The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin Johnson

• The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
• To be an entrepreneur is to think differently. While most people seek refuge, entrepreneurs take risks. They don't want a job; they want to create jobs. Their goal isn't to think outside the box as much as it is to own the box. Entrepreneurs don't follow the market; they define the market. This bold and seemingly backward way of thinking I ref ere to as the Entrepreneur Mind.
• Businesses with a clear and solid strategy are prepared to win. Companies with inferior products often beat companies with superior products because, while the big dogs rest on their laurels, the underdogs are implementing and executing a better strategy.
• A company's strategy and tactics can help it surmount what seem like impassible obstacles.
• A business can fail in two ways: not surviving beyond its start a not reaching its full potential. While shutdowns receive the most attention, failure to reach full potential is much more catastrophic.
• One of the main obstacles to thinking big is the inability to outgrow your environment.
• To boost your self-confidence, devise and take small steps that start you working on your idea.
• Entrepreneurs often lack the diversity and expertise of influence rs required to think and eventually to execute in a big way.
• Talk to as many people as you can. What you want are the people who will tell you what's wrong with your idea. They are the ones you can learn from.
• People with the ability and the audacity to think big carve the path to greatness.
• The two kinds of entrepreneurs are those who create markets and those who do not. On the one hand, the entrepreneur who creates markets is considered a revolutionary. On the other hand, the entrepreneur who competes in well-established markets is considered ordinary. Both approaches can lead to success in business, but research indicates that the creative entrepreneur has a better strategic position.
• The potential for attaining greatness is in creating new markets.
• Until an entrepreneur's company runs without the founder, that person is just self-employed, the lowest rung in the hierarchy of entrepreneurs.
• The unfortunate reality for millions of entrepreneurs is that their business depends on them way too much.
• Just because you have the ability to assume a crucial role in your business doesn't mean you should.
• Doing everything in your business yourself leads to a quick burnout, and the activity prevents you from executing your role as an entrepreneur: working on your business, not in it.
• Before you even start your business, focus on planning how to get rid of yourself, especially if the business is service-oriented and you are the one serving.
• Finding quality people to fill all-important roles puts you in the frame of mind of running a business.
• Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.
• Entrepreneurs surely take on high probabilities of fairer, but they don't necessarily like to gamble. Instead, they take calculated risks, stacking the deck in their favor. They find ways to minimize or to spread the risk of their endeavor to increase the odds of their success or minimize the odds of loss.
• What people thought was safe is no longer as safe as they thought. College won't guarantee you a high-paying job in the field you studied once you graduate. A corporate job doesn't mean you won't get fired. Enrolling in your company's 401(k) plan doesn't mean that you will have more money in the bank than when you started the plan.
• The best entrepreneurs create environments of stressful urgency. Entrepreneurs know that start-ups rarely get anything done in a relaxed, take-your-time environment.
• If you lack the sens of urgency to grow your business, evaluate why you want to be in business. Perhaps you are not passionate about the business idea. [...] Whatever the reason, your lac of enthusiasm is not a good sign.
• Build a company that is systems-dependent, not people-dependent.
• Being a start-up doesn't mean you have to operate haphazardly and without systems. While some degree of organizational chaos is unavoidable, you should still create, think thought, and continually optimize your systems so that you are less dependent on people. Taking this step up front puts you further alone gt he path to reaching your goals and allows you to know you're in the mode of building a company.
• When you start your business, lose the ego immediately. It's the main reason that entrepreneurs don't seek help. An overinflated ego even prevents those who ask for help from receiving it. Rarely do people want to help those who act as though they don't need it.
• Confidence attracts people; ego repels them.
• One of the quickest ways to lead a life of mediocrity or utter failure is to think that you can accomplish a major task all by yourself. The self-made man or woman is a myth. Even the greatest business minds of our time had to ask for help.
• The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
• Do important tasks first thing in the morning when you get up. This is perhaps the most useful habit that has helped me become much more efficient.
• Turn off the television and telephone. These interrupters cloud your focus. Research has shown that multitasking negatively affects your productivity. Also, the brain is most effective when it focuses on doing one thing.
• An attorney helps you protect your intellectual property.
