What Can We Learn From Top Entrepreneurs

While it’s important for entrepreneurs to maintain their perspective about goals, heights they can attain and the icons we know started out as regular joes, the opportunity to learn lessons from top entrepreneurs is not something we can pass up. Rather than compiling a direct list, here are the general lessons that you can learn from the successes and failures of the world’s top entrepreneurs, compiled by HJR Global.

Self-Education Is Vital

Almost all of the most prominent entrepreneurial personalities that have forged dynastic traditions with their businesses say one skill helped them above all things: self-education. Self-education is a drive that almost all the top entrepreneurs in the world possess. An always-learning attitude keeps your mind fresh, fills you with new ideas and teaches you how to avoid the mistakes of others through education rather than experience. Self-education takes many forms, including reading, watching TED talks, listening to podcasts and attending seminars.

Mistakes Are A Learning Opportunity

When self-education fails, you miss certain factors or there are simply unforeseen circumstances, that can lead to a mistake or a fumble. Whether the mistake is small or large, it can be really distracting as a business owner and you might fall into a rut without learning a vital lesson. Mistakes aren’t something you should aim for, but they aren’t a symbol of failure either. Take every failure in stride, remembering that Apple, Fedex, Reddit and AirBnb all nearly failed and they overcame those battles.

Haters Are Gonna Hate

No matter how contrived that statement is, it’s absolutely true. For all your independent success, there will still always be someone that wants to break down what you have built. The hard thing to deal with as an entrepreneur is that some of these haters are going to be people that you trust. Not everyone thinks the same way and many people see no benefit in the inherent risk of starting a business, but many of the world’s top entrepreneurs had to persevere in spite of the haters and you will too.

Why Do People Trust Your Competitor

When you’re just starting out, especially when you’re writing your business plan, it’s easy to look at your competitors as enemies. In some ways they are and they are there to steal your market share, but top entrepreneurs understand that there is a reason why their customers choose competitors. Instead of looking at their accomplishments as markers of their success versus yours, try to consider why people trust them. After that, consider it from the opposite point of view. That will give you a better perspective on what makes your business valuable as well.

Obsess Over Your Customers

Entrepreneur as a title can be a pretty loaded term and far too many people make a lifestyle out of being an “entrepreneur” and they forget about their customers. How many of these “entrepreneurs” have had an expansive career or will stand the test of time? The true dynasties, the top entrepreneurs that everyone revears have always been obsessed with their customers. When your customers’ needs outweigh your lifestyle or your fixation on the competition, you can solidify yourself as one of the top entrepreneurs before you even expect it.

Master Your Emotions and Emotional Responses

One of the most important skills that entrepreneurs can develop is a mastery of their emotional state and responses. An emotionally poor response to a situation can sink a new idea, ruin creativity, plant the seeds of doubt or allow a deluge of third party opinions to seep in. A thoughtful control of the emotional triggers within oneself and the emotional response you make as a result are one some of the most valuable skills you can learn.

Not everyone has this mastery, especially as a creative entrepreneurial greenhorn. Many of the most prominent entrepreneurs had to develop these skills over the years with lots of trial and error. Luckily, you don’t have to test yourself for quite as long. Learn how to build these skills now with one of Arizona’s top entrepreneurs, Harrison Rogers. Learn the leadership secrets that will make you an emotional powerhouse now.