DEVELOPING AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP MINDSET NIRANJAN GIDWANI CERTIFIED BOARD DIRECTOR (MCA - INDIA) | BOARD MEMBER | ESG DIRECTOR | DIGITAL DIRECTOR | MEMBER UAE SUPERBRANDS COUNCIL.

 

There is a cliched explanation and understanding of the word “Entrepreneurship”. That cliched understanding is that entrepreneurship is all about starting one’s own business. 

To me, entrepreneurship is much more. The qualities of entrepreneurship can be inculcated in every role that a person plays in life - whether it be as part of a company, a team player, a division head, a company CEO, a home-maker or even running one’s own business. Entrepreneurship is a complete transformation of how one thinks, works, and approaches challenges. It’s the willingness to leave behind the concept of predictability and step into the unknown with conviction. For many, this leap is daunting, and rightly so.

Entrepreneurship has long seemed like a skill that only a few enlightened individuals could learn. It has an aura of being unattainable unless an entrepreneur has a radical idea and is able to be a first-mover. My personal and firm belief is that entrepreneurship is more a mindset, not so much a skill.

Entrepreneurship demands not just skills and resources but a mental shift that redefines success, resilience, and leadership.  A journey that is full of excitement and enjoyment that comes from the ups and downs that all of us face in life. 

An entrepreneurial mindset strategy involves cultivating specific attitudes and approaches that enable entrepreneurs to thrive. Key elements include:

Maintaining a clear vision and dedication to long-term objectives.

Taking calculated risks to achieve goals.

Embracing change and pivoting quickly.

Bouncing back from setbacks.

Continuously seeking creative solutions.

When I got into the international corporate world, I was involved in setting up three startups from scratch, scaling them up to multi-million-dollar businesses. In today’s parlance, I would be termed as a Co-founder. Those days I was titled GM. Yet, all my life I have handled businesses as though they belonged to me. If I invest years of my life successfully running someone else’s business, I too am an investor. Of a more valuable asset – my time.

As someone who has walked this path, I can tell you that the journey of entrepreneurship is about managing expectations—not just one’s own but also those of one’s family, team, and stakeholders—while staying true to one’s passion and vision.  

The lessons I learnt from my journey of building three companies from the ground up are born from lived experiences. Even while working as an employee, transitioning to an entrepreneurial mindset is a 180-degree shift in thinking. If one thinks as an employee, the focus is narrower, defined by tasks and boundaries set by others. But as an entrepreneur, the perspective expands, encompassing not only clients but also the team, stakeholders, family, and the entire ecosystem. Now it includes our planet as well.

For me, an entrepreneurial thought process demands a return to hands-on work at the most fundamental levels. Failures are not just inevitable; they are essential, as long as they are not intentional and repetitive. Failures carry lessons that shape resilience and sharpen focus.

Family support is a vital pillar on this journey, providing strength and encouragement when it’s needed most. Cultivating mental resilience and prioritizing peace of mind is essential to navigating challenges with confidence. After all, true success is achieved when both aspirations and mental well-being thrive together.

Complacency has no place in entrepreneurship. Yet, the same thumb rule applies to life and health. Strategic prioritization becomes one’s compass. 

Surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals who align with the vision and are the right fit for the current stage of the journey always helps. Doesn’t that hold true for one’s circle of family and friends as well? 

As an entrepreneur, we navigate a web of relationships that goes beyond shareholders to include employees, customers, partners, and the wider community. 

Entrepreneurship is not about standing at the top of a pyramid. In today’s world, where most of us end up dealing with several generations, it is about engaging at all levels. Whether we present a vision to stakeholders or discuss operations with team members, we need to adapt our communication style to the audience.

Scaling of any business is never a straight path. There are varying levels of difficulty encountered. The ability to evaluate progress critically is the key. But that’s also the same for our personal life path and growth of wealth.

Whether it is a country, a company or a family - it is built on values. A strong value system must be instilled from inception – it can evolve over time but should never dilute. According to me, it is culture, more than strategy, that differentiates those that “endure” from those that “falter”.

Entrepreneurial success and greatness is similar to the full version of the marathon, and the only way to sustain the pace and energy for the long-term is by keeping in mind the goal of solving that problem we are passionate about. 

None of us can survive alone in this hypercomplex and fast-moving world we are living in. Therefore, it is critical to meet people and talk to everybody. Since time is a limited resource, quality and not quantity networking needs to be the focus.

Every genuine individual that I have met across the world has had at least some failures and is happy to talk about them.  I have also met significantly more who are afraid of talking about those failures, as if their life experience and their journeys are diminished by the fact that they failed. True entrepreneurship teaches us that we need to keep trying if the current way has not succeeded.

The shift to an entrepreneurial mindset starts with a bias toward action. Bias toward action helps drive step-by-step thinking rather than designing an elaborate system that can get us bogged down at the planning stage. For someone with an entrepreneurship mindset, fearlessness is like any other muscle. They know that the more they exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let their fears run them.

My journey has been shaped by the lessons shared here, and I hope they inspire those who are stepping into this world of boundless possibilities. I can see many of them much younger and smarter than I was at their age. I can see many much younger and smarter than I am at this stage. The entrepreneurial mindset is not just about building a business. It is about building a personal legacy that lasts, leading onwards to the final success of any venture. That venture may also turn out to be how one has led one’s life.

Aren’t we all entrepreneurs of our own lives?