The key to an entrepreneurial mindset
It’s always a treat for me to listen to other speakers and hear their stories. I don’t get to do it often, so I take the chance whenever I get it.
My most recent opportunity was in April at a conference in Wyoming. After I spoke, I stuck around to watch the speaker after me—and I’m so glad I did.
His name was Gary Schoeniger, and his message and the stories he shared helped me see my journey as an entrepreneur in a totally new light. I thought I’d share what resonated with me in case it sparks something for you, too.
Gary is the founder of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative and the author of Who Owns the Ice House?. He interviewed more than 800 entrepreneurs from all over the world to find out what makes up their DNA, so to speak, and the result is what he calls the key components of entrepreneurial thinking. He doesn’t limit “entrepreneur” to business owners or side-hustlers; he describes entrepreneurship as a way to think about and approach your life.
He interviewed everyone from the inventor of the Stairmaster to the owner of a small-town pressure-washing company, and he found that they all had several traits in common. One of them really stood out to me: Entrepreneurs take action. Instead of creating elaborate plans, they take a step, learn from it, and tweak their approach from there. And they keep doing that until they figure out what works best.
As I listened, I felt so seen as both a leader and an entrepreneur. I started Student Maid without a business plan . . . because I never even intended to start a business. All I wanted to do as a broke 19-year-old was make enough money to buy a pair of jeans I fell in love with at the mall.
Instead of applying for a job, I posted an ad on Craigslist saying I’d clean someone’s house. Someone hired me, I cleaned her home, I bought the jeans, and I thought that was that. But then, the woman who hired me said she wanted me to clean her house every week (after she gave me some pointers on how to clean). Soon, her friends started hiring me, too, and I realized I had a great little side gig on my hands. Without even realizing it, I’d taken my first step.
That eventually inspired me to take an even bigger step: I bid on a huge cleaning contract—and I won. That was the turning point that caused me to hire a team. After that, I continued to let the path unfold in front of me. Each step I took informed the next one until, one day, I realized I had a business on my hands.
And that’s still how I approach things today: I experiment. I like to put something out there and learn from what happens. I would much rather act and learn from it than spend lots of time on a plan and risk letting the opportunity pass me by.
But, you see, I’ve spent most of my journey feeling insecure about this approach. Especially early on, when I’d talk to other business owners and hear about their five-year plans or long-term strategic visions, it would make me feel like I was doing it wrong. I started to think that I had to make a plan in order to be successful, and I felt insecure about flying by the seat of my pants.
Listening to Gary talk about entrepreneurial DNA made me ditch that idea for good. I now see that my drive to take action is actually one of my greatest strengths and what helps make me a successful entrepreneur.
What stuck with me most from his speech were the stories he told. One was about a student Gary once taught who wanted to start a business where he cleaned commercial spaces at night, but he wasn’t even 18 yet. Gary knew the student would have trouble convincing the owners of commercial office spaces to hand over their keys to a teenager, but he didn’t stop him. Gary encouraged the student to try anyway.
The student did, and almost 60 business owners turned him down. But then, one said, “Hey, we need help keeping our parking lot clean. Would you be willing to do that after-hours?” Long story short, this student ended up starting a parking-lot maintenance company. By the time he graduated from high school, he’d saved something like $60K.
Gary shared that story to emphasize how important it was that the student took action. He knew the student’s first business idea probably wasn't going to work out, but instead of saying that, Gary pushed him to try so the student could learn for himself. When he did, the student figured out an even better idea and allowed it to inform his next steps, which ultimately landed him success.
I don’t want you to think that I never make plans. I actually do, and I’m always thinking about the future and how to get from A to B. It’s just that I put the majority of my effort on taking action. There have been times when I’ve gone against my instincts and made elaborate plans only to find that in the end, it didn’t make a difference because nothing happened the way I thought it would almost from the start. That’s why, in my life and business, I focus on my one next step. I think about what is in my control right now, what action I can take, and then I do it and learn from it.
Almost two decades into my entrepreneurial journey, this strategy is still working for me. And I know it works for other successful leaders and business owners, too, thanks to Gary’s interviews and stories.
But I know it’s so much easier said than done. It takes courage to take action, which is why it’s so easy to get stuck in the planning phase. Planning requires no risk, so it feels safer, but it doesn’t teach us anything. If we want success, we have to be willing to take action, take a risk, and be open to what it teaches us.
What about you? How do you balance action and planning? If you’re a planner, have you ever tried to ditch your plan and experiment instead? How did it go? If you’re a risk-taker, what’s it taught you?
You can even think about this on a team level: The next time you notice everyone wanting to schedule another planning meeting, what if you suggested taking an action instead? Just one step forward. You might learn more that way together, and it might get you to success faster in the end. You’ll never know unless you try!
I want to hear all about it. Hit “reply” and tell me more! My team and I love reading your reflections.
You’ve got this!
Big hugs,
