Entrepreneurship mindsets

Entrepreneurship
Mindsets
By Robin Low

Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is taking the responsibility
and risk of starting new businesses in
response to identified opportunities.

An entrepreneur is a person who is willing and
able to convert a new idea or invention into a
successful innovation or business.

Entrepreneurship is not about
risk taking, it is about taking
actions.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur.
You do not need to be rich or smart
to be an entrepreneur. What drives
an entrepreneur and what
distinguishes them from an over-
achieving employee or salesperson?
Entrepreneurs have one thing in
common – the desire to create.
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Taking control of your destiny
If you believe you will succeed
or if you will fail. You are right.

Not everyone who starts a
business is an entrepreneur. Some
do it out of desperation, or until
they get a real job. They might
become entrepreneurs one day,
but they must move their mindset
from 'I can't do that' to one of
'can do'.


Entrepreneurs are dreamers. They start
trends. They want to create change and
growth. They believe in themselves. They
control their destiny.

Entrepreneurs affect change.
Entrepreneurs directly affect the
environment they start their
business in. Entrepreneur do have
the choice to decide how they
would like to affect change.


Art is making something
out of nothing and selling it.
-- Frank Zappa
(1940 - 1993)

Motivations
Motivations
Motivations

Rewards and motivation
• When you have a job that is mechanical
and takes no cognitive involvement, then
money motivates the best. If your job is
making widgets, then money is the best
motivator. However, with even the
smallest amount of cognitive involvement,
the middle and low rewarded actually do
better than the ones who are rewarded the
most. Studies of rewards were done at MIT, Carnegie Mellon and University of Chicago.

Overjustification Effect
• The researchers concluded that expected
rewards undermine intrinsic motivation in
previously enjoyable activities.
• Money motivates till a certain degree and
in some cases it actually demotivates.
• Money is a means, not a goal.

Not fully utilized (mentally)
Have you every felt that your job was far
too easy, and you can do it with one
armed tied behind your back? Do you feel
bored and uninvolved? Do you find that
your ideas and inputs are all ignored? At
many times, when you are working for
someone, you will eventually come to a
point where you enter the “drone zone.”
The resources you have seemed far
greater than the difficulty of the task.

No all companies have bosses who can
understand your limit and fully appreciate what
you can contribute. Even if you are the boss, you
may even place some self-limitations on
yourself. Do not allow yourself to stay in this
state. You need to be aware that often, you are
in control of your own destiny. If you feel that
you are comfortable, challenge yourself with a
higher goal. Learn new things, and you can find
yourself motivated and your learning will be
rewarding and enjoyable.

You are responsible for your life. To be in
total control, take full responsibility. Being
an Entrepreneur allows you to be in
control, and fully utilize what abilities you
have. It can be very unthinkable what a
person can achieve if he puts his mind into
it.

Vision without action is a daydream

Action without vision is a nightmare
Japanese Proverb

So who wants to be an
Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur Mindsets
• 1) I don't have it in me and I will never succeed.
(Resistant attitude towards success)
• 2) "Let's learn more." (Passive attitude, may be
interested in starting a business, but does not
take any action.)
• 3) "Let's give it a try." (Will do research, and
learn more about Entrepreneurship, but give up
as soon as he encounters the first barrier.)
• 4) "Where do I sign up? I'll give my 100%"
(100% Commitment to changing their mindset,
and thinking about starting their business. They
will start thinking of ideas, find partners and
capital and start something. If they fail, they will
use it as a lesson and try again until they
succeed.)

New Ideas pass through three periods:
1. It can’t be done.
2. It will fail, and really not worth doing.
3. I knew it was a good idea all along!

-- Arthur C. Clarke

Beliefs and Outcomes

You need to believe three things about
your outcomes:

• It is possible to achieve
• You are able to achieve them
• You deserve to achieve them

PAW Process (Satsugaicat)
Possibility
• Very often, we mistake possibility for
competence. We think something if not
possible when really we do not know how
to do it. As humans, we all do have
physical limits, but we don’t usually know
that these limits are.
• You cannot prove a negative, therefore you
can never prove that you are incapable of
anything, you can only say that you have
not achieved it yet.

