Exploration of the Entrepreneurial Mindset

This presentation explores the definition of an entrepreneurial mindset, the traits that people with this mindset exhibit, and examples of successful entrepreneurs. It also discusses how background and experiences either hinder or foster entrepreneurship.

Exploration of the
Entrepreneurial Mindset
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What is an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Definition of a Mindset
 Mindset, as defined by Merriam Webster, means “mental attitude or
inclination.” As further explained by Thum (2012), the mindset is the filter of
information you receive and give out. Thus, a mindset determines how you
respond to information.
 In her book entitled Mindset, Carol Dweck (2006), says that a mindset can
either be fixed oriented or growth oriented. A fixed mindset believes that your
skills and knowledge are set. Growth-oriented mindset, on the other hand,
acknowledges that your skills and expertise can be developed.
What Does it mean to Entrepreneurial?
 According to Bosman and Fernhaber (2017), the word entrepreneurial is
derived from the French word “entrependre” simply meaning and “undertaker.”
An undertaker, in this case, is someone who can undertake projects.
 French economists famous for coming up with the term “entrepreneur”
emphasises that an entrepreneur is a person able to move resources from low
to a high area of productivity (Bosman and Fernhaber 2017).
 Thus, an entrepreneurial mindset is the ability to recognise opportunities in the
marketplace and know how to capitalise on them (McGrath & MacMillan 2000).

Signs You Have an Entrepreneurial
Mindset
As described by Comm and Rampton (2017), below are traits that people with
entrepreneurial mindset exhibit:
 Action-oriented
 Resourceful
 Risk Takers
 Obsess over cashflow
 Seek meaningful relationships with influential
and successful people
 Rapid executionists
 Adapt to change quickly
 Take challenges positively
 Good communicators
 Visionary

Examples to Illustrate the Scope of
Entrepreneurship
Local Entrepreneur
 Sir Richard Branson is a London native business magnate.
 He is also famous as an investor., humanitarian, and author.
 Sir Branson is the CEO of Virgin Group which control.
over 400 companies globally (Biography.com 2018)
 Richard exhibited his entrepreneurial desires at an early age.
 At the age of 16, Branson was running a student magazine department at
his church where he had successful encounters with prominent business
people of the 1960s.
 From then forward, Branson started successful businesses until the launch
of Virgin in 1984 that saw him as a billionaire.
 He is famous for his high-spirited and unconventional personality as he is
for his extravagant wealth.
 In addition, Richard Branson is a renowned philanthropist. He sets record
for donating millions of money to various charitable organisations.

Examples to Illustrate the Scope of
Entrepreneurship Cont’d
Global Entrepreneur
 William Henry “Bill” Gates is an American business tycoon.
 Besides entrepreneurship, Gates is a humanitarian,
philanthropists, investor and author.
 Gates is the founder of Microsoft, the world’s leading
PC software company.
 Gates is ranked by Forbes s among the
worlds wealthiest individuals globally.
 Gates has partnered with many organisations such as
IBM and Seattle Computer Products (Gates 1996).
 After retiring from Microsoft, Gates engaged in a number
of philanthropic activities. He donated significant
sum of money to a variety of charitable organisations and scientific
research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
(Forbes 2018).

Examples to Illustrate the Scope of
Entrepreneurship Cont’d
Elvis & Kresse
 Located in Tonge, Sittingbourne, Kent, UK, Elvis & Kresse
was launched in 2005 to solve the problem of industrial
waste material.
 According to (Social Enterprise UK 2018), Elvis & Kresse obtains waste
materials
from companies and uses them to manufacture luxury luggage bags,
handbags and accessories.
 Interestingly, the company donates 50% of the revenue obtained from the
venture to firefighters charity.
 The company started off like a fire hose company in London. Elvis &
Kresse partnered with
 The Burberry Foundation in 2010 to help the company solve their leather
waste.

Examples to Illustrate the Scope of
Entrepreneurship Cont’d
Similarities of the Entrepreneurs and the Social Enterprise
 The three are drawn to tackle more challenging problems after accomplishing their
current situation. For example, Elvis & Kresse after solving the fire hose waste
challenge, they move to a more complex issue, leather waste.
 Both gates, Branson, and Elvis & Kresse participate in charitable activities. They
donate part of their wealth to the less fortunate or fund philanthropic organisations.
Gates and his wife Melinda run Bill & gates Melinda Branson Foundation which is
listed as the worlds leading charitable organisation. Elvis & Kresse donates 50% of
their revenue annually to The Fire Fighters Charity. Branson is the founder of the
non-profit charitable organisation Virgin Unite.
 The three are investors. They put their money where they can foresee success. For
example, Elvis & Kresse invest in The Burberry Foundation. Gates was the leading
shareholder in his Microsoft Company until 2014 invest in his own company. Branson
partnered with Scaled Composites to form The Spaceship Company.
 The entrepreneurs started small and expanded to their current wealth.

