About Succeeding as an Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur thinks differently than an employee. After all, an employee only has to look out for himself while at work. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, must not only consider themselves but also every employee and independent contractor working at each location in each of their companies.

Skills to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

Madame C. J. Walker, the first self-made woman millionaire in the United States said, “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!” Her words embody the mindset and spirit required to succeed as an entrepreneur. However, you need more than a can do attitude to succeed in business.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, whether you work from home or out of a rented office, you need strong project and time management skills. You also need to be able to quickly know when a contract or business deal will cost you more in time and energy than it’s worth. For example, if you are a freelance writer contracting your services out to business, education and medical professionals, and you’re offered $150 to write a 3,000 word white paper that may require you to interview four or more industry leaders and conduct three or more hours of research, you may decide to pass up the contract as it could equate to you receiving less than $17 an hour. Factor in revisions and you could end up earning less than $14 an hour.

Learn to count up the cost of completing projects as an entrepreneur who freelances. Add up the total time you expect it to take you to complete assignments or projects. Avoid looking at the total amount that you will be paid for a project and basing your decisions upon this number alone.

That said, if you’re a new entrepreneur, you’re going to learn how to price contracts, projects, etc. by experience. After all, only you know how long it takes you to complete projects. Should you hire freelancers as an entrepreneur or creative business leader, consider asking freelancers to bid on projects. Average the price of bids to get a sense of what to pay experienced freelancers.

Start to Vision Yourself Succeeding as a Creative Business Leader

Additionally, start to vision yourself succeeding as a creative business leader, reaching new heights. Remember what filmmaker and poet, James Broughton, said, “The only limits are, as always, those of vision.”

Begin now to see your business generating increased annual revenues, going from $100,000 to $10,000,000. Get out of survival mode and start making decisions that allow you to generate six and seven-figure dollar deals. Also recognize that the more exposure you gain as a creative business leader, the more important it is for you to wisely consider comments you make in social arenas and decisions you make. NetFlix and the Susan G. Komen foundation are two examples of what can happen when you’ve gotten lots of public exposure over the years and make one poor decision.

However, because you can’t completely eliminate the possibility that you (or someone on your team) might make a comment or decision that places your creative business in an unwanted light, have teams or strategies in place to respond to public outcries. Be open to change and continue to push the vision for your business out further.

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