Gaining Entrepreneurial Freedom, The Sooner The Better “Successful people do not have a part-time mindset nor a full-time mindset, but a lifetime mindset.” – Orrin Woodward You started your business for a reason – but greatness doesn’t happen with an employee mindset. If you’re ready for entrepreneurial freedom, you need to switch your thinking and your day-to-day habits. You need to have a lifetime mindset so you can develop the vision, stamina and follow-through to grow a successful company. Fortunately, with these tips you can make the shift and get the entrepreneurial freedom that you’re looking for. Make these changes early on and you’ll set yourself up for success and happiness in the long run. Drop The Employee Hangover There’s a big difference between being an employee and being an entrepreneur – and the sooner you realize that, the better. You need to make decisions as a boss – not as a worker. Don’t wait for a potential client to take initiative on hiring you. Ask for just 10 minutes of their time and meet with them in person. For goodness sakes, make sure your ask for their business in the most crystal clear way you can think of. Stay off of email and stay old school when it comes to relationships. This has always allowed me to land more business in the past and land the biggest deals as well. It’s exactly how I landed a deal with Nordstrom for INDIE PEACE within eight months of starting the company. Don’t take the convenient route in various communication mediums for the volumes you think you could achieve. Many times these are just mirages that do not yield more business opportunities over what you can create for yourself organically – there is no shortcut to a relationship. The silver lining is the sheer energy you create when the hunt begins. Recognize the true essence of this energy and use it for good. There’s something powerful about the departure to a business meeting that you created out of thin air. Don’t let the excitement of the hunt turn into nervousness. Channel this energy, as it’s one of the best feelings you will have as an entrepreneur. This is the reason why you will hear many veteran entrepreneurs say that “startup” mode was their favorite time on their entrepreneurial timeline. Some Filters of Perception Make Bargain Valueless Charging your clients as much as you were making with your previous employer may not fly. You need profits – you need to grow. You’ve got to charge more. Do your homework. If you have awareness on where their current or previous partner has let your potential client down in the past use this as one of your value points. Paint a different picture in the client’s mind for what the future looks like working with you. Accomplishing this automatically enhances their premium perception of you in their mind. Thereby reducing your need to sale due to your indirect conveyance of higher service and quality – two areas that have implicit cost and time saving attached to it for the client. Make sure you keep a clear process on how you will stay in touch and convey the relevance to why. Checking in is very powerful and a true measure of business caring, as you’re not always looking for more business. Clients that are close to you will contact you about a problem as they know you and trust you to handle it. If they are not close to you they will contact someone else about it and have less guilt when “breaking up” with you. Create Small Talk Small is the new big. If you are small, this is your advantage. You are so much stronger than you think. With the right client, being transparent about your company being small gains you credibility and means you will give them more attention. People gravitate to honesty and humbleness and this instantly shows that you can be trusted. People love to support hungry and passionate entrepreneurs and we all love to see the underdog triumph. The success I portrayed in our first year did not match our actual success at INDIE PEACE; we were smaller and many times I just left it out if the conversation as I thought it made us weak. Then I discovered that being vulnerable was where the most power lied. Communicating our real story of being a small company was valuable and felt much better. I cannot tell you how much move press and all around help we got from people by simply being bold about being a little company going after what we believe in. Forget About Work-Life Balance Get work-life flow. Don’t get me wrong: down time is important. Living the dream won’t be any fun if you’re burned out. But the truth is, when you’re an entrepreneur work-life balance is a myth. When you’re the boss you don’t have a 9 to 5 workday; you simply have a day. Get done what needs to get done and stop categorizing how you spend your time! Be thankful that you can choose your own pathway and get excited at the billion pathways you could potentially take. Stick With It Remember your last job? The predictability, the steady paycheck and someone else making all the decisions? Now think about what lies ahead for you as you live your dream. The freedom. No ceiling on your earning potential. The chance to achieve your own vision of success. Think of these perks when the going gets tough. Keep focusing on all the reasons why you’re an entrepreneur. Why did you take that leap? Jot it all down on a list and make sure you see it when you get out of bed and when you walk out the door each day, get it tattooed on you (well, maybe not that last one)…do whatever it takes. Remember why you’re in business and you’ll be able to take on a lifetime mindset. Find the Help You Need You don’t need to waste startup cash on getting the help you need. Try out Elance or oDesk – they act like a marketplace for employers and freelancers. You post a job, gather bids and pick the best candidate. But it’s not without its risks. Here’s how to find the help you need. Focus on the specialists. Steer clear of the Jack-of-all-trades candidates. Find those that specialize in one area and you’ll get much better quality. Find the average price before you hire. Give your project enough time to gather a lot of bids, and then find the average price. This way you’ll find the best combination of quality and cost-savings. Ensure that you’re working with the same professional each time. Many agencies take advantage of these bidding sites in order to get work. There’s nothing wrong with working with an agency as long as they ensure you that the same person is working on your project each time. When in doubt, hire a solo provider. Keep each job small. You’ll probably need a lot done from virtual workers, but don’t outsource it all at once. In the beginning, break deliverables up to ensure things run smoothly and then ramp up once they are “road tested.” I have used oDesk for at least 20 jobs in the past. Contracts for web development, web design, copyrighting, grant research, and competitive research are some examples of the services. Each experience typically exceeded my expectations and was always an absolute bargain. Pay Attention To Opposite Thinking People tend to lean toward ideas that mirror their own thinking. When you find yourself immediately dismissing a piece of advice, challenge your bias and think about the opposite. Brainstorm a list of pros arguing for the other side, and then evaluate. Do you need to reconsider your original stance – or is it worthwhile to further explore this new point of view? Considering the opposite point of view can help you make better decisions. Starting your own business doesn’t mean you’re an entrepreneur. The sooner you can transform your thinking, habits and practices to become an entrepreneur – the better. forbes/sites/lawtonursrey/2014/07/02/entrepreneurial-freedom-the-sooner-the-better/
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:15:53 +0000
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