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One of the great joys of my career has been working alongside hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs, including those in the top 1%, also known as business owners who achieve $10 million in annual revenue. There are 31 million entrepreneurs in the US, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we’re all brave and dedicated. Every entrepreneur I know has a healthy chuckle at the adage, “Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work 80-hour weeks to avoid a 40-hour work week.”
As a PR agency owner, I get to work with tons of bold and successful entrepreneurs, but I think it’s worth looking at three of the most important mindsets 1% entrepreneurs have taught me .
Related: 4 Lessons The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Had To Learn The Hard Way
1. Every experience is an opportunity
Creative business builders see every engagement as an opportunity to come up with a new idea or build a beneficial relationship. From attending a basketball game to meeting a potential new hire, successful entrepreneurs know that opportunities come in the most unlikely places.
Seeing every engagement as an opportunity, these entrepreneurs stay connected to the problem-cause-innovation cycle that makes us distinctive. Think about every time you say, “It’s ridiculous that…” Well, here’s an opportunity.
The same goes for people. Much has been said about the people you align yourself with and their impact on your success. And yes, that is true. But pioneers know that ideas often start as seeds, and the ability to identify talent and character early in a relationship or early in a person’s career is a differentiator because new perspectives and experience they are usually a magical combination.
A CEO whose fast-growing business has been nationally recognized for its creative products once told me, “At the end of the day, my business is only a business if it can thrive without me at the helm; my next phase of growth is to make sure the team has everything it has. you have to be a team.”
Every entrepreneur faces a moment when they realize they have to let go of the reins. After years of being at your elbow in every aspect of the business, it’s hard to decide where to loosen the reins. Great leaders are responsible for identifying and nurturing talent.
2. See failure as a spark for growth
Few founders reach their full potential without some failures along the way. But the differentiator isn’t just recovering; innovation comes with it. Proactive entrepreneurial minds are willing to examine Because something has gone wrong and they identify what they can control and change. Even better, they can identify failure quickly.
Looking at something that isn’t working and intentionally and purposefully changing direction is a vital skill of successful entrepreneurs. Time and time again, I hear a similar story of an exhausted or frustrated entrepreneur who makes a conscious decision for change, and it becomes a turning point to greatness. From changing marketing and sales tactics to a new product offering, failure and frustration are often the mother of invention. So, if you’re on this site, take a deep look at how you can change your plan; after all, isn’t that the biggest benefit of entrepreneurship?
Related: How to Turn Failures into Wins as an Entrepreneur
3. Recognize your own strengths
One thing the top 5% of entrepreneurs do well is know where they best serve the company (and where they don’t) and work diligently to carve out the space they need to be that asset to the company’s growth.
Some CEOs are natural spokespeople, and their unique story, voice and perspective is something only they can share. These CEOs thrive as brand champions and thought leaders. As one CEO of a direct-to-consumer brand, who stars in his company’s TV commercial, told me, “If I can’t advocate for that brand, internally and externally, how can I ask someone else to do it?” These CEOs know how to take the helm of their own storytelling early so they can chart paths along their journey, no matter where they land.
Some founders are technical visionaries. In these cases, the founder’s journey is critical to understanding the company’s path. No one else can see the future the way he can. A technical founder and CEO I know was so ahead of the AI boom that he saw what would happen with ChatGPT and made sure his technical product answered questions most people didn’t know how to ask. Although these founders may step aside to allow someone else to lead the company while they remain committed to future-proofing the business.
Arguably, these are skills that are rarely played with the same edge and vigor as the CEO. Great CEOs have a vision of the business and its role in its success, enabling them to empower a team that supports the best and greatest use of the CEO’s time. This emotional intelligence about themselves is a differentiator in success.
Achieving a place in the top 1% of entrepreneurs is a mixture of success factors. Still, mindset remains one of the most critical, and most important, influences under an innovator’s control.