How Entrepreneurial Personality Reflect
Entrepreneurial Motivation and Mindset
According to Comm (2017), there are five
common personalities that entrepreneurs
possess that are directly linked to their
motivation and entrepreneurial mindset.
These personalities include:
Passion
Resilience
Extreme sense of self
Vision
Flexibility

Shared Entrepreneurial Traits and Characteristics
 Risk takers – they indulge in complex and costly ventures
 Opportunists- ability to spot a business opportunity and grab the
opportunity.
 Perseverance- both three fail at some point in their journey, but they do
not give up on their entrepreneurial journey (Forbes 2018). Gates
experienced a fall during the 2008 recession which affected a lot of his
investments. In 1971, Branson was jailed for tax evasion (Weissmann
2014), but he did not stop there.
 Engagement – not all people have the entrepreneurial capabilities.
Participation fosters entrepreneurship where people can partner to be
innovative together. A good example demonstrated by Elvis & Kresse
partnering with The Burberry Foundation to tackle the problem of leather
wastes (Social Enterprise UK 2018). Branson partnered with Microsoft in
2004 to launch Virgin Galactic a new space tourism company (Klotz 2013).
Gates partnered with IBM and Seattle Computer Products (Gates,
Domonkos, Myhrvold & Rinearson 2008).
 Action – Gates, Branson and Elvis and Kresse move their ideas into action.
The three have managed to clear all the internal and external barriers.

How Background and Experiences Either
Hinder Or Foster Entrepreneurship
 Family background- size of the family, economic status of the family and type of the family are all
factors that encourage entrepreneurship. Gates father was a prominent lawyer and his mother was a
member of the board of directors in Interstate BancSystem. His maternal grandfather was a national
bank president, Gates had only one sister. Even though Branson parents were not prominent people, his
grandfather was a high court judge and a Privy councillor.
 Culture- entrepreneurial thinking starts with culture. For one to be an entrepreneur, they must have a
culture that is tolerant of new ideas, thinks outside the box and accepts risks. Both Gates and Branson
established a culture of entrepreneurship. They did not just stop where they started; they encouraged
new ideas of how to expand their businesses overlooking the risks associated with venturing into new
markets. The same case applies to Elvis & Kresse moving from fire-hose materials to leather wastes.
 Engaging with prominent people for Gates and Branson during at their young age helped foster the
entrepreneurial mindset. Branson was exposed to a lot of famous people while running a student
magazine department at his church. Gates was born to prominent parents and grandparents.
 Education also encourages an entrepreneurial mindset. Both Gates and Branson are well educated and
exposed to the field of education. They are authors and they also have a liking for reading. Reading
tends to open up their minds to new ideas as they also learn about new practices in the global market.
 Availability of a ready market- market has a significant role in fostering entrepreneurship. Gates
successful career begun when he spotted in a newspaper that Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry
Systems (MITS) needed Altair, 8800. He contacted the company for the services and never looked back.
 The social need to excel encourages entrepreneurship. Both gates and Branson has a psychological
need for achievement that propelled them to work harder and seek new opportunities.

References
 Biography (2018) Richard Branson (Online). Retrieved from
https://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520 (Accesses 24
Sept. 2018).
 Bosman, L. and Fernhaber, S. (2017) Teaching the entrepreneurial mindset
to engineers. New York City : Springer International Publishing.
 Comm, J. and Rampton, J. (2017) Self-employed: 50 signs that you might be
an entrepreneur. New York : Morgan James Publishing.
 Dweck, C.S. (2006) Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York:
Ballantine Books.
 Forbes (2018) #7 Bill Gates (Online). Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/#583031db689f (Accesses 24
Sept. 2018).

References Cont’d
 Gates, B., Domonkos, D., Myhrvold, N. and Rinearson. P. (2008) The road
ahead. London: Pearson Education
 Klotz, I. (2013) Profile : Sir Richard Branson, founder, Virgin Galactic
(Online). Retrieved from https://spacenews.com/38109profile-sir-richard-
branson-founder-virgin-galactic/ (Accesses 24 Sept. 2018).
 McGrath, R.G. and MacMillan, I. (2000) The entrepreneurial mindset. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.
 Social Enterprise UK (2018) Elvis & Kresse (Online). Retrieved from
https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/elvis-kresse (Accesses 24 Sept. 2018).
 Thum, M. (2012) The right mindset: Change your mindset in 6 Steps (Online).
Retrieved from: http:// www.myrkothum.com/mindset/ (Accesses 24 Sept.
2018).
 Weissmann, J. (2014) A portrait of the billionaire as a young tax cheat
(Online). Retrieved from
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/how_failure_breeds_success/2014/05/
richard_branson_tax_fraud_how_a_youthful_indiscretion_helped_create_a_bill
ionaire.html (Accesses 24 Sept. 2018).