Black Entrepreneurship: How to Be Successful

Life as a black #entrepreneur# is enriching, freeing, exciting… And hard. Forming your own business and sticking with it is probably one of life’s greatest challenges—and one of its greatest accomplishments. To succeed as an #entrepreneur#, you need the right attitude, the right approach, and effective daily habits that will keep you motivated and productive.

The 15 habits below should be a part of every entrepreneur’s manifesto:

1. Believe in yourself.

Though it may sound cliché, the old adage that states “If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will” is especially relevant for entrepreneurs.

As an #entrepreneur#, believing in yourself will reap benefits that go far beyond being able to give yourself a motivational pep-talk each day (as valuable as that is). In order to effectively sell your business idea to investors and market your product or service to consumers, you need to believe wholeheartedly in your own mission. You have to know, above all else, that you have something of value to offer this world—something that no one’s effectively done before.

Try writing down what makes your business idea great so that you can easily refer to this information when the going gets tough. Why is your product or service superior? How do you hope to change your industry for the better? How is your company adding value to society as a whole? Knowing the answers to these questions is integral to your success.

2. Always stay positive.

When most people hear the phrase, “Always stay positive,” they immediately think of trying to ignore obvious problems. They think of forcing themselves to keep smiling no matter how bad things have gotten.

Let’s clear up that misconception: Positivity, when applied in an entrepreneurial context, is something else entirely. Being positive in the world of business can be defined as the “consistent application of solutions-oriented thinking.” It relies on honestly acknowledging problems and challenges that lie on the road ahead, but rather than panicking or giving in to despair, maintaining a belief in the idea that these issues can be overcome. A positive #entrepreneur# is one who never stops looking for ways to fix problems, even if that requires experimenting with unproven, unorthodox methods. Indeed, this “inventor’s spirit” is the hallmark of almost every successful independent businessman and businesswoman.

3. Develop a fearless mindset.

People who don't take risks believe reducing the risk to absolute zero is the best strategy. Mark Zuckerberg would disagree with those people. Zuckerberg says, "The biggest risk is not taking any risk... in a world that's changing quickly the only strategy that's guaranteed to fail is not taking any risk."

This is why having a fearless mindset is absolutely essential. Stop worrying about “what ifs” and start allowing yourself to make mistakes; just make sure you learn from them.



4. Be intentional and proactive.

As an #entrepreneur#, you can’t sit around and wait for solutions to come to you. There is no boss or manager you can turn to for advice. Similarly, no one is going to come along and hand you projects—you have to get out there and find them.

To run your own business, you have to be intentional and proactive. This means both planning out each day comprehensively and having a long-term game plan. Make lists of tasks you need to complete in the near (and distant) future, make sure your schedule is realistic, and stick to it.

5. Ask yourself (and any staff you may have) relevant and insightful questions.

In order to make your company the best it can be, you should routinely ask yourself and your staff challenging and inspiring questions. These questions should focus on the value your company is offering (and how to improve it), how to become more agile and competitive, and what direction your products, services, or brand image should take.

6. Stay focused on your goals.

When you run your own business, staying focused on long term goals is not always easy. Why? There are perpetually dozens of “little things” (and big things) to attend to every day and most entrepreneurs are short-staffed. This means that small business owners have to wear many hats; they must act as directors, managers, developers, and so on. Naturally, when balancing all of these tasks, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused—and lose sight of what really matters.

To prevent this from happening, set up a large, visible display area (like a white board) and write out your long- term goals, along with charted paths detailing the steps you need to take to achieve them. If you employ staff, make sure to meet with them regularly in order to discuss how the organization is progressing toward its goals.

To simplify this process, make sure your goals follow the S.M.A.R.T. formula: They should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.

7. Surround yourself with smart people (and build a great team over time.)

One of the greatest myths of entrepreneurship is the idea that starting your own business means doing it alone. In reality, one of the easiest ways to fail as an #entrepreneur# is to shut yourself away in your office and try to handle everything yourself. As alluded to in point six, the more jobs a business owner tries to handle on his or her own, the more scattered he or she becomes, and the easier it is to lose sight of the bigger picture (and make a lot of careless errors along the way). As soon as you can hire staff (virtual team of freelancers), you should—and you should prioritize quality over budget concerns. Ideally, you want to build a strong team that will grow with your business while helping your business grow.

Even if you aren’t ready to employ staff (or the nature of your business is simply better suited to being a “solopreneur”), that doesn’t mean you should isolate yourself from others in your field. On the contrary—you should find alternative ways to network. This will help you remain creative, innovative, and motivated. After all, when do we get most of our best ideas? When we start discussing problems and solutions with others... And what’s the best way to get motivated again after hitting a slump? When you start talking to other people who share your dreams and passions.

If you’re a solopreneur, you should attend industry events (such as conventions) or consider holding your own events each month. You can also create a shared workspace with others in your field; this practice, called “coworking,” has become quite popular in recent years.

8. Work hard each day.

One of the most common traps new entrepreneurs fall into is the temptation to procrastinate. Accustomed to years of invasive or tyrannical bosses and managers snooping on their every activity, new business owners revel in the rebellious pleasure of being able to work in their PJs, surf the web whenever they please, and so on. The problem with this approach is that entrepreneurs have to work many, many times harder than your average nine-to-five employee if they want to succeed.

