The most successful entrepreneurs of the world aren’t the ones who impulsively quit their jobs to chase a get-rich-quick idea. They are the ones with an entrepreneurial mindset — a set of perspectives and values that allow them to achieve greatness. These 10 perspectives are differentiators you’ll need to have or develop if you’re going to be a successful business owner.
1. Competitors Are Research Subjects. Going along with the point above, entrepreneurs view competitors as research subjects. Rather than viewing competitors as a threat, like most people would, entrepreneurs see competitors as enriching opportunities to learn more about their industry and their target market. By looking at your competitors’ business models, you can learn what makes yours unique and embellish that uniqueness in your branding and marketing efforts. By looking at your competitors’ emphasis on customer experience, you can learn how to make yours better. Your competitors are doing you a favor — they’ve already gathered tons of valuable information. Entrepreneurs realize that it’s up to them to take advantage of it.
2. Challenges Are Opportunities. Setbacks, obstacles, and challenges are painfully common elements of entrepreneurship. Most people react to these hurdles with stress and pessimism, with an attitude that obstacles are negative experiences that only hinder progress. As an entrepreneur, you encounter so many challenges you simply can’t afford to react this way. Instead, successful entrepreneurs view challenges as opportunities. Each challenge or setback reveals a key opportunity to grow — either to improve upon an existing weakness or take measures to avoid experiencing a similar setback in the future.
