirect connections, often from an adjacent industry, and then take the risk of giving it a try. They employ mental flexibility to find answers that aren’t always obvious.
4. Risk Tolerance. Entrepreneurs push against the norm. They understand turning their vision to reality requires taking numerous risks. Failure might be inherent within risk, but it’s also a requirement for success.
5. Resilience. Entrepreneurs bounce back when failure comes, especially when hitting roadblocks, naysayers, or a no when a yes is desperately needed. The pathway to success requires the ability to rebound from failure.
6. Resourcefulness. Entrepreneurs are scrappy and inventive, finding clever and unusual ways to overcome difficulties or make the most of opportunities. They often have a limited budget and learn to identify and marshal whatever resources are on hand.
7. Patience. Entrepreneurs stick with a problem long enough to solve it. They see what it’ll cost now to gain the results they seek later—and do what it takes to get to the end of the road. They have a long-term vision they’re willing to invest in, even if it won’t pay off for several years.
8. Belief. Entrepreneurs don’t just believe in themselves; they believe in their solutions. That belief is what sustains them while making a pitch for funding and receiving yet another rejection. This is what keeps them going when others don’t believe in their ideas (or at least not yet).

None of us are born with the full complement of these mindsets, and none of us have developed them to perfection. There’s always room to develop and improve how we exercise these traits in our work every day. Wherever you’re starting from, ongoing improvement is essential to your long-term success.

If you need help reaching that success, join our free webinar, The $5M to $50M Evolution. Through five foundational systems, we’ll teach you how to apply the entrepreneurial mindset to scale your business into something substantial. Register today to start growing your business to eight figures and beyond. Click here to register now.