Are you one who can quickly embrace change and move quickly to make things happen?

Are you a self-starter who is naturally curious?

Do you usually see the “big picture”?

Well then good for you.  You are a born entrepreneur, and hopefully the rest of the population can also adopt your level of thinking.

Why Try to Think Like an Entrepreneur?

One of the biggest problems that I see when people come to me and want to start a business is that they are trying to be entrepreneurs, but with an employee mentality.  The minute they open their mouths, they begin to give themselves away.

They will begin our session by using words such as “paycheck” or “money.”  Instead they should be using terms such as “profits” or “revenue.”  Then they will go on to speak about their hours and how they really need 40 hours a week.  Oh, really I ask them.  Where did you get that concept?

They will begin telling me that in their past job, they worked 40 hours a week with overtime.  Then I begin asking them if we could come up with a plan to have you earn $100 to $300 an hour, would you still need to have 40 hours a week?  Oh, no they tell me not at that rate.

Then I try and explain that because they are no longer employees, but business owners all of that has changed.  Once you transition over from employee to entrepreneur, you will never quite see time and money the same way—or at least shouldn’t.

How Should Entrepreneurs View Time?

Time should actually be more important than money, because money can always be re-earned.  However, once time is gone—it can never be recovered.  So entrepreneurs should always use their time well and only on things that earn enough money to make it worthwhile.

I like to say “don’t major in the minors.”  In other words, don’t be so worried about making money that you just do anything to stay business—even projects that aren’t worth your time. 

Respect your time and make certain that others are going to be doing the same.  We’ve all heard the phrase time is money.  It certainly is—however, maybe even more valuable.

Let Us Examine Some Common Phrases and See How to Turn Around Our Thinking

An entrepreneur might say that he or she is surrounded by opportunities.  However, a non-entrepreneur might say that all of the good opportunities are gone.  An entrepreneur might say that he or she wants to expand and increase awareness.  A non-entrepreneur might say that they don’t like going outside their comfort zones.  

I think that you get the picture here.

Can Entrepreneurial Thinking Be Taught?

To some degree, yes it can.  Just changing your limited thinking to a broader scope of possibilities is a good place to start.   A great resource would be Michael E. Gerber’s book, The E-Myth Revisited.

In Conclusion

Unless you come from a family of entrepreneurs, then you are probably going to have to make a concerted effort to change both your vocabulary and your way of thinking.  However, just like any other vocabulary building course or positive thinking course—you can make progress.  Progress is another thing entrepreneurs seek, because without progress the old status quo would have to stand.

What are some of the ways you are learning or have learned how to think like an entrepreneur?  As always I’d love to hear some of them.