True entrepreneurs | The five secrets behind their success

From time to time you'll encounter them. Whether it's in a nearby coffeebar, a hotel you're visiting, or that interesting keynote speech you attended last week. Who is them? You're asking. The real entrepreneurs.

Those men and women who, when everyone else is having a hard time, keep whistling in the rain. They reach for the stars and sometimes fall deep. But they get stronger, better and book one success after another. When you speak with these entrepreneurs on a regular basis, it becomes clear what secrets hide behind their success.

They are constantly focussed on self-reflection, on innovating, continuing to learn and handing over the jobs that they're not good at to others. If you also want to be part of the category "real entrepreneurs"? Then read on to discover the 5 secrets behind their success.

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Secret #1. Look into the mirror more often.

There are entrepreneurs who blame everything else but themselves. The financial crisis is blamed. Or the customers are too annoying or too criticising. Or maybe it's the competition that's killing. But the real entrepreneurs I've met, don't really let themselves get bothered by these issues. That's their secret to success. They seek the fault in themselves.
They often reflect on who they are. They know where their strengths lie and their weaknesses. Through self-reflection, they can easily learn from their mistakes and find new ways to make better use of their own personal stengths.

Be open to constructive criticism, be curious and learn from your own experiences, and the experience of others. These things are of great significance while reflecting on yourself. The lessons you take from past experiences are the foundation to improve or to change. Whoever realizes this and acts on it, will book personal growth and development and is a real entrepreneur. So, in true entrepreneurial spirit, look into the mirror more often. You are the face of the company after all!

Secret #2. Know what you want

Due to insufficient self-reflection, many entrepreneurs lose sight of their own stengths. Everything goes on auto-pilot, just to make money without thinking whether the work their doing is still really where there heart lies. Most of the time, they don't have a clear goal in mind. They start doing too many things at once and by doing so can't seem to get their shit together.
This takes up a lot of energy, but it often leads to less than satisfying results.
You can compare it with riding a rocking horse: you're constantly moving, but in fact you're stuck, not going forward nor backwards.
True entrepreneurs develop a certain focus. They set their dreamgoal and develop a strategy to make it happen.

By focusing on their dreamgoal, they know what path to take to achieve success. An entrepreneur i once met said to me, "I always compare myself with top athletes.
I have a dream which i visualize every single day. Achieving that dream means making choices, especially hard choices. Turning certain things down and daring to say no. The dream is what keeps me focussed, it reminds me of where i want to be, what i want to achieve and makes me work more efficiently".

To conclude, the secret is : "Know what you want and focus on achieving it. Visualize."

Secret #3. Innovate.

Due to lack of focus, many entrepreneurs do not know how to look forward. They have a tendency to not disregard changes in the market, and by doing so ignore the opportunities that are ahead.
A good example is a large retailer here in the Netherlands, called V&D. Which was in business since 1912 but went bankrupt in 2015.
While everyone else in retail started shifting their focus to online shopping, V&D kept going the way they always did. They expanded their stock but we're blind to the consumers shift from in-store purchasing to online shopping, they did eventually start selling online in 2008 but soon discovered they were too late. Other large retailers had allready taken their piece of the pie.
True entrepreneurs always picture the future, ahead of time. They are already talking about something new that you probably have not thought about yet.
They continue to spend time on researching new technologies, developments and trends, even though the company is doing well. Through innovation you make progress and keep your company competitive. The essence of good enterprise and it's secret to success.

Secret #4. Keep learning

Another secret is that true entrepreneurs knowingly or unconsciously find ways to turn their experiences into a successful business. They not only learn from mistakes made, but have an attitude of continuos learning. They find inspiration in others and make use of advice and feedback to improve their business. By gaining new experiences, you will learn how to improve - sometimes by failing and starting over - and getting to know your limits and opportunities better. Therefore, true entrepreneurs are also more innovative and successful.

Secret #5. Hire someone to do the "dirty" work.

I sometimes encounter entrepreneurs who still think they need to know everything and need to do everything themselves.
For example: One of them once said to me: "Every night I do the bookkeeping, because I don't have time for it during the day. I'm always too busy."

Perhaps you'll recognize yourself in this, but it's just plain stupid.
You are in fact robbing yourself of time and energy and it does not make the company any more successful.

There are better ways to spend your time. Surely, hiring a bookkeeper will cost you some money but the time you save by doing so, you can now spend to really focus on improving your business, reflecting and doing research on new innovations. In the long run, that will pay out double. I guarantee.
True entrepreneurs hire people to do the work which takes too long if they were to do it themselves, or if it's something they're not good at doing.

In conclusion:

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur.
Always remember your strengths and weaknessess. Focus. Reflect on past experiences and take lessons from it. Learn. Are you doing stuff you don't like or it's taking up too much of your time? Hire someone to do it. The time you'll gain from doing all of the above is now freed up so you can work on improving your business further and work to achieve your dreamgoals. These are the secrets to becoming a true entrepreneur.

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