• No business plan survives first contact with a customer.
• Experience has taught me that when I get a new business idea, working on the business plan is one of the last things to do.
• The three crucial steps I follow before even thinking of writing a business plan will work for you too. First, examine the competitive landscape to see what companies are already there. Second, discuss the idea with potential customers. Third, develop a sketch or basic prototype of the product.
• In short, too much emphasis is still placed on writing a bu sines plan when you have an idea.
• Surround yourself with honest people who tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you don't, you may become the laughingstock of your industry.
• Quite simply, the benefits of outsourcing outweigh any negatives as its opponents describe them.
• Any functionality that is not core to your business should be outsourced at the best cost and quality. In the majority of cases, tying on your own to produce everything that your business needs is unrealistic and highly inefficient.
• Don't let a bad idea derail your plans for greatness. If it isn't working, move on or adjust quickly.
• Not only are entrepreneurs early adopters, but they also explore technologies way before they are even introduced to the general public for consumption. This, find every opportunity to learn about what technology is the next big thing. This practice pays tremendous dividends.
• What do a majority of the top-twenty Richter American have in common? They worked in the industry that they would eventually dominate.
• The data indicate that in order to be a wealthy individual or successful entrepreneur, you should probably be an expert in or knowledgeable of the industry you strive to dominate, although there are deceptions to that rule.
• Small and nimble start-ups are often overlooked by big cormorants and now have the ability with little resources to topple billion-dollar companies.
• Substantive data show the increases attrition rate of big companies.
• A business that doesn't change or reinvent itself periodically will experience the pain of bankruptcy. At that grim point, change is the only option.
• Companies that have reached a degree of success are most likely to resist change and to stretch their pain threshold.
• A business that ignores change is a business that welcomes its own extermination. The products or services you offer today won't keep you in business tomorrow. The very nature of business induced changing to meet customers' demands in a batter way. If you have no strategy to proactively deal with change in your business, save yourself from a slow death and just shut down shop now.
• The most challenging thing to do in business is to stay in business.
• As an entrepreneur, you must be well aware of technology's power to alter your business. On the one hand, ignoring technology can mean your quick demise. On the other Haydn, if you adopt it early, it can catapult your business to tremendous growth. One way to stay on top of technological innovation is to implement strategies that promote and reward forward thinking in your company.
• Success comes from taking the initiative and following up.
• It's a simple fact: Those who master the art of following up are more successful than those who do not, yet so many entrepreneurs overlook and underestimate this simple rule.
• Fear of rejection causes many entrepreneurs to fail to follow up.
• No one likes being rejected, but you must get over this fear. I often interpret a 'no' as meaning "not right now". I have learned more about my products and services from people telling me no than from people telling me yes.
• A misunderstanding of business etiquette prevents many entrepreneurs from following up.
• Entrepreneurs don't miss opportunities; they seize them. The surest way to do this is to follow up with everybody, especially people who can help your business excel.
• You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.
• Whenever you have the chance to travel, do so. International travel is great, but inspiration can also come from a day trip to another city in your own state or country. Seeing how people do things in a different environment sparks creativity.
• Placing yourself in new environments and exploring new things enables you to apply those experiences to other facets of life. You become a synthesizer, a skill that, honed properly, could be the key to your next big opportunity in business.
• Failure is inevitable in entrepreneurship, but how you deal with failure determines whether you are ultimately a winner.
• If you want to conserve your cash, find ways to leverage what you have to get what you want.
• You must be strategic about every deal and understand the motives and desires of all parties. A common problem is that once a vendor knows that you are willing to trade or do nontraditional deals, you may be held to that standard or less.
• I hate to rain on your parade, but your idea is not special. There are likely other entrepreneur es or companies with "your" idea, equally inspired to dominate the business world and to make millions. And when your idea becomes a solid business generating lots of revenue, you can be sure that someone is just waiting to capitalize on your idea, too.
• Focus on the execution of your idea and make it work better than anyone else on the planet.
• Team dynamics can make or break you. Only recruit the best and most dedicated talent that is vested in your idea.
