We all have a choice: we can either accept the status quo or think like entrepreneurs. Whether we are working or running our own businesses, this is what can set us apart from the rest. In an entrepreneur’s world, there is no room for mediocrity or petty politics. There is no acceptance of underperformance or tolerance of egoists. There is no room for losers. Entrepreneurs work to change the rules of the game, and play to win.
Entrepreneurial thinking is not only about the short-term or the long-term. It is about both. Therein lies the challenge. Anyone can do one or the other. To do both is what entrepreneurship is about. We not only need to build the strong foundation for the future, but also make sure that the salaries and bills for this month are taken care of it.
In India, it is especially easy to be just a little above the rest. We see too much of mediocrity all around us. Just being a bit better than the others is easy. What is harder is setting one’s own standards of excellence. We are all Good at heart. To win, one needs much more than just goodness. When one is good, one is not great. In the words of Jim Collins, “Good is the enemy of Great.”
Thinking like an entrepreneur is what our companies of today and the India of tomorrow needs. This is an opportunity for us all. To rise above the ordinary. To make a difference. To live a life. To bring out the entrepreneur within. The choice is for each us to make.
This wonderful quote from Dan Bricklin sums up that entrepreneurial feeling:
Being a successful entrepreneur is tricky. You have to live with having control and not having control at the same time. It’s like this: In big business, when you need to cross a river, you simply design a bridge, build it, and march right across.
But in a small venture, you must climb the rocks. You don’t know where each step will take you, but you do know the general direction you are moving in. If you make a mistake, you get wet. If your calculations are wrong, you have to inch your way back to safety and find a different route.
And, as you jump from rock to slippery rock, you have to like the feeling.