PAW Process
Ability
• Have you the put a limit on what you can
achieve? We often sell ourselves short by
not believing we can do something. But
beliefs are not facts – they are just our
best guess about things at a certain point
of time.
• Keep an open mind. Have one basic true
belief: You have not reached the limit of
what you are capable yet.
• DON’T BOAST ABOUT YOUR
SUPPOSED LIMITATIONS

PAW Process
Ability
• Do not ever announce to other people that you
can’t do something, even if you think you can’t.
People often own up much more readily about
things that they are bad at than what they are
good at. This is not modesty. Modesty mean not
bragging about what you can do.
• Negative talk just places a self-imposed glass
ceiling on what you are going to do. If you think
like this, add the little word “yet” to the end.
Though there may be good reasons why you
may not get the goal, don’t make excuses in
advance, then you have just set yourself up for
failure.

PAW Process
Worthiness
• Many people may have a positive
attitude, but the key towards
achievement is a PAW Process.
(Possibility, Ability and Worthiness)
• Do you deserve to achieve your goals?
• Only you can answer this question, but
why not?

PAW Process
• If people are unwilling to try, but if you
volunteered and accomplished, who
deserves the success? It is not about ethics
or morals when it comes to self-worthiness.
Do not apologize for succeeding or winning.
Notice any uncomfortable feelings, and they
will point to obstacles and self-doubts.
• Just repeat the following for each goal:
‘This goal is possible’
‘I have the ability to achieve this goal’
‘I deserve to achieve this goal’

The power of beliefs
• Beliefs can make ordinary do great things,
limiting beliefs can make talented people
fail.
• Do you need a lot of talent to be an
entrepreneur? Do entrepreneurs have
superior resources that others lack? You
know the answer to the above questions is
no. Then many people often ask, how do
ordinary people accomplish so much?

The power of beliefs
• Bill Gates, the richest man on earth did not
graduate from Harvard University, yet he
could be where he is now. The Wright
brothers did not possess more engineering
skills than all the engineers and inventors
of their time. (They were bicycle
repairmen.) Li Ka Shing was from a poor
family and did not even finish formal
education and yet he is the 11 richest man
in the world. (Forbes Report Feb 2008).

Resolve
• Sometimes, people have such strong
beliefs that they start to have their
personal resolve – a determination that
governs how they think, act and
behave. Terry Fox, a teenager with
cancer, managed to run the marathon
with only one leg. His strength and
determination allowed him to do what a
lot of normal people would not even do
– to complete the marathon.

Resolve
• In high level of competition, even in
physical games. An athlete needs
to be both physically prepared and
mentally prepared. To be
successful, and to be an
entrepreneur, preparing your mind
is very important as you need to
have strong beliefs and
determination before you can truly
succeed.

Limiting beliefs
• In our lives, we are taught many
things that are not true. We are taught
never to challenge these beliefs and
eventually make them part of our
logic. To succeed, we sometimes
have to break these mental barriers
and myths that may limit us.

Case study 1:
• 4 minute mile. For hundreds of years, many
have attempted this feat and all have fallen
short. But on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran
1 mile in 3 minutes and 54 seconds. This was
amazing but within a year, 37 other runners had
broken his record. Within the next 3 years, 300
runners had repeated the same feat.
• What held these runners back were their limiting
beliefs and it was not until someone had proven
that it could be done, people do not perform to
their fullest potential.

Case study 2
• In the American army, the new recruits were
often called “Heroes” and “Champions” during
the initial training. They were given a lot of
positive feedback to make them believe that they
can achieve more.
• And many did. People who could never do pull
ups could do 6, and people who had never
exercised could run 5 miles. Thing they would
have never done without peer pressure and the
reinforcements and encouragements given,
changed their beliefs and unleashed their
potential, making them do feats they have never
thought possible.

“Whether of not you believe you can
or you believe you can’t, either
way you are right!”

-- Henry Ford.
Ford

You can often hear the following:
• “There will never be happiness in the
relationship between a rich man and a poor girl.”
• “There is always bias towards the black man,
and he’ll never be president!”
• “A woman driving a sports car is probably a
mistress.”
• “Light travels in straight line.”
• “The world is flat.”
• “The atom is indivisible.”

A lot of these statements are not true, however people still believe
in them, making it true for them.