• A frugal start-up is a wise start-up. Expenses frequently hinder a company's ability to execute an idea. The company that can conserve and best use its resources gives itself a considerable advantage.
• When you start a business, immediately choose an enemy that you and your team aspire to crush. Identifying an arch rival helps to solidify your team around a common goal and serves as a natural motivator. No one wants to lose in a game of one-on-one.
• Ultimately, I learned that there's a big difference between thinking and knowing what is possible versus having the courage to ask for it. If you want something, I encourage you to ask for it. You will be surprises to see what it gets you from time to time.
• A business that isn't profitable, let alone not profitable for twelve years, is a red flag.
• Often what looks like a harmless path to success is really a dangerous path leading you right off a cliff.
• The man who has no problems is out of the game.
• To be great in business means to be great at put tin gout fires quickly. They are inevitable, and one of the biggest fires you'll have to put out is an urgent customer complaint.
• Despite how awkward or how uncomfortable it may be, plan an exit strategy when you start your business. Smart entrepreneurs not only focus on creating Thor business but also plan how to get out of it the best way possible.
• Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
• When you become an entrepreneur, your education is just beginning. In fact, in order to be at the top of your game, you must continually seek and devour information that will make you and your business better. An entrepreneur who stops learning stops earning.
• Entrepreneurs educate themselves primarily through reading books, studying successful people, per suing industry magazines, attending conferences, and countless other ways.
• Entrepreneurs fervently seek knowledge to gain and to maintain a competitive advantage for their business.
• The average person is intimidated by smart people.
• We'd all like to think that we are the smartest person in the room even if we know it's not true.
• Overcoming this feeling of insecurity is the first step to ascending to greatness.
• As any veteran entrepreneur will tell you, the culture you tart with will probably be the culture you end up. Try gin to get employees and staff to adopt a more rigid Coulter after years of having a relaxed Coulter is quite difficult.
• Acquiring office space should always be justified by how it will improve your business and raise your profits. Of ice space is a luxury, not a necessity.
• Without going beyond the extremes of ridiculousness, wear what is comfortable to you to perform your best. Respectable and comfortable are not mutually exclusive. If a person cannot see past the irrelevancy of your clothing to assess the relevancy of your idea, perhaps you should move on. Cultural norms are chaining for the better such that ideas are more important than if you're warning Izod.
• The best entrepreneurs don't always have to be the smartest one in the room. They know better.
• It's not so much a secret anymore, but an expectation: start-up tech companies prefer to hire people under thirty years old to avoid dealing with outdated and ineffectual norms that give preference to older people.
• Young entrepreneurs often underestimate the productivity and efficiency of a team.
• Being an entrepreneur is great, but it has its downside, too. One of the unfortunate realities that many entrepreneurs deal with is people's tendency to abuse their flexibility.
• Make sure that you don't try to manage people, because it's impossible. If you try to do that, you'll drive yourself crazy. Instead, define and manage expectations of individuals who work with you or for you. Clearly setting expectations in the beginning of the relationship and holding people to them avoids confusion and misunderstanding later.
• When you choose a mentor, be sure that the mentor has attained the level of success that you wish to reach. Alike yourself with mentors who not only understand where you want to go but who also have been there.
• Often, a mentor's advice is limited by that person's experiences.
• No entrepreneur has seceded without some type of mentor figure. Mentors are invaluable. Make sure that the one you choose has achieved what you want and that you consult that mentor frequently. If your men to is not accomplished enough or is inaccessible, find someone else who can really he pl you move closer to achieving your goals.
• There are two types of entrepreneurs when it comes to finding talent.
• Because attrition is inevitable, entrepreneurs and leaders of small companies most be commited to always looking for good talent.
• Accept only the best people for your business. If you are most efficient in your search for talent, even the lesser candidates you consider will be above average. As a result, your company will grow faster and last longer.
• Though it sounds obvious, this basic idea must be emphasized from time to time: You are in business to make money.
• When you aim to execute a big idea fast, an infusion of cash is necessary in many cases.
• Most entrepreneurs do not raise capital to start their business.
• Don't believe the hype about needing money to start a business. It's deceiving, and if you believe it, you could be ruining or delaying the success of your own endeavor.
