Mindsets of an employee and entrepreneur are worlds apart. To become an effective entrepreneur takes a total paradigm change.
I have been in an entrepreneurial status since 1986. I have owned many business. I have partnered in some, and been sole proprietor in others.
I believe a key characteristic in being an entrepreneur for me was, my Father was one. I had trouble being an employee I worked overtime without pay, I worked on pet projects that became the property of my employer with no financial recompense to me, why? Because I was an entrepreneur. I wanted to do it. I wanted to see if it could be done.
Here are the first 5 thoughts that come to mind about the difference between an Entrepreneur and Employee.
1. An entrepreneur must learn to say NO.
Employee says yes all the time. They have a boss. That boss tells them what to do and they say yes. The boss tells them when to say no, and they say yes boss I will say no at this time. But an entrepreneur needs to know what is and is not important. He must know when to say yes, and when to say no. He must make sure he is engaged in the activities that produce revenue.
An example that I am aware of: There are some people who send a stream message 3 times a week. Those messages are meant to produce encouraged, effective, and trained affiliates who take that stream, that piece of news, that new idea and put it into action. The entrepreneur says, use the stream to encourage and train. The employee says, use the stream to get 3 points a week. So the employee says, "Hi" three times a week. He gets his point but misses THE point.
2. Forget perfection. In the workplace you focus on quality and perfection. But as an entrepreneur you must focus on the 80/20 rule. 20% of my activity generates 80% of my revenue. Perfection makes trying new things very, very hard. You find a new online marketing tool. Because you do not know how to use it "right" you do not use it at all. You do not experiment. An employee mentality says , there is a manual, training, or some other means by which I will be shown how it is done right. Someone else did the learning and experimenting to see how best to do it, and they will tell me what to do. An entrepreneur thinks "Just do it". Try it. Play with it. Mess with it and see what we can do.
An entrepreneur is improvement oriented, not perfection oriented.
3. An employee waits for instructions. An entrepreneur looks for solutions. Employees ask. Entrepreneurs figure it out. True entrepreneurs have no one to ask.
4. Forget the clock - long hours is what an entrepreneur uses. An employee is all about, payment for services rendered. They get paid for their time, even if that time is not producing revenue. That is why so many affiliates chase VP and wonder why they are not making lots of money. They are using their time, but they are not producing revenue. The only place where there is money to be had is by producing revenue. No revenue, no money. An entrepreneur only gets paid to produce revenue. An entrepreneur sees that and knows that to create a revenue stream takes a lot of time and a lot of work. So you must love what you do. You must not do it for the money. The money will come when the stream is flowing.
5. Multiple hats. In the employee world most problems faced is someone elses problem. Electricity goes off and you laugh and chat with your buddies, it is someone elses problem. The entrepreneur gets on the phone to the electric company. most affiliates say to me, Tell me the step by step way to success, what is it? Well there is not one. Market online? Yes. Market locally with fliers? Yes. Free marketing? Yes. Paid marketing? Yes. Email marketing? Yes. Social marketing? Yes. We as entrepreneurs do not do just one thing. We do it all.
6. I said five, but this is number six. Sow now, reap later. Employees expect to receive immediate compensation for their time. Entrepreneurs expect to achieve future recurring income for their work. My first year in SFI I invested as much as I could, and everything I earned into my business growth. Now I am reaping.
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Mindsets of an employee and entrepreneur are worlds apart. To become an effective entrepreneur takes a total paradigm change.
I have been in an entrepreneurial status since 1986. I have owned many business. I have partnered in some, and been sole proprietor in others.
I believe a key characteristic in being an entrepreneur for me was, my Father was one. I had trouble being an employee I worked overtime without pay, I worked on pet projects that became the property of my employer
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