Entrepreneurs have a pretty good name today. They’re regarded as visionaries and leaders. Beyond that, they’re known for their insane ability to hustle. You may have heard the saying that entrepreneurs are the only people on the planet who will work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40. Their life is their business. Even when they’re off the clock, their company is the number one thing on their minds. It makes sense that the entrepreneur develops a drive and competence that the typical employee can’t compete with.
The entrepreneur thrives under this pressure.
Think about the mindset of the early-stage entrepreneur. When he first starts pitching his product, service, or idea, he’s pitching like his life depends on it. Of course, he’s proud of his idea and desperately wants to see his vision become a reality, but it goes beyond that. He’s worried about paying his mortgage, sending his kids to school, and not driving his wife to insanity. His entire future is dependent on his ability to work his butt off and execute. If that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.
The entrepreneur thrives under this pressure. When he faces the market, he isn’t intimidated. He isn’t worried about being told no. He has bet his livelihood on this business and failure simply isn’t an option. These conditions nurture the transition from a simple life to becoming an unstoppable force on a daily basis.
The entrepreneur’s day is consumed with keeping his business alive and growing. How well he did yesterday doesn’t matter the next morning. He has to prove the value of his idea on a daily basis to both his investors and his prospects. It’s a constant battle and it never ends.
Salesmen Are Entrepreneurs Too
As a salesman, I’m in the exact same situation. No one cares what I did yesterday. Each morning it’s a new challenge to demonstrate my ability and show how much value I bring to the company.
I started to think about how I approach sales with my company and how I would do it differently if I was the owner launching this business. I would be far more desperate, aggressive, and confident, and my hustle would go way up.
Instead of viewing selling as sales, I’d approach my day in a more human light. The entrepreneur sees sales in a very simple way. He believes he has an incredible product that he knows will work for your business. He just wants the opportunity to show you. It’s his baby. He pursues the sale with passion and confidence.
It’s odd that the incentives for the owner and the salesman are so similar, yet we see a drastic difference in ability and drive. The salesman profits according to how well he builds the business, same as the owner. You’d think anyone driven by sales would unlock this near superhuman work ethic. So why don’t they?
It comes down to the fact that the business is intrinsically a part of the owner. Even the separation between the two is somewhat cloudy. He’s sunk 100% of his passion and effort into this idea. That love for what he’s building pushes him to levels that most of us can’t dream of.
Think of yourself as an entrepreneur. Make that mental shift and start your day hungry to make a splash with your product. I’ve only recently adopted this mindset on a daily basis but the difference is huge.
It’s a great way to stay confident especially when you’re making cold calls. The biggest change is that it helps make the sale more human. You have a fresh goal and incentive every single day to spread the word. This helps avoid the feeling that you just have to make X amount of calls each day.
The cool thing is that this isn’t just a quick mental trick you can use. If you’re working in sales you are as close to an entrepreneur as it gets without actually starting your own business. Yeah, you don’t have equity and you probably aren’t taking out a second mortgage to continue working at that business. But you’re still responsible for growing your section of the company and you get compensated according to how well you do. Think of yourself as the owner of your section and harness that same passion and madness that the entrepreneur has. You’re given a unique opportunity – use it.
A version of this article first appeared at the author’s website.
Nick Tucker
Nick Tucker is a Praxis graduate working for a software startup in Atlanta, Georgia.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
