Make The Critical Mindset Shift To Become Successfully Self-Employed
by Elizabeth H. Cottrell, staff writer and editor for IAHBE
What is Mindset and why does it have to shift?
Your MINDSET is the mental disposition or attitude that predetermines your responses to—and perception of—situations that you encounter. If you are going to embark on an entrepreneurial project—especially if you are going to become totally self-employed—you need to understand and try to develop the mindset that is required for success in this environment, because it is often entirely different from the mindset that makes you a successful employee. Consider these quotes from those who have studied and analyzed the traits of successful entrepreneurs:
Becoming an entrepreneur takes more than just a set of business principles and know-how. It takes a certain mindset.
- Max Bolka
If only most business owners thought more like an entrepreneur and not an employee...
- Brad Sugars
Those who succeed approach the challenges with a different attitude and react to them in a different manner from those who don’t...Working successfully on your own requires a new mental outlook. You need to think about yourself, your work, and your life in a new way as you leave behind the traditional world of the paycheck and enter a world in which you must rely upon yourself to produce the income you need to live well.
- Sarah and Paul Edwards
Most of us are not trained by any of our life’s experiences to be self-employed. From childhood, we’re being told what to do and expected to acquiesce to authority figures in our lives. We are rewarded when we follow the rules and punished when we don’t. Those authority figures begin with parents and later are replaced by teachers and, finally, employers or supervisors. This prepares us well for what Sarah and Paul Edwards (renowned self-employment experts) call the payroll mentality, and this was fine as long as being on a payroll was a secure place to be.
Today’s workplace environment of downsizing, bankruptcy, and mergers/ acquisitions has turned things upside down and sent many employees scrambling for other alternatives. It’s no wonder that self-employment seems attractive to millions of disgruntled employees, but sometimes those who try striking out on their own find themselves jumping from the frying pan into the fire. What’s wrong?
Mindset Shift from Employee to Entrepreneur
So what happens if you fail to make this mindset shift? What’s wrong with keeping an employee or payroll mindset? Won’t the things that make you a good employee stand you in good stead as an entrepreneur with your own business?
What seems to happen to those self-employed who remain stuck in the employee or payroll mindset is that they vacillate between being their own boss and their own employee, and they’re not really happy with either. They continue to think in terms of trading time for dollars instead of pushing out the walls of their thinking to fully realize that their cumulative skills, knowledge, and expertise bring a great deal of value to the marketplace if they can identify the needs they could fill or the niches they could serve.
For even clearer answers, we again defer to Sarah and Paul Edwards, because they have studied and written about self-employment—specifically home-based self-employment—more thoroughly and thoughtfully than any other authors our research uncovered. In fact, they have actually identified 12 essential mental shifts that need to be made in how you view your life, your work, and yourself if you want to replace your missing income. “Each of these mental shifts is diametrically opposed to the way we’ve been trained to think from the time we were born. Is it any wonder we’re often uncertain how to proceed?” (Edwards). Their explanation of these mental shifts is worth the price of the book. They use clear examples to help you understand what is necessary and why.
Here are some of the mindset shifts that lead to more success in self-employment and entrepreneurial endeavors:
Remember that YOU are your most important asset, and don’t sell yourself short in terms of your skill, your knowledge, or your expertise. They are worth a fortune! As a home-based entrepreneur, your profit potential is greater because your overhead is so low.
You need to expand your concept of what’s possible. While attitudes are changing, many may still try to convince you that it’s not practical to go out on your own. More and more people are making it on their own every year, and you should catch the entrepreneurial wave and ride it all the way.
Measure your success in terms of results. As an employee, you’re paid to go through the motions. As an entrepreneur, you’re paid for results, but you have to be willing to try different combinations of approaches until you find the one that yields the best results.
Develop a marketing mindset so that you are always on the lookout for opportunities to let others know about what you do and where there might be problems you can solve. You have to learn to develop a higher profile and keep yourself visible to those who might need you.
Let go of “certainties” to reach for possibilities. If the idea of being without a paycheck is frightening, remember that the "security" of a job and a paycheck is only a matter of your own perception. People are having their jobs and pay taken away suddenly in record proportions, so that sense of security is only an illusion. You need to create your own security. Sarah and Paul Edwards maintain that “the ultimate security is the knowledge that you can and will make it on your own.” Playing it safe is not a viable success strategy for entrepreneurs.
Learn to be a good self-manager and treat yourself as well as you’d treat your best employee. That means giving yourself rewards and time off and surrounding yourself with positive, intelligent people who are seeking the same independence you are.
You have to take full responsibility for your own work and its results (good or bad)—whining, complaining, and passing the buck have no place in the successful entrepreneur’s world.
Change your mindset about money. As an employee, you earn and then spend. As an entrepreneur, you spend (invest) and then earn. Some people even have to make the mindset shift to believing that they deserve to make significant amounts of money! The Edwards book, "Secrets of Self-Employment," has an excellent chart and discussion about money myths and their consequences.