• Having no money doesn't mean you have no resources. You've got something, so get started on your new business-and without spending any money if you can.
• Make sure that you pay estimated taxes quarterly to avoid being chopped by the tax ax.
• A completely naive, young entrepreneur, I assumed that everyone who wrote a check had money in the bank to cover the amount.
• The business world is nowhere near the Utopian Pleasantly. No, there will always be people in business who try to take advantage of you.
• Simple solution: If you suspect that someone has given you a bad check, take that check to the bank written on the check and ask if thee are sufficient funds in the account. If there is, you can cash the check right then and there.
• Negative cash flow is not a bad thing per se. In fact, it is necessary for many businesses in numerous industries, particularly if the business is in the start-up phase. However, maintaining a negative cash flow position for too long is detrimental to any business.
• When your company is experiencing high growth and increased revenues, strengthen your capital structure.
• Entrepreneurs must be mindful that recessions and economic downturns are inevitable. If you are in business long enough, you will experience one. Preparing your company to weather theses storms is part of your job. One of the best ways to do this is to secure your company's financial welfare by applying for and receiving credit when you don't need it.
• Build trust immediately. During the selling or price negotiating process, work hard to build trust so that you can ask for and receive prepayment for services or product. Give references before Th client asks for them.
• Be clear with your payment terms. Make sure that terms are well-defined for both sides from the very beginning--and in writing. Always present a clear and concise policy for payment er ms, so that the Clint knows exactly what to expect and what you expect.
• Be aggressive with your timeline. Ask for prepayment first, and then consider longer payment periods if necessary. Do whatever it takes to get paid on time. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. Pick up the check in person, if you have to.
• Contrary to what Intuit would like you to believe, you don't save money keeping your own books. It's not worth the headache to be your own accountant.
• From the very beginning, finding a good accountant is a high priority. Don't think of doing business without one.
• Research indicates that the great majority of entrepreneurs will never receive money from a venture capitalize or an angel investor. Instead, they will fund their businesses with their own money and via credit cards.
• How one manages personal debt is a good indicator of how business debt will be managed. For that reason, banks and other creditors check your personal credit when assessing your credit worthiness for a business loan product.
• Under capitalization continues to be the main reason so many businesses fail.
• If the business plan and model are not sound, throwing more money at it will yield poor results.
• A company without sales is headed out of business or is really not even in business. In general, companies prove their viability through sales and indicate their level of success through profit.
• Entrepreneurs who ignore the revenue question will only hurt themselves by overlooking the obvious. The best entrepreneurs ask themselves the revenue question every day and focus on building value through sales. Everything else is less important.
• In general, no matter how promising your business may be, investors want to know that you have some skin in the game. How much money you put into a business is a reflection of your own commitment to and belief in the business.
• One of the worst things you can do as an entrepreneur is to open a business bank account at a bank where you have a personal bank account. Likewise, it is not a good idea to open a business credit card at the same bank where you have a personal account.
• The problem is that banks don't treat multiple accounts they have linked to the same person separately. Regardless of what the account holder may think or the impression the banks may give, all of your accounts are linked together by your social security number and tax identification number.
• In brief, always open your business bank account or business credit card with a bank that is not affiliated with the bank where you conduct important (especially personal) financiers. By doing this, you minimize your risk of the bank doing something to jeopardize your financial welfare.
• A business with no sales is not much of a business at all.
• You're in sales, whether you want to be or not.
• Entrepreneurs who start a business without thinking of how their products or services will be sold in the marketplace are making a huge mistake.
• Profits aren't everything. They're the only thing.
• Companies that focus on sales and customer needs from the very beginning are more likely to be big winners.
• Most of us don't have the luxury or willingness to wait that long. We must be profitable as soon as possible.
• The wise entrepreneur make sales, the lifeline of any business, priority number on.
• An entrepreneur who has no interest in sales find the best sales experts for them team to ensure the businesses success.
• The reality is that even if you are an entrepreneur you have a boss: the customer. The idea that entrepreneurs are free of accountability is misguided and delusional. Ultimately, every business is accountable for meeting the needs of the customer.
• Neglecting the customer is a fatal mistake.
