St. Ferdinand College, Inc.

Cabagan Campus www.sfc.edu.ph

Centro, Cabagan, Isabela 3329 email address: sfc@sfc.edu.ph

ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
CHAPTER 2
Entrepreneurial Mindset and Opportunity
Learning Objectives:

The learners shall be able to:

 Compare fixed and growth mindsets;

 Generalize characteristics and essengtials of entrepreneurial mindset
 Assess entrepreneurship as a habit;
 Consider opportunity recognition using mindset;
 Integrate structured stategies of forming ideas;
 Propose pathways towards the identification of opportunity
 Recommend ways on using information rightfully to create impact;and;
 Adapt the IDEATE model in opportunoty recognition.

Mindsets its Characteristics and Essentials

 Mindset- It is a belief that the qualities like inteligence and talent are fixed or changeable traits.
 The word mindset was coined by Carol Dweck in her book “Mindset”.
 People with a fixed mindset perceive that their talents and abilities are set.
 People with a growth mindset trusts that traits can be changed, developed and strengthen by working on
them.

Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

I’m either good at it, or I’m not I can learn anything I want to
When I’m frustated, I give up When I’m frustate, I persevere
I don’t like to be challenged I want to challenge myself
When I fail, I’m no good When I fail, I learn
Tell me I’m smart Tell me I try hard
If you succeed, I feel threatened If you succeed, I’m inspired
My abilities determine everything My effort and attitude determine everything

Characteristics of an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurship is a challenging and rewarding path. Based on research there is no distinct set of traits
signifying success.

1. Curiosity – This trait strengthens the ability to understand things with a new standpoint. Being humble
and open-minded lead to greater knowledge, and greater knowledge allows more detailed reflection.
2. Commitment – This is to continue keep going persist amidst problems. The focus should be on
achievements, because it would motivate the entrepreneur to persevere as he/she moves forward and
continues to harvest good outcomes.
3. Optimism – Tough attitude towards challenges makes up succesful entrepreneurs. Every time a situstion
happens, the entrepreneur should be hopeful in exploring its many learning opportunities.
4. Flexibility – Entrepreneurship is a challenging field with its unpredicted demands and continous
problems.
5. Ownership – Successful entrepreneurs always trust that their success comes from their own ability.
6. Leadership- A successful entrepreneur always guides, motivates and empowers his team. It is usual for
him to share his vision with his team to inspire these people.
7. Connection – In entrepreneurship creating a network is very important. Entrepreneurs must choose those
people that would form his collective links so that he could breed his idea.
8. Self-respect – In business, it is also vital to take care of both the body, mind, and spirit. Taking care of
oneself daily through rest, excercise and diet is essential.
 Essentials of the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurial mindset appear to be like commonsense, yet they are not common practice. There are
essential things in order to really employ and initiate successful mindsets.

1. Passion first – Real entrepreneurs loook for what really are important to them, what they truly
wanted to, and then bring together their business around those things.
2. Everything is possible – This mindset is about believing that entrepreneurs are capable of
accomplishing unexpected results.
3. 100% accountable – Entrepreneurs always believe that they have the power to choose their
responses to any circumstance because they have this 100% Accontable mindset.
4. We are connected – Entrepreneurs believe they can achieve their dreams not by being alone
though they love to be independent. They wanted to lead by helping other people to do their
tasks and fulfill their dreams wihout seeking anything in return.
5. Live life to give – Most people now especially people wanted to offer their time and resources
for a valuable cause.
6. Attitude of gratefulness – Most people also focus much of their thoughts on what they do not
posses. Seldom do people give their attention to their accomplishments and their present
experiences except for entrepreneurs.
7. The time is now – This minset for entrepreneurs refers to recognizing that all their powers exist
in the moment.Entrepreneurs believe that they cannot change history and the future is uncertain.

Entrepreneurship as a Habit
A habit is an unconscious behavior done often and regularly. Good habits can be acquired using “
habit loop”. This habit loop is a process wherein the brain makes decision whether to store or repeat such
behavior.

