How an Entrepreneurial Mindset Can Accelerate Your Career

If you’re finding yourself dreaming about advancing your career but you’re not sure if you have what it takes, here’s the good news: anyone can learn to be an entrepreneur. While it may seem from the outside looking in like some people are just innately good at entrepreneurship, the characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset can very much be learned and perfected with experience over time.

What makes up an entrepreneurial mindset, and why does it matter?

An entrepreneurial mindset isn’t just beneficial for those who are planning on branching out and starting their own business. If you want to pursue a new challenge at work, go after a promotion, or switch career paths altogether, Ownr has helped more than 90,000 budding business owners to turn their entrepreneurial mindset into something tangible. 

The world of business is unpredictable, and no matter how prepared you think you are, setbacks are inevitable. An entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking and approaching challenges that can help you to effectively respond to and learn from those setbacks.

Independence, Initiative, and Thinking Outside of the Box

One of the characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset is the ability to work independently, setting and achieving goals and taking initiative in your work. If you really want to see your career accelerate, it’s up to you to look out for leadership opportunities and other ways to demonstrate your value as a member of the team. 

Successful entrepreneurs tend to be self-starters and unconventional thinkers, able to look at problems from a variety of perspectives and recognize that mistakes and trial and error have the potential to lead to innovation. When problems arise, an entrepreneurial mindset gives you the ability to use critical thinking to evaluate the situation, determine what went wrong, and come up with a plan to get things back on course (or switch course altogether). 

Confidence (In Yourself, In Others, And In Taking Risks)

An entrepreneurial mindset also involves being confident in your abilities, instincts, and decisions. Confidence in yourself inspires trust in others, an important skill to have whether you want to impress your boss, your employees, or a potential client or investor you’re pitching to.

New developments in the market are happening all the time, so a successful entrepreneur has to be willing to take risks and make decisions quickly to avoid missing the opportunity to jump on board with a trend before it’s too late. Just as the market may change, your entrepreneurial vision may also shift over time, so it’s important to check in with yourself regularly to see if you’re achieving your goals or if your goals have changed. If the work you do on a day to day basis isn’t serving your vision, it may be time to adjust your approach and make some changes. 

Resilience: Try, Try Again (And You Don’t Have To Do It Alone)

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy, so you need the resilience to bounce back when things go wrong or pivot as required. You’ll also need to be able to work under pressure, make mistakes, and overcome your fears in order to embrace challenges and opportunities. An entrepreneurial mindset goes hand in hand with a growth mindset, where you are willing and eager to learn from others and accept their guidance.

While the ability to work independently is an integral part of an entrepreneurial mindset, don’t underestimate the value of being a good team player. A successful entrepreneur recognizes that it makes more sense to hire employees and outsource certain business activities to people who excel in those areas rather than letting ego get in the way and thinking they need to do everything themselves.

Willingness to take accountability is another valuable characteristic in an entrepreneur, whether you’re part of a team or the face of the organization. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter who was responsible for a misstep; what matters is how you take action to remedy the situation. 

Speaking of ego, an entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t mean you should take on all of the responsibilities and do it by yourself. In fact, it means the opposite: build a team that you can trust and rely on, without having to micro manage, so that you can focus on the things that you excel at. You should be able to recognize your personal strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly, because you can prioritize the success of the business over your ego. 

On that note, being an entrepreneur is more about providing value to others, whether that’s your boss or your customer, than it is about showcasing your own achievements and abilities. Accelerate your career by demonstrating why hiring you will benefit them, not the other way around.

To Wrap Things Up…

An entrepreneurial mindset is a highly desirable set of characteristics in the workforce, whether you’re pitching yourself in a job interview or convincing investors to support your new business. When you’re confident in your skills, you’ll be better equipped to communicate what you bring to the table in a way that makes you seem invaluable.

No matter what field or job position you’re in, people trust those with confidence, decisiveness, and resilience, to take charge and lead. Make sure to invest time into networking and making industry connections with people who know what you’re capable of.

When you display the qualities of an entrepreneurial mindset, you’ll likely be rewarded with a higher chance of promotion and more autonomy in the workplace, and you’ll be seen as a valuable asset to your company. 

How Can I Start Building My Entrepreneurial Mindset?

If you’re ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship, Venture for Canada and Ownr have partnered up to offer 20% off when you use this promotional code to register or incorporate your business. Ownr provides everything you need to not only start a business, but also efficiently manage and run it all on one convenient digital platform. 

Many new entrepreneurs start with a sole proprietorship, which you can register in a matter of minutes using Ownr. Even business incorporation is simplified from complicated legal jargon into terms anyone can understand, with help available at every step along the way.

Not only does Ownr provide all of the required documents to run a legally compliant business, it also costs significantly less than hiring a lawyer to register or incorporate your business. Ownr also provides a ton of savings opportunities, including money back when you open an RBC business bank account and over $15,000 in savings from other partnerships. 

Whether you want to advance in your current career, pursue a new field, or start your own business, an entrepreneurial mindset is a necessary skill set to accelerate your career forward.