Adopt these Three Mindsets Immediately to Build a Successful Startup You will have to keep sailing, irrespective of the challenges thrown at you by the people and environment around you
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It all begins with a great idea! Haven't we heard of it a lot. However, for a start-up to sustain the ruthless competitive environment, it takes a lot more than just an idea. An entrepreneur can get his/her ship sailing with a good idea and some initial stage planning. For success, you need to adopt the mindset that will gear your ship towards your goal, despite the rough waves and high tides. You will have to keep sailing, irrespective of the challenges thrown at you by the people and environment around you.
For entrepreneurs to succeed, it is a must to adopt a startup like mindset. To know the mindset, you need to know how a startup works. Let's say you want to sail a ship. A startup would sail the ship while building it. As the tides grow higher and the ship poses a certain requirement, the designer would add them along, and keep sailing it. That's how a start-up works. It faces situations, tough or otherwise, and responds to them in real-time, without stopping its work.
Now that you know what it is to be a startup, let's discuss the mindset that will help you get the desired success.
#1 Dive head-on into the ocean of opportunities
See an opportunity? However small it is, take the leap of faith. That's how a startup entrepreneur needs to think. Oh yes! Every opportunity has a little bit of risk attached to it. You should see the larger picture instead of the risk attached. If you can take risks, to get the better of these opportunities, you have the startup mindset in you.
Of course, while you are at it, you need to understand the risk as well. You cannot take the plunge without preparing for the risks.
The one with the start-up mindset would go with the flow, explore the opportunities while looking into ways that can help reduce the risks.
#2 Embrace the waywardness attached with uncertainty
A startup is like a sail through an unpredictable ocean. You never know what comes your way next. You could have a smooth ride for a certain period and then face the rough tides and the ocean sharks for the next few hours.
As a startup entrepreneur, you can stay prepared for certain things. Like a rough patch would require some dough set aside, better known as the contingency fund. You can keep some of that for days when you are not going to earn anything. You can plan a few days or months ahead. However, you can never predict how the next hour would be for your startup. There are times when someone signs you up and then the next minute decides against it.
A startup needs to plan for the future, but should stay resolved to face the uncertain and unpredictable times. You never know what happens next, but you can stay resolved to combat it with whatever weapons and soldiers you have.
The one with the startup mindset would embrace and keep their resolve strong when uncertainty dwells upon them.
#3 Don't be scared of failing more than once
When you start out, there are going to be a number of times you fall before you actually start walking. It is akin to how a child starts walking. They crawl, they get up, they fall multiple times, and then one day they take their baby steps, which makes their parents cry out of joy.
Very few startups are ready for this failure. Yes, we all know we will fail but how many of you are ready to fail and get up again. Not many! That's why there are many startups that shut shop immediately after starting out.
Failure helps you learn and improve your ways. There will be days when the dark feels lonely but, it is the dark that will help you find ways to light the room and make it bright once again. You will need to work on finding the light, and not be scared of the dark.
The one with the startup mindset will actually try identifying ways to succeed instead of succumbing to failure.
Having a startup is not a child's play, and the determination and strength it requires is really high. You should know when you can predict and when you should respond. You ought to know when you should sit tight and when you should confront. You should ideally keep changing with the times, and adapt to the ocean for the best sail.
