So far, we’ve talked about Innovation and Risk-taking, as well as Scaling and Growth. Both of those are “expected” topics for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. Next, however, we’ll be looking at a couple of characteristics that really matter but aren’t always as easy to pin down.

This time, we’re going to look at Mindset and Flexibility as differentiators.

Mindset and Flexibility

Everything that matters begins from the inside...

Mindset and Flexibility are “intangibles,” but absolutely part of the make-up for business success.

Mindset is usually described as a set of ways people think about and engage with the world. It’s built on things like upbringing, learning, associations with other people, and experiences in the world. The case can be made that mindset is where our true uniqueness starts to show up.

Both Entrepreneurs and Business owners typically have a “growth mindset,” but there are nuances to that mindset that set them apart from each other.

The needed mindset for Entrepreneurs involves having a high tolerance for ambiguity and risk…a willingness to keep moving forward, whatever the obstacles. It’s the invisible ingredient needed for launching and scaling a new venture, probably with a new product or service. This mindset is ideal for facing a wide range of obstacles and unknowns and knowing that “the odds do not favor one’s success.”

Mindset for Business Owners is similar, but not as intense. While the venture may be new, the products or services are typically already established. The job is to learn the product or service, study the already established market(s), and to build systems and processes that deliver to that market in some way that “plays better” with the buyers in that market. While tolerance for some level of risk is there, and obstacles to success certainly exist, the ambiguities and unknowns are reduced. So, the mindset is less about having a tolerance of these factors and more about having a desire to strengthen and grow established products or services and to make them “their own.”

Flexibility is the ability to adapt to new circumstances as they arise…preferably without negative impact to business operations.

Both mindsets described above require Flexibility, but to different degrees. For the Entrepreneur, only so much can be anticipated and planned for, so they must excel at problem solving and pivoting to keep up with the changes. For the Business Owner, problem-solving and pivoting are still factors, but so much more is typically already known. For them, it is less about dealing with changes and more about creating stability and consistency.

That’s it for now…with more to come! What are your thoughts or experiences when it comes to mindset and flexibility?