Are you a business coach, consultant, or service provider struggling to grow your business?
Many business owners in a service-oriented market tend to focus on the success of their clients. But your own mindset has to be split between the one that helps you get your clients results and an entrepreneur mindset that enables YOU to continually expand your business.
You need to think like an entrepreneur, not a coach or consultant, if you want to grow!
In addition, how you run your business is your primary calling card when encouraging new clients to work with you, or existing ones to stay. If you’re going to give business advice, it’s essential to set an example through what you do just as much as what you say.
You need to practice what you preach in terms of developing, refining, and bringing your business to its absolute potential.
Therefore, a big part of your success as a coach is in the mindset with which you approach your own business development.
The only way to see exactly what needs to be done is to step back and look at your business with a critical eye. What needs to be tweaked? What opportunities are you missing out on? What do you need to do differently? Adding an entrepreneurial mindset to your normal coaching one can be the best tool in your arsenal for answering these question – and growing your coaching or consulting practice.
What is an Entrepreneur Mindset?
Your mindset is made up of a collection of both conscious and unconscious beliefs that pertain to you as an individual. A positive mindset will allow for growth, learning, motivation, and understanding, whereas a more negative mindset may limit abilities and achievements, as it does not foster positive action.
A few characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset include:
- The ability to learn from failure
- Perseverance
- The ability to delegate
- Love of learning
- Flexibility
- The ability to set and work towards goals
Implementing these beliefs as actions within your business encourages consistent growth.
Roundup: Top Tips from Experts
Many thought leaders in the world of coaching have discussed the importance of having an entrepreneurial mindset. We pulled together a round-up of a few articles that will help you see how you can take action and adopt this mindset to help you grow your business. Then, at the end of this article, you'll find a self-assessment you can complete to test your own mindset.
Why an Entrepreneurial Mindset is Important for Coaches
International Coach Federation
“One has to be flexible enough to recognize the current trends to succeed. Every opportunity that presents itself should be handled with an open mind and discarded if found ineffective for the business.” - Patrick Watt
Patrick Watt looked a little deeper into exactly why having an entrepreneurial mindset has such an effect on the coaching business. He highlighted a number of key points, including:
Watt concludes by reminding us that each coach has a unique talent – this can only come to life and reach its potential if that positive entrepreneurial mindset is nurtured.
Critical Mindset for Success: Coach vs Entrepreneur
Erikson International
“To build a profitable business we must be focused on the business of coaching. The exciting thing, as an entrepreneur you can design your week exactly the way that you want, just be sure that you do book in money-making time – and protect it fiercely, your business depends on it.” - Teresia LaRocque
Teresia LaRocque identifies with the coach ready to get to work; with knowledge of his or her business, all the necessary equipment and the drive to succeed. She also identifies with how these factors alone don’t necessarily equal success.
The article breaks down how you should spend your working time – the four ‘critical activities’ of the profitable entrepreneur:
Another 10% spent on day-to-day necessities such as paperwork and accounting. LaRocque goes on to mention that, ‘whenever possible, hire them out’.
The benefits of implementing such a breakdown to your working day are in making sure every area of your business gets the necessary attention, as well as being able to devote chunks of time to specific objectives.
Why Mindset Trumps Strategy Every Time
Entrepreneur
“What we believe is possible and desirable are crucial elements in the successful implementation of a strategy. Any strategy not informed by, and in alignment with, the prevailing mindset in the business will fail every single time.” - Dixie Gillaspie
Dixie Gillaspie uses her experience as a coach to discuss how the content that the entrepreneur is consuming today differs from not too long ago. She talks about a shift towards content regarding ‘beliefs, habits, perspective and ideas’, with mindset related information now getting the shares and comments that ‘how-to’ and strategy type articles used to pull in.
A mindset running counter to strategy won’t ignite the same energy as one that ran parallel – if the belief is that the projected results are impossible, progress will be doubted and some may even find themselves sabotaging progression. Strategy is, in fact, dependent on the initiative, determination and behaviours fostered by a positive mindset.
Gillaspie goes on to mention how a model implemented by one person with a particular, complementary, mindset may work for them, yet fail when implemented by another with a different set of beliefs, motivation and vision. Recognizing and refining your perspective towards your business will help you develop and implement the right strategy for you.
Conclusion
So what does all of this mean for you? Here are a few takeaways that I suggest you focus on for growing your own business:
Want to see how many entrepreneur traits you have?
Just click below to download our ‘Entrepreneur Mindset Assessment’ to see how you rate on the different characteristics and behaviors of an entrepreneur, along with tips for developing each.
Want to help your clients develop more of an entrepreneurial way of thinking?
Success Mindset for Entrepreneurs
Teach Yourself. Then teach your audience.
When you purchase a license to any of our ready-to-go course kits, you get the rights to edit it any way you want (or leave as-is) and add your own name and branding.
Then use your new course to:
- Attract new clients and customers (such as with a free training, webinar, or eCourse)
- Add a new stream of income (such as with a paid course or workshop)
- Keep your current customers successful and coming back for more (such as with bonus webinars, videos, and other learning resources).
Let us know if you have any questions by emailing us at Support@ContentSparks.com
An entrepreneur never stops learning. It is vital for them to learn new things and skills for the productivity of work. When knowledge becomes power, a business becomes a guaranteed success.
Standing up from a failure is what an entrepreneur is. Learning from mistakes and developing a better plan to try. The dedication and passion in one’s heart can bring you back to success.