How to think like an entrepreneur

I started reading about how to be an entrepreneur out of desparation. I knew that another few years in my dead end job with a horrible boss would finish me off. I said to myself you need to get out of here or you will end up in a lunatic asylum or an early grave.

Step one in thinking like an entrepreneur

You don't need money, faith or ego. You just have to do SOMETHING. The hardest part of any jeorney is always the first step. so make it a small one. Go to the library and read a book by an entrepreneur you have heard of. Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Seth Godin, Bill Gates. Just read the book. Don't worry if their business plan is not yours. Just read the book. When you have done that, take it back to the library and swap it for another. The importance of doing this is that you need to get over the psychological hurdles that stop you succeeding. These books don't usually contain 10 point plans or pat answers, but there is a lot of wisdom about making money in them. Don't just read one or two. Read lots of them and you will soon see patterns of action emerging. These are the actions you can consider following in creating your own path to success.

Reminding yourself that you want to be an entrepreneur

Everyday life has a really bad habit of getting in your way. Deadlines, washing up, traffic jams and family are just 4 of the several thousand distractions that lead you to forget you want to change. So here is my tip. Put a sign on your bedroom wall saying 'entrepreneur'. I know it sounds daft, but you need to take positive actions if you are to get out of the rat race and make it on your own.

Step two in thinking like an entrepreneur

Your next step is to start making some cash. Entrepreneurs know that nothing breeds success than a little success at the start. Now, here is the point where many people ask 'how'. Well if you can make something, sell it for a profit. If you can buy something, sell it for a profit. This is the fundamental way to make money. Personally, I set up my own website company and sold my services to other companies. However, now you have read all those great business books you ill already know that there are many ways to go about the process.

Diversify

The old motto "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is excellent advice. I saw a pattern emerging in the business books I was reading. Very few people get rich by doing just one thing. They spread their risk around. It is like the fisherman with 5 rods. Not all rods will catch a fish, but overall he is almost 5 times more likely that the fisherman with just one rod.

Note that I said almost five times more likely. If you are only doing one thing you are more likely to be doing it better than someone doing five things at once. However, unless you are doing it five times better, the odds are still with the fisherman with five rods.

...but don't overstretch

A fisherman trying to fish with 20 rods at once may well turn out to be the worst fisherman on the bank. He simply has too much to deal with and cannot really fish properly at all anymore.

Consider yourself suceessful from day one.

I know that 'positive thinking' is a hackneyed expression, but I say dont knock it untill you have tried it. If like me, you consider the following:

  1. getting out of bed when YOU want
  2. never having to say 'yes sir' to someone who calls themself your boss again
  3. Keeping a roof over your head
  4. feeling great about starting work in the morning
  5. Having enough money and time to enjoy yourself

Then you are a success! My friend, this is the start of your adventure. Mine started five years ago and I can truthfully say I would not swap the last five years of being a self-employed entrepreneur for anything.

What this is not

this isn’t about gimmicks. It isn’t about tricking people into buying things using secret 'magic' words. It isn’t about fooling Google into putting your website at the top. Being an entrepreneur is about learning marketing. Although Alan Sugar says some nasty things about marketing on telly, it is what he has been doing all his life.

Why entrepreneurs aren't employees or contractors.

When you contract your skills to a company you might get a good hourly rate or even a great hourly rate, but there is a problem. Companies have a fixed idea of how much a person's time is worth. Nobody would pay Bill Gates 250,000 for an hour of his time, but that is about how much he earns for himself. Therefore a simple rule of entrepreneurship (.. not a good word, must try harder) is to always work for yourself. Don't be tempted back into becoming a wage slave, even when the temptation is very high indeed.