Develop a service mentality. The successful entrepreneur is not only looking for ways to help prospects and customers but is also not afraid to ask for help from qualified mentors or consultants when it will further his goals.
Make the power shift from power or authority given to you as an employee to personal power that comes from knowing who you are and what you can do. This is especially important if you have been in a job with a great deal of prestige, responsibility, and influence.
Embrace mistakes as a guidance system for getting you back on course. “Once you get out on your own, you need to develop an entirely new relationship with the idea of failure.” (Edwards)
Mindset Shift from Local to Global
If you were a business owner in the pre-Internet business world, you had certain things to be concerned about. Advertising and marketing were typically done in local or regional phonebooks, in local or regional newspapers and other media, and through local or regional organizations and outlets. You belonged to the local Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau. You might have spent years building up business associations along with your business reputation. This effort was vulnerable to a shift in your neighborhood, an opening of a big competitor, or—heaven forbid—your spouse announcing that he or she was going to be transferred.
Things have changed! The world has shrunk. In a movement unprecedented in history, technology—primarily through the Internet—has empowered even home-based entrepreneurs to economically expand their market globally. When you begin to see the entire planet as your community, you can mentally embrace a much broader range of opportunities and seize change as an adventure instead of a threat. You are no longer tethered to a specific spot on the globe, but instead you can aspire to be a global leader in your chosen area. Think of the possibilities!
The Daily Mindset Shift
Now that you’ve gotten yourself primed for making the significant, one-time mindset shifts to become a successful global entrepreneur, let us remind you of a smaller, daily mindset shift that all home-based entrepreneurs must make. As you walk the few feet (even if you’re still in your pajamas) from your family’s living area to the area where you conduct your business, it is critical that you acquire a professional mindset so that you are focused on business activities instead of household tasks. Even though someone at the other end of a telephone conversation can’t see you, your attitude can be transmitted, and if you are conveying a distracted, downbeat attitude, you are much less likely to inspire confidence in that prospect or client.
Organize yourself so that it’s easier to make that mindset shift every day. Create space that is designated for your business. Use room dividers or partitions, if necessary, to separate it from the rest of the house visually and block some of the household noise. Invest in a designated telephone line and don’t allow children to answer it unless they are old enough to answer it professionally and take good messages. Use voicemail or a quality answering machine to take calls when you have to be out. Train your family and friends to let you observe regular business hours whenever possible. If drop-in neighbors are a problem, you may need to hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your outside door when you are working.
Remember that when you go out in public, you are representing your business as well as your family. Dress appropriately and professionally and project an attitude of authority and self-confidence.
“Be proud being a home-based entrepreneur! More importantly, develop a mindset for business and financial success.” (Isidro)
SOURCES
Bolka, Max. The Business Of Life: How to Make Yourself A Prophet (due out in May, 2003): www.maxbolka.com/.
Edwards, Sarah and Paul. Secrets of Self-Employment: Surviving and Thriving on the Ups and Downs of Being Your Own Boss. G. B. Putnam’s Sons. New York, 1996.
Isidro, Isabel M. “How to Get the Respect Your Business Deserves.” Power HomeBiz Guides, 2000: www.allfreelance.com/article0016.html.
Profit Clinic, The. “Beware! The Most Lethal Small Business Mindset of All…” The Profit Clinic Website: www.profitclinic.com/business/03-lethal.html.
Sugars, Brad. “Entrepreneur V’s Employee…” Action International/Australia (Australian Financial Services Directory): www.afsd.com.au/article/action/action20a.htm.
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Attard, Janet. “Sweet Success”, www.businessknowhow.com/Startup/sweets.htm. How do you turn a love for baking homemade cookies into a product that's a mainstay in the $4.1 billion cookie industry when you have no experience in the food industry? How do you launch a successful new food business after the walls of the first one have come tumbling down around you? And how do you manage when your new business is based in New York, and you work from a home office in Hawaii?
Business Know-How, www.businessknowhow.com/. Small business and home business ideas and advice. Business Know-How covers marketing and managing employees as well as business startup issues. Help for entrepreneurs doing business on the Internet and free agents just starting out.
Business Know-How® Free Small Business Newsletter, www.businessknowhow.com/newsletter/subscribe.htm. Get practical business ideas and workable solutions to help you start, run, market, manage, and grow your business. Don't miss out on the newsletter small businesses, self-employed free agents, and entrepreneurs read every week. Enter your complete e-mail address and subscribe today!
Canada/French Language: Les Chroniques PME, pmeenligne.ca/. Week after week, the "Chroniques de la PME" identifies francophone Internet resources for small enterprises. Find information on such topics as the internet, marketing, creativity, general information and much more.
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Elizabeth H. Cottrell. All rights reserved worldwide.
Article by Elizabeth H. Cottrell, staff writer and editor for IAHBE. Elizabeth is a home-based entrepreneur, freelance technical writer, and owner of Riverwood Technologies, a desktop publishing company in Maurertown, Virginia.
Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the views of Work-at-Home-Business.com and/or its partners.
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