The entrepreneur mindset: a blessing or a curse?

The entrepreneur mindset: a blessing or a curse?

A good entrepreneur has an almost fanatical drive to see their new business idea off the ground. But that same drive, stubbornness and single-minded focus on the next big thing can also have a negative impact on the success of your owner-managed business.

Amilios Costa explains why an ambitious entrepreneur needs to surround themselves with the right people and the right infrastructure, and why a like-minded adviser is a crucial asset.

 

The drive behind a successful entrepreneur

For me, there is definitely a certain kind of personality type that does well as a serial entrepreneur. In my experience, the ones who achieve real freedom as a business owner are incredibly driven and ambitious. They’re determined people who know exactly what they want. So, when advising an entrepreneur, it’s important for me to listen and to work closely with them, understanding their problem and giving the right solutions.

Entrepreneurs aren’t always good at listening to advice, even when it’s clear there is room for improvement. As your adviser, I may think you need to take my advice, but it’s important to pick the right battles and to choose the best time to put a solution forward.

I’m the same, to be honest. If someone wants to recieve my attention, I need them to make things swift and succinct. Entrepreneurs don’t want a three-page email, they want a simple explanation that gets their attention and shows how this issue relates to their business.

 

Why every genius entrepreneur needs a support structure

Entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs are an inspiration to many owner managers and business leaders. Yes, these entrepreneurial thinkers can sometimes be difficult, but they are (or were) geniuses at what they do. However, they also need that support structure underneath them to pick stuff up and to get things done. Without that structure to smooth out the peaks and troughs, things will become chaotic.

As a partner at Haines Watts, we run and manage the business ourselves, so we also have this entrepreneurial mindset I’m constantly looking for new ways to improve the business, or extract more from our people and our processes to maintain momentum.

As an entrepreneur, you need the support team to carry you along. Many entrepreneurs have a strong personality and that means you need strong people around you to keep focus. Your core values as a leader really matter, and how you instill those values into the people around you.

 

Balancing entrepreneurial drive with good people management

It’s important to understand the differences within our teams as a leader. It’s a balancing act to be a good people manager, while also being ambitious and driven by your core business idea.

In my experience, most entrepreneurs need to be in charge of something. Leaders like to feel in control and that comes down to being headstrong and wanting to do things your own way. Most business owners have a gut instinct when it comes to making decisions, which can be both a blessing and curse. Sometimes you get it wrong, and sometimes you get it right, but there is always a need to step back and look at things in the round.

Entrepreneurs should be looking at the bigger picture, not the detail. They aren’t the best placed to fix those little things, because they don’t have the patience or (generally speaking) the specific skills to fix these details. That’s why it’s important to have the appropriate skill sets in your team.

A partnership with other senior people and entrepreneurial thinkers can be a good thing. One person on their own running a business with no-one challenging them can be risky.

 

Taking advice from the specialists around you

One of my biggest clients is the sole founder of the company, so he needs his network to bounce ideas and decisions. The real-world experience we offer as business owners ourselves is a vital sounding board. It can be hard work, but there’s real value in getting a point across.

As an adviser, I have to know what keeps my clients awake at night. The important thing is to ask the right questions as this is the only way to get to the root of the issue. Focusing on the right elements of the business and touching on stuff that’s important to the owner is so important.

Some key questions to ask are:

• Who are the most crucial people in your executive team?

• What happens if one of the most important people in your top team decides to leave?

• How can you convince your best talent to stick around?

• Should you offer your senior team some shares or an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme to improve your talent retention?

• How else can you reward great performance and loyalty?

The value of a combined adviser, business coach and psychologist

In order to create a positive impact it’s important to be frank and open about the challenges you’re facing. This allows your adviser to truly understand your issue and offer a different perspective. A good adviser will be a mix of adviser, coach and psychologist.

I have a client who’s at the point of wanting to sell his company, because he’s just fed up with the legislation and red tape of running a business. But the offers he’s been receiving for the business aren’t sufficient for him to retire. Before he can exit, we need to refine the organisational structure, find out what’s really troubling him and add value to the company – not sell at the wrong time.

It’s important to step back so you can see the business from the outside looking in – and lots of entrepreneurs never take the time to do this and that’s where an adviser steps in.

 

Helping you to focus on the right goals

The entrepreneurial mindset is such a valuable tool, but if you’re going to achieve real success and freedom, you’ve got to do things wisely.

Haines Watts North London is structured so that you’re advised by business owners. As your adviser, I’m here to challenge you, to stress test your ideas and to play devils’ advocate. With the right level of mutual trust, I can help you. It’s only by thinking like an entrepreneur that we can find the right solutions and the right support structures for you, your ideas and your business model.

 

If you want to challenge and focus your entrepreneurial drive, get in touch for a chat with us