Do You Have an Employee or Entrepreneurial Mindset?

There are significant personality differences between entrepreneurs and employees. And depending on your mindset will greatly affect the results you achieve in your business.

Whether you’re working just to get it done, filling in the hours you set aside for work, or leaping into each day with passion and purpose, the home-based business owner that’s struggling to make money must honestly assess how much they are putting into their money-making endeavors.

Let’s find out if you have an employee or entrepreneurial mindset.

An Employee Spirit

In general, employees tend to resist change and enjoy routine. They are comfortable and secure receiving a steady paycheck and work a certain amount of hours or have a specific amount of work or tasks they complete each day or week.

After work each day they may go home and watch television for a few hours, eat dinner, help the kids with homework, etc. They have two lives – personal life and a work-life. There is a starting and a stopping to their workday and their money-generating activities.

An example of someone with an employee spirit is someone that stops work at a specific time each day, say 4:00 pm. They stop because they have a life (we all do) and they need to live it. After all, we work so we can live, right? They are back at their desks again at 8:30 am. This person is a hard worker, does good work, and is responsible. This person is not generally a risk-taker and is uncomfortable with change.

An Entrepreneurial Spirit

As a business owner, you have one life – your work and personal life, which are interconnected. By fulfilling your purpose and doing what you are meant to do, your life is integrated into one. Entrepreneurs don’t generally have a “start and stop” time for their work life. While they may take time during the traditional 9-5 workday to do personal errands, they are also known to be working away on weekends and late into the evenings. In general, there is an excitement to do more – reach more people, have more sales, change more lives.

Entrepreneurs are more comfortable than most with change (although they may still not jump for joy when change comes) and are more likely to quickly make adjustments rather than sticking to the status quo.

Working from home you may instinctively call yourself an entrepreneur. Ask yourself this question – do you treat work like a business or a hobby?

Are You Running a Business or a Hobby?

• Do you have a few clients?
• Are you making ends meet?
• Are you stuck in the same pattern and can’t seem to get out of that path?
• Are you growing and stretching for more or doing the same routine and getting the same results?
• Do you turn everything off at 4:30 pm and start “your life”.

Or…

• Do you try new marketing avenues, attend different events?
• Do you make a point to enjoy meeting new people?
• Do you push yourself into new ventures even when they make you uncomfortable?
• Are you NEVER comfortable with the status quo?
• Do you sometimes work late to get one more sale call in? Attend one more networking event?

Do You Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset?

It’s common for home-based businesses to fall into the “I do this as a hobby” trap.

You may not call your business a hobby; however, that’s what your business has become. Even though you may have developed marketing materials, you don’t find it easy to do marketing and promote your business. While you may be working hard, you push marketing off until the last minute, opting to take a yoga class and do the tough stuff later.

Entrepreneurs that are highly profitable do not have this mindset. If you find yourself slipping into the “employee” zone, I suggest you do some hardcore rearranging of your day.

What changes must you make to get out of your current situation? Are you willing to do them even if they make you uncomfortable? How determined are you to succeed?