In our latest blog, you will be reading about:
- The importance of thought in entrepreneurship
- The relationship between thinking and doing in business
- How thinking allows entrepreneurs to position their business effectively, and formulate well-considered plans
- The personal benefits of taking time to think in business management
“The good news for small businesses is that the big ones rarely bother to use their advantage to its maximum. Why? Because they’ve forgotten how to think like entrepreneurs.” Richard Branson.
Remember the feeling of the first brainwave you had about your new business idea? The number of thoughts running through your mind, how you could do A to make B happen, and how that would solve C.
I’m sure if you went back to read your first marketing plan, you’d be amazed at just how many business management ideas you came up with.
See, what Richard Branson is alluding to here is – thinking is an entrepreneur’s trait. And, once businesses establish themselves, and get lost in the day-to-day operations of doing, they lose sight of what got them to their position in the first place.
It’s often noted that small businesses have the means to outperform the might of big businesses. There are of course a multitude of factors that contribute to this, but one of the major factors?
They trade thinking for doing.
Here are some of the main reasons why, as an entrepreneur, thinking holds the key to scaling your business:
- Thinking makes doing more focused
- Thinking allows you to scan the market, and gain perspective
- Activities like journaling cleanse your mind in a position of responsibility and leadership
- Doing allows you to ‘be’ – thinking allows you to ‘become’
Thinking Makes Doing More Focused
The term ‘focus’, in business, mostly refers to the ‘aim’ of the business.
The aim is the intention to achieve – it’s the North Star you are aiming for, essentially. And, if you are fortunate/astute, you may hit your short-term aims pretty quickly if you bring something to market that solves a clear problem.
If done correctly, amazing! You’ve got off to an incredible start on your entrepreneurial journey. However, keep your head buried in the ‘doing’, and they may start to wobble on the tracks.
It’s no secret that premature scaling is a thing in business. In fact, Forbes believes it contributes to 70% of startup failures.
Now, that’s not to say that this 70% simply wasn’t ‘thinking’ – but they were probably very busy doing, and didn’t take the time to manage their success.
The temptation to keep the juggernaut moving if you’re experiencing high growth early in your entrepreneurial journey is of course a key decision you need to make in business management.
However, being able to take a step back to think – firstly, is scaling the right thing for my business right now? And secondly, if the answer is yes, how should it be achieved?
Well, that may just be the difference between being part of the 70%, and the other 30%.
This all ties into the need for business development and marketing plan that has thought
Scanning the market and gaining perspective
Without making you feel too big-headed, your time as an entrepreneur is so unbelievably important.
It is critical that you are using it effectively to ensure you are keeping track of your position in the market, and whether it is changing.
Which it almost definitely is. Constantly.
19% of startups will fail because they are outpaced by their competitors.
Outpacing doesn’t always mean getting to the target audience quicker either – sometimes, it just means having a better understanding of the market in general and knowing your position within it. This helps guide business management decisions, and as an entrepreneur, it should be your aim to adapt your marketing plan to reflect this.
The Power of Journaling
Moving away from the business side of ‘thinking’, there is also a highly valuable personal element to practices such as journaling, which have the power of thought at its front and center.
In a recent mental health survey, 80% of people who adopted journaling practices felt reduced levels of anxiety, which helped them see the world more clearly and take more decisive, positive action.
While being an action-oriented can of course has its benefits, getting lost in the actions can stop you from reflecting
Journaling unlocks the power of your thoughts, which are what unlock your potential.
Doing allows you to ‘be’, but thinking allows you to ‘become’
Not a Dalai Lama-inspired quite – simply, a mantra to take forward into your business.
Doing is effective for ticking off tasks as you go along. It’s often associated with the short term, handling the demands of today so to speak. It’s present-minded, which of course has many benefits.
Nonetheless, as an entrepreneur in a position of business management leadership, it is your responsibility to have a vision for the future, as well as to ensure the ‘doing’ gets done.
Thinking allows you to paint a picture of what you want to look like in the future. Doing provides your team around you with
Thinking is what creates vision, and forward momentum. Without thinking, you do not have the ability to ‘do’ effectively.
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