• Entrepreneurs, especially those who have experienced a degree of success, feel ordained to determine what is bet for their customers, more than its customers are entitled to determine what is best for them. This attitude often manifests itself in the form of poor customer service or a slump in sales, often leading to a company going out of business.
• Entrepreneurs in the business-to-business space must be especially careful to listen to their customers.
• Rarely can a company dictate to its customers what they need.
• Ensure that you listen closely to your customers and respond to their changing needs in a quick fashion. If you introduce something new, be sure that you are prepared for the possibilities that your suggestion could backfire.
• The entrepreneur's job is not to reform the buyer. Instead, understand what makes the customer tick and adjust.
• The best entrepreneurs know that being CEO doesn't make you the best person to present to investors, to close a sale, or to do a number of other tasks.
• The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.
• People are more inclined to trust those who are willing to help and eventually do.
• Few things are more irritating in business than dealing with a person who pretends to be a decision-maker but in reality is just a subordinate.
• If you are an elite entrepreneur, you don't go into anything cold. Whether you are selling a product or selling your company to an investor, you should know as much as you can about the prospect.
• Entrepreneurs who go the extra mile to better position themselves in a sale always come out better than an entrepreneur who tries to wing it.
• The biggest benefit of doing your homework is instantly establishing trust and credibility with your prospect, which goes a long way.
• The likelihood of closing a sale is directly linked to the preparation that goes into making that sale. Before you attempt to persuade any prospect your way, take the time to find out as much s you can about the person
• Entrepreneurs should tell everyone about their business and do it unapologetic ally.
• Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.
• Depending on the situation, there are good questions and bad questions. Being able to determine the difference gives you a competitive advantage in business.
• Asking the right questions after an objection is perhaps the most important time when this skill comes in handy. Customers rarely share the true reasons behind their hesitations, and the right questions can reveal those reasons.
• Set your price or rate and demand that you get it. This requires you t respectfully say no when prospects ask you to lower your rate, but in many cases they will respect you more for holding your ground and may come back later willing to pay.
• You can't demand top dollar if your product or service can be easily substituted.
• No one pays a premium price for poor quality--at least not twice.
• Just because you have a business and you are an entrepreneur doesn't give you license to be condescending to anyone.
• In general, people dislike arrogant people. Arrogant CEOs, especially leaders of start-ups, need a consistent does of humility. Ironically, most of them are just a few irate clients away from failure.
• Your job is to make your clients and your employees feel as if they are the most important people in the world.
• Entrepreneurship is a humbling exercise in learning how to deal with your negative feelings, so as to do what's best for your company.
• One of the most difficult feelings to tame is anger caused by a prospective customer who finds no value in your product or service and tells you so.
• You must not take business "personal" because it pushes you off track and leads to terrible business decisions. Instead, transform rejection or a negative occurrence in your business to positive energy that helps you persevere. That's the mark of a veteran entrepreneur.
• Leadership qualities can be taught and learned.
• Winning entrepreneurs act in spite of how they feel. It's not always easy to do so. In fact, overcoming what we feel like doing versus what we should be doing is a daily battle in all areas of life, but it is a battle you must win. As you move forward toward your business goals, don't let your emotions cause you to miss a phenomenal, life-changing opportunity. If you do, you could be missing out on a lot of money.
• Here's to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
• It's no coincidence that several of the most successful and famous entrepreneurs were mavericks at a young age.
• As mavericks grow older, their rebellious nature stays with them and is a significant contributor to their entrepreneurial success. What we know as teenage rebellion often becomes industry disruption, a new way of doing things that upsets those who support the status quo. These mavericks go on to change the world.
• There seems to be a split between regular entrepreneurs, who sacrifice little, and extreme entrepreneurs, who sacrifice a lot.
• Extreme entrepreneurs say yes to difficult questions like these [What would I sacrifice?], and that's what makes entrepreneurs a rare breed.
• If you want to know what it's like to run a business, then run a marathon--seriously. Training for and running a marathon is the closest experience to starting and running a business.
• The more businesses you start or the longer you are in business, the better you become. In fact, according to a Harvard University study, first-time entrepreneurs have only an 18 percent chance of succeeding; entrepreneurs who previously failed have a 20 percent chance of succeeding.
