Entrepreneurs make up only about 15% of the working population in the US Far fewer succeed than those who try to become independent entrepreneurs and venture out on their own. So what makes people decide to take the entrepreneurial path, when so few actually do?
Is the American dream a possibility for anyone, or does it take more than most to become a successful entrepreneur?
The success of an entrepreneur depends on his way of thinking. A large percentage of business owners will quit within their first five years in business. What is needed is the strength and faith that accompany the achievement of success.
Entrepreneurs are risk takers and dreamers. However, the difference between the dreamer and the entrepreneur is that the entrepreneur takes actions based on his dreams. They persist through difficulties and never give up! Many entrepreneurs start with an idea. Your success is determined by your belief that you can create something bigger than just monetary success. Often, it is about creating something that will benefit the world.
James Dyson, for example, came up with the idea of the bagless vacuum cleaner. Despite multiple setbacks, over 5,000 prototypes, and being unable to get any manufacturer or distributor to buy into his idea, he persevered. It was over a decade after the initial idea for him that the concept for him came to fruition. Even then, it was after much hardship due to the £100 million worth of vacuum replacement bag industry in the UK.
In Simon Sinek’s book ‘Start With Why’, he suggests that the world’s biggest companies are because of their ‘why’. – your reasons for building a business in the first place. In all cases, it wasn’t just about making money, or improving technology, or some whimsical ideology.
The Wright brothers, for example, became known as the pioneers of the first manned flight. But his competition was much better financed and well connected: Samuel Pierpont Langley had worked at Harvard, had several powerful connections, including Andrew Carnegie and Alexander Graham Bell. The War Department funded their project with a $50k grant, a seemingly huge head start for the Wright brothers who had no connection and no money or influence. However, their passion and devotion to changing the world with this new technology led them to achieve the first flight in history in 1903.
The desire for material things and monetary wealth can only take someone so far. Unless you have a bigger goal or passion than that, you may lose momentum and not be able to sustain your enthusiasm for long.
The entrepreneurial mindset is one that harnesses its purpose. Without a purpose-driven goal or objective, it can’t be long before disappointment kicks in. With a larger purpose mindset, entrepreneurs can build great businesses because they ‘saw’ a vision of what they wanted to create. If the purpose is greater than the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving it, no amount of setbacks will stop you from reaching your goal.
On the other hand, if you set out to do something and something gets in your way and stops you, your initial reason (your “why?”) may not have been strong enough to withstand all the battles along the way.
Therefore, the entrepreneurial frame of mind (or mindset) must be aligned with your vision, your values and your purpose. If your values are not aligned with your purpose and vision, you will run into obstacles that will prevent you from reaching your goal.