Avoid the tendency to lapse into poor time management by creating a workday schedule for yourself and sticking to it. Get up at the same time each day and work for the same amount of hours, with a couple of breaks and a lunch hour provided for some much-needed relaxation and refreshment.

9. Be grateful.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, life as an #entrepreneur# can be difficult. You’ll probably experience some extremely lean periods, especially in the beginning. It’s easy, when this happens, to get bitter: Whether it’s seeing your competition get a big break while you’re struggling or watching your old coworkers buy new cars and take vacations while you’re living off of tinned beans and peanut butter sandwiches, something is liable to come along and make you wish you hadn’t chosen the path of entrepreneurship.

Don’t let this negative voice win. Anger will drain your energy and poison your mind against your own business (because you’ll begin to see it, deep down, as the cause of all your problems). Be grateful instead: Grateful for the opportunities that come your way, for the fact that you were brave enough to take this path, and for the wonderful people you meet along the way. Gratitude is one of the most empowering emotions we have, so use it to build yourself up.

10. Embrace change.

Being able to embrace change quickly and effectively is where small businesses have an innate advantage over larger ones. Change is incredibly difficult for big corporations to adapt to: They have many more systems to upgrade, employees to retrain, etc. Leverage your agility as an #entrepreneur# and you will out-compete your larger brethren.

11. Become a lifelong learner.

This is another area where big businesses stumble: Because it’s so hard to implement change, AKA learn new skills and techniques, they stay with tried, tested, and proven methods and approaches for as long as possible.

Peter Drucker said, "This #entrepreneur# always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity." You should listen to Peter Drucker.

12. Think outside of the box (better yet- “throw the box away”)

As an #entrepreneur#, you will have to be resourceful: You will need to do more with less and unlock the hidden potential within yourself and your employees. To accomplish this, you have to keep an open mind and be willing to experiment with methods and processes no one has ever tried before. Remember: Sometimes crazy works.

13. Always seek to add value and serve.

A lot of conventional employees have a “What’s in it for me?” attitude. They want to get whatever they can out of the large, impersonal, and competitive organizations they work for (e.g., a great salary, bonuses, the best health insurance, and so on). As an #entrepreneur#, you have to toss this attitude where it belongs: In the trash.

Russell Simmons once said, “If you wake up deciding what you want to give versus what you’re going to get, you become a more successful person. In other words, if you want to make money, you have to help someone else make money."

Russell Simmons was not wrong. To make more money, you've got to help others make more money. If your clients feel like you’re just there to do the bare minimum, collect a paycheck, and leave, you almost certainly won’t get repeat business.

Start thinking of how you can better serve the people you’re working with: What can you do to exceed their expectations? How can you offer real, long- term value to their organizations? Think like a part of the team and they’ll probably make you one.

14. Develop an attitude of perseverance.

If at first you don’t succeed when solving a problem, you will need to learn to try, try, and try again until you do. Once again, no one is going to come along and give you the answers. You have to develop the perseverance needed to carry on until you get the results you desire.

15. Never give up.

When all else is said and done, this—never giving up—is what being a successful #entrepreneur# really comes down to. Remember, for instance, that one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world—the late Steve Jobs—was once fired from his own company. If he had given up at that juncture, none of us would have iPhones.

Steve Jobs wasn't the only #entrepreneur# who never gave up. Daymond John, Oprah Winfrey, Cathy Hughes, Earl G. Graves, Sheila Johnson, Sean Combs and Chris Gardner are just a tiny portion of a huge list involving entrepreneurs who succeeded because of this mindset.

This is the ultimate “golden rule” of being an #entrepreneur#: No matter how many times you get knocked down, you have to get back up again. You have to trust that the obstacles you face will bring out the best in you and continually rise to meet them. If you do, you might well become the next great success story.

Media Contact

Name: Robert Moment
Email: Robert@HighEmotionalIntelligence.com
Website: www.HighEmotionalIntelligence.com
Location: Arlington
State: Virginia

About the Author
Robert Moment is a results-driven certified social + emotional intelligence coach and trainer and certified peak performance coach and author of the game changing #entrepreneur# mindset Special Report titled, “5 New Words That Will Change The Way You Think About Achieving Business Success

Robert specializes in helping entrepreneurs overcome imposter syndrome using the power of high emotional intelligence coaching to be your authentic self, living inspired doing what you love scaling to a 6 or 7 figure business.
Robert is certified to deliver The Social + Emotional Intelligence Profile-Self (SEIP) ® Assessment, the most comprehensive, scientifically validated, and statistically reliable instrument on the market and review the results with clients and create a comprehensive developmental action plan. This includes the self and 360-versions as well as workplace and adult editions. Know your EQ Score for #Entrepreneur# Success.

Schedule your FREE 15 minute Transformation coaching call. No sales pitch. No fluff. This call will bring you clarity to your mind, and peace to your heart about life and the future of your business.
Visit https://HighEmotionalIntelligence.com (Click on #Entrepreneur# Coaching)
Enroll in the transformative online course #Entrepreneur# Mindset Success Secrets to Start a Business with Rapid Results.
https://courses.highemotionalintelligence.com/courses/StartingaBusiness

This release was published on openPR.