How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset

By Valerie Kramis @vkramis

*Design Strategy Specialist with experience in marketing, social innovation, and social entrepreneurship. She is the co-founder of Agenda28, and main coach of Tahona Society Collective Spirit.

Discover some examples of an entrepreneurial mindset, and amid the current economic and social turmoil, developing this kind of mindset is becoming crucial to survive in this industry.

In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 shutdowns affected millions of businesses in the hospitality industry.

The businesses that were able to survive were the ones that saw the changes as opportunities and adapted fast.

For example, some bars pivoted their traditional business models and started offering cocktail kits to prepare drinks at home, others started offering online culinary experiences, others daily meals in a subscription model.

All these pivots are examples of an entrepreneurial mindset, and amid the current economic and social turmoil, developing this kind of mindset is becoming crucial to survive in this industry.

An entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills that enables you to identify opportunities, take continuous action on your ideas, overcome challenges, and learn from setbacks. This mindset can be learned by anyone and is useful to create a new business, start a side hustle, or even improve your personal life. You just need to learn to think like an entrepreneur.

5 ways to develop an entrepreneurial mindset

1. Find your higher purpose

Doing something for its own sake rather than for external rewards is the most potent form of motivation.

A higher purpose is not about economic exchanges, but about finding what gives meaning to your life.

Entrepreneurs set goals that create value for others from unexpected opportunities, and this aspiration is the engine that allows them to keep going no matter what.

So, what is that thing that moves you beyond money or other external rewards?

Would you like to be remembered for changing the status quo of the hospitality industry?

Would you like to contribute in some way to your community? Possibilities are infinite.

2. Develop a growth mindset

If you have a fixed mindset, you believe your capabilities are inherent and can’t be changed. By contrast, when you have a growth mindset, you prioritize learning, have a constant curiosity about the world, and know that new abilities can be developed (Elo, 2021).

In other words, you believe that every business skill can be mastered with dedication and hard work.

Having a growth mindset when starting a business is essential to success, so the next time a new challenge is presented in the bar be aware about how you respond to the change and try to find the learning opportunities of the transformation.

3. Build resilience and flexibility

Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands (American Psychological Association, 2022).

When starting a new endeavor seeing the good in failure and understand that every mistake is a learning experience is key.

Covid-19 taught us that we can’t change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but we can always change how we interpret and respond to these events, and this way of thinking can get us through the ups and downs of starting a business.

4. Manage risks

Entrepreneurship requires boldness, however, there is a great difference between taking a blind leap of faith and making a calculated risk.

A calculated risk involves a fair amount of research and making a cost-benefit analysis.

When you have done enough legwork to understand the consequences of failure and know that the chances of success are higher than the chances of failure, it is safe to take the risk.

5. Cultivate grit

The entrepreneurial mindset is characterized by perseverance and passion for achieving long-term goals.

Grit entails working strenuously and maintaining effort and interest over time despite adversities.

Recent studies suggest this trait may be more relevant than intelligence in determining a person’s high achievement. (American Psychological Association, 2022).

There are numerous examples of GRIT all over the hospitality industry, just listen to the personal stories of your fellow bartenders and I’m sure you will learn a lot about perseverance.

To sum up, the entrepreneurial mindset is about being committed to a higher purpose. It is about seeing challenges as an opportunity for growth and not as something to be feared.

And it is about learning to make calculated risks and persevering despite any challenges. In fact, regardless you are planning to start a business or not, developing an entrepreneurial mindset could be exactly what you need to boost your career.

How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset