Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset
March 26, 2021
This post was written by Malala Raharisoa. During her time with Gii, Malala Raharisoa hopes to expand her perspective lens and contribute to efforts toward globalization. She is currently an MSBA candidate specializing in Economic Analysis; She hopes that with what she learns in the classroom along with a wide-ranging experience, she can make an impact that reaches the international community.
Do you want to be an entrepreneur but don’t know where to start?
Have you ventured into entrepreneurship but couldn’t find success?
In this month’s Professional Development Workshop, we hosted guest speaker Namrata Budhiraja to answer these common questions. She shared with us her experience as an entrepreneur and the most important skills for a better experience in the entrepreneurial world.
Namrata is the founder of Shift Eco, an e-commerce platform for eco-friendly products. After completing her MBA, she went on and started her career in a consulting firm. Without experience in working in e-commerce, Namrata relied on her entrepreneurial mindset to build her successful company.
In case you missed our March workshop, below are some key points from the Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset Workshop.
What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset?
It’s not news that entrepreneurship requires some specific skills. You need skills in critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving. However, those skills won’t take you far without an entrepreneurial mindset. An entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking that enables people to identify and make the most of opportunities, overcome and learn from setbacks and succeed in a variety of settings.
There is the common conception that entrepreneurs are people who start their own businesses and companies. But, an entrepreneurial mindset isn’t just for entrepreneurs. You can also be an intrapreneur.
Intrapreneurs are people who did not necessarily start their own business but rather worked their way up to lead an already established business. A most famous example is the current CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella. Nadella joined Microsoft’s online services and business divisions in 1992 before becoming CEO in 2014.
Similarly, Paul Buchheit, an employee at Google, created the now widely-used communication platform Gmail. Google employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time on passion projects. Buchheit’s passion was creating Gmail. So even within a company, an entrepreneurial mindset can clearly lead to very successful paths.
Nurturing the Mindset
Not everyone is born with an entrepreneurial mindset. Sometimes we lose motivation or find that the obstacles seem impossible to overcome.
But no worries! You can nurture it by understanding these 5 aspects of the mindset.
Confidence
Focus on your strengths and use them to your advantage. Watch out for overconfidence! This can prevent you from learning from feedback. Being open to feedback and criticism will be important but don’t let it change your entire point of view if you see merit in your approach.
Initiative
Identify new opportunities and jump on them. Go above and beyond. Doing only what is expected or required prevents you from seeking improved techniques, solutions, and approaches.
Accountability
Don’t blame others or defer responsibility. When things don’t go your way, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Curiosity
Enhance your curiosity by staying up to date on the latest news and trends. Reflect on past experiences and think of out-of-the-box solutions.
Resilience
Resilience will vary among people so don’t feel discouraged if you feel like other people seem more driven than you are. Like building muscle, increasing resilience takes time. Just remember to not be afraid to fail and build comfort with uncertainty.
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