What makes an entrepreneur successful?

Many have tried to answer this question, but few have delved deeper into what distinguishes a good entrepreneur from a great one.

I’ve come to believe that great entrepreneurs approach their job with a different mind-set than those who are merely good. Good entrepreneurs apply intelligence, drive, and business best practices to building their companies. Great entrepreneurs do this too, but they also know that a company’s early stages sometimes require less traditional methods. They add to their tool kit approaches that handle the chaos of a start-up.

The Entrepreneur Job Description.

An entrepreneur is the CEO. However most (many CEOs included) don’t really know what this means on a day-to-day basis. With little oversight, CEOs must judge for themselves how well they’re using their time. Some spend time finding the perfect office space. Others obsess over spreadsheets, calculating to the penny how much their bartender is over-pouring. Still others delegate those financial details and spend hours making deals.

The essence of the entrepreneur CEO job is what can’t be delegated:

Setting strategy. The CEO has the final say over the company’s strategy. Strategy covers everything from creating the company’s vision to deciding which markets to enter. Even if others advise the CEO or the board has final approval, it’s still the entrepreneur CEO who sets the budget, forms partnerships, and hires the team to steer the company accordingly.

Team building. It’s nice to believe that small companies don’t need much team building. After all, we’re all in it together, David against Goliath, right? Wrong. Once there are two people in a room, team dynamics appear. Goals need aligning, agendas need fulfilling, and conflicts need resolving. Even “solopreneurs” who outsource everything must coordinate all their outsourcers. The CEO is also the only one who can hire, fire, and align the senior team.

Setting culture. Culture also appears as soon as you have two people in a room. Or sometimes, even just one person (though then, we call it “personality”). A bad culture can drive away high performers, while a great place to work can attract and retain the very best. Culture is set early, and everyone watches the CEO to know what’s acceptable. Do they throw tantrums? That signals that tantrums are fine.

Policies about advancement, recognition, and decision-making also define culture. The CEO can approve or nix any policy, and it’s up to her to stay on top of the cultural impact (or not, if she wants to set a culture of ignoring the impact of culture!).

Communicating. A young company’s future prospects are uncertain, and everyone looks to the CEO for reassurance that the company will deliver on its promises. Like it or not, that makes the CEO directly responsible to all stakeholders: employees, investors, suppliers, customers, and partners. If she doesn’t communicate, or communicates poorly, she can single-handedly derail the entire company.

Building the income machine. The entrepreneur CEO’s goal is a company that can sustain itself by generating income. That means finding income that will drive the business on an ongoing basis. In the process, she may have to raise cash to keep the business alive until it becomes self-sustaining. Most new entrepreneurs obsess about raising their initial cash. Yes, that’s important, but most important — and much less discussed — is finding the business model, distribution, and consumer engagement that create ongoing revenue.

Allocating resources. At the end of the day, the CEO decides how the money gets spent. They need to manage investments in the ways that most move the company forward.

These six areas comprise of what I believe to be the heart of an entrepreneur CEO’s job, however are by no means all inclusive, the role of entrepreneur stretches way beyond the physical day to day of business management, its about opportunity, vision, creativity, and more still.

Have you got what it takes?…

Have you got what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?
Are you already a business owner striving to achieve success in your business? Do you want to get to a state of absolute financial freedom?

Think and Grow Rich was written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill, promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. Hill writes that he was inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and (later) philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. While the book’s title and much of the text concerns increased income, the author insists that the philosophy taught in the book can help people succeed in any line of work, to do and be anything they can imagine.

The book was first published during the Great Depression and at the time of Hill’s death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold more than 20 million copies. But, by 2015 over 100 million copies had been sold worldwide. It remains the biggest seller of Napoleon Hill’s books. BusinessWeek magazine’s Best-Seller List ranked it the sixth best-selling paperback business book 70 years after it was published. Think and Grow Rich is listed in John C. Maxwell’s A Lifetime “Must Read” Books List.

But why is it SO popular?

Within the book Napoleon Hill challenges the old expression “A problem shared is a problem halved” by suggestion when a problem is shared with one other, through discussion and collaboration a 3rd mind is created between the two, whereby idea’s which each individual would never have otherwise thought of, had it not been for the interaction and collaboration between both individuals. He calls this as MASTERmind. However, then introduce a third PERSON to the equation and more MASTERmind’s also come to play enabling greater thinking as a result.

This now tried and tested method of working collaboratively with other like minded business owners, continues to see more growth, more development (both personal and professional) more opportunity and results in transformational change for all whom take part.

More millionaires have been created as a direct result of MasterMind collaborative than ever before, and the longer these groups operate together the greater the opportunity and capability they achieve!

Are you ready to Super Size your business?

However, Mastermind is not for everyone! Many business owners do not understand or adapt to this new collaborative way of working. Many business owners remain of the opinion “What’s in it for ME?” which prevents real sharing, and as a result the Mastermind doesn’t flourish. Only individuals that understand “Only once a persons puts aside personal gain can a team truly go on to set excellence as their standard” will the magic truly start to unfold.

Therefore, are you:

· A business owner, that’s dedicated to the significant and sustainable growth of both you and your business?

· Are you ready to work with others to collectively grow personally and professionally?

· Are you ready to help others ahead of yourself (in the knowledge they are too)?

· Are you ready to commit to the greatest opportunity of personal and professional development, and as a result implement the learning’s you receive?

· Are you willing to do whatever it takes to take your business to the next level and beyond?…..

If you are,…….let’s talk!