Self-leadership needs the implementation of three important strategies, namely:

1. Behavior –focused – This strategy concern enhancing self-awareness to manage behaviors especially
when dealing with essential but not-so-good tasks. Here are the ways to accomplish this strategy;

a. Self-Observation – This increases the conciousness of how, when and why entrepreneurs behave the
way they do in some situations.
b. Self-goal Setting – This concerns the process of planning goals of entrepreneurs.
c. Self-Reward – This is about paying oneself after accomplishing the set goals with either tangible or
intangible rewards.
d. Self-Punishment – This is allowing entrepreneurs to evaluate their behaviors in order to reform them.
Entrepreneurs though make mistakes must make effort not to repeat these things again.
e. Self-Cuing – This is making lists and notes or writting motivational posters as reminders of the
planned goals.
2. Natural Reward – This is about making every tasks enjoyable by emphasizing the positive aspects of
ecah task and its importance.
3. Constructive-Thought – This means creating positive and productive means of thinking that are
advantageous to the performance of entrepreneurs. Identifying negative beliefs and assumptions and
reforming these are still part of constructive thought.

The Creativity Habit

Creativity is the capacity of turning fresh ideas, insights, inventions, products or artistic objects that are
considered to be unique, useful and of value to others into reality. Creative people are open to experiments and
do not fear to commit mistakes.

However, there are certain problems in the practice of creativity which are:

1. Fear
2. No craving for disorder
3. Fondness for judging over making ideas
4. Distaste for nurturing ideas
5. Perceived shortage of challenge
6. Failure to differentiate reality from fantasy
The Improvisation Habit

Improvisation is the unstructured way of creating in the absence of planning. It is the rational ability to
promptly sense, and change direction quickly. It requires improvisation to function in the uncertain world of
business.Entrepreneurs, though start with good ideas often times posses limited resources,unpredicted market
situations or conflicts inside the company that hinder them to realize their initial plans.
Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is the belief that entrepreneurs has the capability to start new businesses. Self-
efficacy is a vital element of the entrepreneurial mindset. It is aloso a sign of business intention in moving
towards an action, leading to realizable opportunities.

Opportunity Recognition Using Mindset

Opportunity is a means to generate profits by creating unique, innovative and desirable products or services
which are not being found in the market yet. Social value addresses a social need or provides benefits to the
society. Environmental Value is the opportunity to preserve the natural surroundings. Opportunity recognition is
process by which individuals and businesses makes use their entrepreneurial mindset in order to establish new
business or ideas.

How to Start with Ideas

Here are some structured strategies of forming ideas:

1. Analytical – This is about breaking a problem into details or looking at a problem in a common way to
produce ideas on improving or innovating products or services
2. Search – This involves linking personal experiences that are significant to the existing problem.
3. Imagination-Based- This is interrupting doubts and dropping restrictions to produce fantasies or make
believe situations.
4. Habit-breaking – Sometimes, the human mind needs to depart from usual patterns to stimulate creative
insights.
5. Relationship-Seeking- This is establishing a link between concepts that are not usually connected. The
intention here is to fuel the mind into making connectivity that seems to be unnoticed.
6. Develoment – This employs the modification of existing concepts to make improved choices and new
potentials.
7. Interpersonal- This needs interaction with a group to generate ideas. Brainstorming is also commonly
used to highlight creativity towards new opportunities.

Four Pathways to Opportunity Identification

Fit – Skills and knowledge of the entrepreneur match the current opportunities.
Valuable – Considers the need of the market
Expensive to copy – It is an entry barrier for most entrepreneurs who wanted to start a business..

Here are the pathways towards the identification of opportunity:

a. Find Pathway – This pathway assumes that opportunities exist independent of entrepreneurs and are
waiting to be fpound.
b. Search Pathway – This is used when entrepreneurs are not quite definite what type of business they want
to jump in.
c. Effectuate Pathway – This is a pathway that uses the entrepreneur’s skills, knowledge and abilities to
unearth an opportunity that suits.
d. Design Pathway – This is the most difficult yet the most-value creating pathway.

Alertness- It refers to the ability to easily pinpoint opportunities in the environment.

Prior Knowledge – It is the information gathered from the combined life and work experiences.
Pattern Recognition – It refers for identifying relationships between seemingly isolated things or occasions.