No doubt about it, entrepreneurship is awesome. What else could be as satisfying as being your own boss? But how do we wake up our entrepreneurship brain?
Working for yourself surely gives you that freedom of becoming who you wanted to be. The freedom to make some important decisions; freedom to either work later or close early, after all, it’s your business.
However, entrepreneurship means so many things to so many people. It is not just about saying goodbye to your boss and starting your own business.
In short, there is more to entrepreneurship than just starting your own business. Being an entrepreneur is more about having the entrepreneur’s mindset.
Challenges to wake up entrepreneurship brain
You will all agree with me that entrepreneurship is about seeing a problem and recognizing the opportunity that it creates.
It’s also about “connecting the dots” when you meet a perfect stranger who could be a perfect strategic partner.
Below are some real-life challenges that will enhance your “entrepreneur brain” so you can tune into the right choices that will make your business a success.
These challenges might not seem to relate to your business but they will wake up the part of you that drives you forward in the right direction.
#1]. Get your personal finances in order
Be sure to have your business bank accounts separate from your personal accounts and make sure your business pays you every month. In your personal banking, set up a few accounts for holidays, for investing, for predictable expenses, and for charity.
As soon as you pay yourself each month split the money up into different accounts. It will help you to get what you really want each year rather than being random and reactive with money.
#2]. Tune out from the daily news
Yes, it’s good to be up to date and informed on world events, but when you watch the news every day it adds more stress to your life that you really don’t need.
Not only do you have your own business to worry about, but now you are also worried about wars, disasters, and politics as well. Far better to give your brain some downtime by going for a walk, cooking, or listening to some music.
#3]. Take holidays
When entrepreneurs go on holidays most people think they have gone for leisure and relaxation. But in reality, most entrepreneurs go on holiday to create time for themselves.
To some entrepreneurs, going on holiday is not just to relax and have fun. However, it’s more about them refreshing their brains and improving their thinking. If you don’t take holidays, you will burn yourself out and begin to resent your business.
You probably started the business to have more freedom, so stop being a slave and start taking some breaks. I promise you your best ideas will hit you when you are relaxing by the sea with a drink in hand.
#4]. Hire someone
When you hire someone, you are designating certain responsibilities of your business to the person and this could be all you need to get to the next level.
Yes hiring someone feels risky when you are a small business, but the key to becoming bigger is recognizing you can’t do everything on your own.
Find a salesperson, get a bookkeeper, get an executive assistant. At the very least, get a cleaner and use that time to work on your business so that you can be able to grow and hire someone full-time.
#5]. Make three big phone calls
Pick up the phone and call a person or a company/organization that could take your small business to the next level. Maybe it’s a dream customer or a distributor who could sell truck-loads of your products.
Don’t just do this once, do this every week. Sometimes the long shot comes off, but too often we learn to play small and never attempt to go big; it all starts with a phone call.
#6]. Put your prices up
Most of the small businesses haven’t put their prices up since the economy went into recession. Maybe it’s time to bump things up a level.
When you put your prices up a little, you feel better and it forces you to think about how you are adding more value to your clients.
When you are “cheap” you begin to think that it’s alright to do an average job; putting your prices up keeps you on your toes and makes you commit to being more remarkable.
