Helen Zad, Administrator of Active Plus Home Health and Divine Grace Hospice, and Host of Femme Fatale by Helen Podcast.
Getting started as an entrepreneur is about having the right mindset from the beginning. In Part One of this three-part series, I discussed making a habit out of challenging fear and uncertainty in your life and in business.
In Part Two, I want to share with you the importance of staying open to learning and changing. Thriving in shifting markets and a rapidly advancing world means constantly, constantly learning. Here are my five tenets to an open mindset as an entrepreneur.
1. Be flexible.
Being adaptable and flexible is key in business, for two major reasons.
You will run into roadblocks constantly, and you need to have the ability to roll with the punches. Remember that there are multiple different ways to achieve things. If one route doesn’t work, you need to be able to pivot while still staying focused on your ultimate goal.
Your market will also be changing all the time. When a crisis emerges, like the Covid pandemic or new evolving trends, you will need to be sensitive to it and be ready to figure out how to adjust your business to meet new needs.
As an example, I run a hospice company, and the hospice market is changing in a big way. It’s not enough in this industry to go by referrals as it was before, so I’ve had to become more proactive about my marketing pool by partnering with hospitals and offices. Be able to stay ahead of the game.
2.Know that you don’t know everything.
It’s crucial to be receptive to help from others. No one has all the answers, and it’s completely OK to not know every little thing as you go along.
Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of thinking they must know everything before they even start, and if they’re not perfect, they’re failing. This is a limiting mindset. Instead, be open to learning and admit when you might need outside expertise. If someone is an expert in a particular area, whether that’s financing, taxes, social media strategy or anything you don’t understand yet, allow them to explain where you may have gone wrong.
If you keep doing the same things with the same knowledge, you will continue to produce the same results. Don’t let your pride get in your own way, and don’t be afraid to ask a “stupid question”—because there aren’t any.
3. Be objective about criticism.
Speaking of being open to help, constructive criticism from outside sources can be very valuable feedback, but it’s important to approach it with the right mindset.
First, rather than taking anything personally, you need to think of criticism and other people’s perspectives simply as data points. It’s not necessarily right or wrong, but it’s information that you can use to improve and better understand what people respond to, what they like, and what they want. This will make you better at connecting with other people, which will ultimately make you more successful.
4. Seek knowledge and new ideas from other successful people.
Besides feedback on your own ideas, use networking with other people to get inspired. When you’re talking to fellow entrepreneurs and people in business, actively listen and learn from their experiences and problem-solving approaches, even if their market or industry is different from yours.
By absorbing other mental processes and strategies, you will gain valuable insight that can be applied to your own business. Every person you network with is an opportunity to gain more knowledge.
5. Explore different belief systems, points of view, and values.
The more perspectives you understand, the more expansive your world becomes, and the more energized and inspired you will be. Thinking about other lived experiences and imagining the way different people might see a problem gives you tons of new ideas for your own business. Not to mention that your customers are the public, and to sell to them effectively, you must understand how they think. Whether you’re selling a product, a service or a brand, it’s essential to know what people want so that you can provide it to the widest possible audience.
This understanding will also make you more responsive to changes in the market and enable you to grow your customer base, as well as build stronger connections with your existing customers.
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