• To prepare for business, your training regimen involves attending conferences, Reading books and magazines, and finding a mentor.
• More than any other characteristic of an entrepreneur, having superhuman endurance is by far the most vital. It's even more important than being smart, well-funded, or charismatic. Entrepreneurs who have the fortitude to keep going despite being tired, to continue to educate themselves to be top performers, and to work through long-lasting pain are the most likely to find success.
• Contrary to popular and glorified belief, even as an entrepreneur you sometimes wont' know where your next dollar is coming from.
• Not every entrepreneur is making lots of money and living the perfect life.
• Entrepreneurship is not for the weak. If you aren't prepared to lose it all, then you should definitely do something else.
• As an entrepreneur, you must be keenly aware of what motivates you to ensure that your maximum effort is sustainable.
• Ultimately, you should align your motivation with your business goals, a challenging but attainable feat.
• A true entrepreneur is not driven by outward appearances of success, but rather by solving a problem whose solution provides value to its customers. This dedication shows up time and time again among high achievers in business's, and it's most evident among those who despite their great wealth and accomplishments continue to live a modest lifestyle.
• There's nothing wrong with wanting to be successful, but it is the wrong reason to start a business. Starting a business to be successful is like getting married to have sex. People too often focus on the benefits of the undertaking rather than the true purpose. If you remember to focus on your purpose--unadulterated by any ulterior motives--you stay headed in the right direction to accomplish your goal, and the benefits of your efforts are more likely to accrue to you.
• An entrepreneur who dreads Mondays is probably not an entrepreneur for the right reasons. If you need a litmus test to see if your motivation is where it needs to be, this is it.
• Friday is in large part a useless day. Employee productivity goes way down. According to a survey by Accounts, a staffing and temp agency, Fridays are the least productive day of the workweek by far.
• Most entrepreneurs are always working. That's the life we choose and love, but it's especially frustrating when you have those same unrealistic an demanding expectations for everyone else.
• Entrepreneurs are often touted for being fearless. This perception is not reality, though. Entrepreneurs are human and have fears like everyone else.
• When healthy fear is combined with a greater desire to succeed, nothing can stop you.
• As many entrepreneurs will tell you, unless you have strong self-discipline, a demanding boss figure that keeps you on track to success is a great thing.
• Choosing to be an entrepreneur can be a Langley endeavor and experience, especially if no one in your family is one.
• You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
• Interestingly, research shows that older people are more likely to be successful when they start businesses. Older entrepreneurs have the experience needed to better navigate the rough waters of entrepreneurship.
• If you are in your early thirties, forties, or older, it is not too late to start a business. Don't let your age deter you from pursuing your dream. Ultimately, a solid business idea paired with flawless execution, not a fresh face, is what leads to success in business.
• Knowing that your idea actually works and has impacted the world in some way is a feeling like no other. For many, it's even a rater feeling than making the first sale or receiving the first payment.
• Contrarily, sauces comes from doing that which often gives you the least emotional satisfaction.
• Studies show that it is much easier to inspire and to motivate though positive reinforcement, but this approach undermines the importance of doing what's difficult and uncomfortable on a consistent basis to properly a business forward.
• Instead of emphasizing that people do what they love, we should at least draw equal attention to the need to tackle with the SAM energy the things they hate.
• When you have a business, especially a young business, you inevitably find yourself doing things that are not enjoyable. Whether it's making cold calls to generate more business or firing an unproductive employee, these en pleasant tasks are key to staying on the right path. The strongest and wisest entrepreneurs learn to assume these tasks diligently and without fail.
• Business is about solving problems, improving the quality of life, creating new solutions, and yes, making money. These things involve a great deal of pain and drudgery, not endless euphoria. If you are able to align building a solid business with doing what you love, that's great, but it certainly isn't a requirement.
• The best way to predict the future is to create it.
• Entrepreneurs love their lives not necessarily because of the benefits of success but because we love the game of entrepreneurship, which can bring joy and pain. An indescribable feeling of joy comes from knowing that you are in control of your destiny, and this joy is present through the good and the bad times.