Even famous and intelligent people
have beliefs that are wrong
• “The earth is the center of the universe.” –
Ptolemy, Egyptian Astronomer, 2nd Century.
• “There is no need for any computer to have
more than 250k of RAM.” – Bill Gates, CEO of
Microsoft in the 1980s.
• “Heavier than air flying machines are
impossible.” Lord Kelvin, President of Royal
Society, 1895.
• “Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all
future scientific advances.” Dr. Lee De Forest,
Inventor of the Audion tube & the Father of
Radio

What Limiting Beliefs do you
have?
Do you believe in the following?
Limiting beliefs about identity and capability.
• I am too young? Too old? Not talented? Not smart
enough? Not qualified enough? No luck for business?
Lack the drive? Don’t have motivation? Lazy? Not a
good speaker? Will never succeed in business? Not
creative enough? Cannot manage people?

Limiting beliefs about money
• Money is difficult to earn? To be rich you must be
already rich? Money will lead to problems? Impossible
to access to money? Money is the root of all evil?

What Limiting Beliefs do you
have?
Limiting beliefs about relationship & people
• Must socialize and drink before I can network? People
cannot be trusted? Marriages never lead to happy
endings? “Perfect partner” for life is a myth?

Limiting beliefs about my career or business
• Market is too saturated? My idea is already
somewhere in the market? Business is tough? No one
will trust my new idea? Hard to make money in a
recession? No opportunities out there? I cannot
expand my business? Its hard to get a job if I quit? My
business have reached its growth limit?

Action

"The successful person places more attention
on doing the right thing rather than doing
things right."
- Peter Drucker
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Action
Action is the driving force that produces
results. Are all entrepreneurs people with
the most intelligence and the most
knowledge? Definitely not! In fact, people
like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Richard
Branson all do not have college degrees,
yet they have billion dollar empires. The
reason behind their success - they were
people who took ACTION.

Action

Consistent action is key. Even getting your
MBA takes action. One cannot simply just
"buy" an MBA from a recognized college.
One would need to apply, and consistently
complete projects and tests in order to
work their way towards their MBA.

Action
When it comes to success, having
knowledge is still important, and it can be
gained through experience but the
cheaper and faster alternative is through
formal education. People who are able to
combine knowledge with massive action,
can achieve great things.

The value of an idea
lies in the using of it.

-- Thomas Edison

Myths
Which ones are true?

• Startups are really hard.
• Startups shorten your life.
• Startups cost nothing.
• New businesses are started by 25 year old
male fresh out of Ivy League

Myths
• All you need is passion and hardwork, and
everything will fall into place.
• A good idea trumps all.
• A good plan on a napkin can attract funds
anytime!
• All you need is a good business plan to
get funds and run a successful business.

Fact!

• Starting something significant does
cost money. If not budgeted properly,
your savings will run out.
– Hiring good people requires $$$
– Rent, electrical bill
– Marketing
– Taxes, Accounting, Book Keeping

Fact!

• Average Founder:
–40 year old
–Married with Family
–6 – 10 years of experience
–Educated with college degree

Fact!
• Sharing your ideas with the right people,
who share with their friends, there is a
chance that they may know someone who
may fund you.
• Of course, a good idea helps, but finding
the right type of people who will fund your
type of business really matters.

Fact!
• You may wake up after not sleeping for
weeks, and realize that you have spent all
your time trying to solve a problem that
you know the solution all along.
• Most of the time, your business does not
turn up as planned. It is not how well you
plan that matters, it is how you execute
and react to issues on the ground.

Fact!
• Many people will reject your idea.
• Many people will like your idea because of
you and not because its good.
• If you want to raise funds for your ideas, it
will be rejected many times before you get
a YES.

Fact!
• To succeed, you need to try and try again.
Learn quickly, fail, analyze and restart.
• You need to find your product/market fit
before you run out of money!
• Managing cashflow is more important than
“looking cool”

Fact!
• Startup world is not about Meritocracy.
• It is about HARDWORK, PASSION,
PESERVERANCE and finding your path.
• There is always a way, sometimes, it is
hard to find.

Fact!
• You can start a revolution, do everything
right… And still die broke!

Do you still want to be an
Entrepreneur?

Books to read
• Think and grow rich -- Napoleon Hill
• Richest Man in Babylon -- George S
Clason by Hill
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad -- Robert T. Kiyosaki
• Unlimited Power: The New Science of
Personal Achievement -- Anthony Robbins
• How to Win Friends & Influence People --
Dale Carnegie
• So... You Want to be an Entrepreneur? -
- Robin Low

Entrepreneurship Mindsets

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