10 Mindsets of Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are all different. They all have a different entrepreneur mindset that contributes to their success. Their entrepreneur mindset might have to do with their personality or even the field in which they have chosen to work.

When figuring out your own approach to the challenges of entrepreneurship, it can help to learn from the experiences of others.

We’ve selected the experiences and entrepreneur mindset of 10 well-known entrepreneurs from a variety of different fields. It is our hope that you will find something in each of their stories that will help you in your own entrepreneurial adventures.

The Entrepreneur Mindset of 10 Successful Entrepreneurs

1. Reach Out to Customers First

Knowing and understanding targeted customers is the overarching rule of exceptional companies. Award-winning business builders know their customers as well as they know their own families, perhaps even more so. Cover girl Kathy Ireland is a brilliant example of a successful businesswoman who knows her customers.Successful entrepreneurs know with exactness the wants, wishes and buying 
behaviors of specific individuals. They have analyzed the size of the market or the number of potential customers that fit the target profile. But further still, they know their customers’ names, ages, genders, incomes, home and Internet addresses, professions, education, associations, and marital status, number of children, hobbies, their tastes and interests. They grasp what their customers watch, read and hear. They understand their likes and dislikes. Knowing a customer to this depth is one of the key characteristics of highly successful business leaders.

                                       

     

2. SEARCH FOR NEW MARKET FOR AN EXISTING PRODUCT

Market strategies are the result of a meticulous market analysis. A market analysis forces the entrepreneur to become familiar with all aspects of the market so that the target market can be defined and the company can be positioned in order to garner its share of sales. A market analysis also enables the entrepreneur to establish pricing, distribution, and promotional strategies that will allow the company to become profitable within a competitive environment. In addition, it provides an indication of the growth potential within the industry, and this will allow you to develop your own estimates for the future of your business.

                                             

3. The GEOMETRY OF NETWORKS

The geometry of the network at each level is different. In general, the lower the level of the group, the greater is the focus on supporting routine operations and the stronger is the consequent incentive to channel information through a hub In interview on the MyTreat Blog, Nazar says he owes his success — particularly the founding and growth of his current company — to his networking efforts. He says he used networking to raise $4 million in startup funds. He says he also used it to locate a co-founder and build the majority of his organization.Nazar gives some important advice to other entrepeneurs when using networking in business. First,  measure the return on investment you are getting from your networking efforts.Second, make sure you give something of value first when making

                                          

4.LEADERSHIP IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Leadership in Entrepreneurship can be defined as "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task" and one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods.This refers to not only the act of entrepreneurship as managing or starting a business, but how one manages to do so by these social processes, or leadership skills. Entrepreneurship, in itself, can be defined as "the process by which individuals, teams, or organizations identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities without being immediately constrained by the resources they currently control.An entrepreneur typically has a mindset that seeks out potential opportunities during uncertain times. This leads us to see that an entrepreneur must have leadership skills or qualities in order to see potential opportunities and act upon them. An entrepreneur, at the core, is a decision maker. Such decisions often have an impact on an organization as a whole, which is representative of their leadership amongst the organization

                                                                 

                                                  

5.Keep Control of Your Vision

Joanne Chang : Have a Vision, Make Quick Decisions and Be Passionate

First, the ability to wildly inspire those around you with your vision. Unless you are a one-person operation, the success of what you are doing will rest in the hands of people other than you. If they aren't fully committed to your mission, you won't succeed.

Second, you have to have the ability to make decisions. Don't act rashly, but especially in this day, when information is flying around and people are moving faster than bullets, if you don't make changes and act quickly you'll be left behind.

Finally you have to have an "if I don't do this I will die" passion for what you do. When things get rough, what will keep you going is the feeling that you can't imagine doing anything else. Then you'll keep going and survive and come out the other end stronger. It's those who choose not to continue and do something else that end up not being successful in their endeavor. Successful entrepreneurs are simply those who stay with their vision and make it grow and grow and grow regardless of speed bumps and obstacles along the way

 .

6.Understand the Power of Brand

• By Sue Kirchner
  As an entrepreneur, you’ ve got a lot to think about. Finances. Satisfying customers. Competition. Economic downturns. Marketing. It’s hard to wear so many hats and keep everything straight. And the decisions! What strategic direction should we take? Our customer asked us to do this for them, but I’m not sure we should? We are growing and need help but who could we partner with? It’s enough to keep you up at night.
  One of the most important gifts an entrepreneur can give herself is the ability to stay focused. A strong, clearly defined brand helps you maintain focus by:
                  Helping you market to the right people — the ones who value your “brand                 promise,” or what your company stands for;
                Helping you attract the right employees who fit in with your company culture;
               Making the right products or offer the right services;
               Planning your strategic direction; and
            Making daily decisions on what opportunities to pursue

                                                                               

7. Focus Your Energy on What’s Good for Your Business

From best selling albums to a nightclub, a clothing line, a sports franchise and more, rapper Jay Z is known not just for his music but also for his business acumen.His success is based in part on his focus. It includes a refusal to spend his time on anything that does not expand his entrepreneurial ventures. Forbes staff writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg says this focus caused Jay Z to decline involvement in a book Greenburg was writing about him.Instead, Jay Z decided to put out his own book and profit directly from his own story and image.While some might consider this outlook shortsighted, the question remains. How often have we allowed someone else to drag our focus and energy away from our businesses – and what has it cost us?

                                                         

8.  Maintain Quality Control

With the merging of disciplines and the increasing diversity of services and demands required by ever-expanding economies, the corporate climate has never been the same. Starting up a small business no longer just depends on intuition and some business “know-how.” 
Entrepreneurs nowadays are discovering the increasing importance of being management engineers in sustaining the growth and development of a small business. Part of this revolution can be attributed to the rise of various business concepts, such as Six Sigma, whose main principle lies in the application of Quality Management and Control.  The basis of every product or service offered by any company or business is its quality.  Without the high quality that customers and consumers expect, a business’ product or service is effectively useless.  The process of creating a quality product, and then ensuring that quality is maintained, is called quality control.  More products sold means more profits, and that is in the best interests of any company!

                                                                             

9.PRODUCT DIFFERENTATION 

The desire to create a product that stands alone is nothing new. Way back in 1783, the Primrose brothers (George and William) promised to produce crystal as fine as any in Europe – and the Waterford brand was born.The brothers’ secret technique of combining glass and minerals to produce crystal that actually “sings” when tapped with the finger became renowned. The crystal is also known for the deep and ornate carvings created by skilled artisans that give it a distinctive appearance.So beloved and valued was the Waterford brand that even when the factory closed in the 1850′s due to economic hard times, the unrivaled quality of Waterford Crystal was never forgotten.Almost a century later, the Waterford Crystal tradition was revived, returning the crystal and the town in Ireland for which it was named, to their former glory

                                                   

10. Take Ownership

One of the first decisions to be made in starting a business is how the business will be owned.

The main choices are between setting up:on your own (as a sole trader)with a small number of partners (partnership)as a private company, with shareholders (limited company).

The advantage of sole ownership is that you make all the decisions and take all the profits. However, the sole trader has a lot of responsibility and will need to work extremely hard. Forming a partnership makes it possible to share the workload, but profits have to be shared and there may be disagreements between partners. Forming a private company makes it possible to raise extra capital for the business by selling shares, but setting up a company requires time and paperwork. Also, shareholders take a share of the profits. When Michael Marks started trading he was a sole trader. Later he took on a partner, Tom Spencer. When the business expanded nationally, it became a public company, with its shares traded on the Stock Exchange.