2 Lessons I Wish I Learned Sooner as a Millennial Entrepreneur

When I look back on 10 years, there are two glaring lessons that I wish I learned sooner as a Millennial entrepreneur. Namely, that becoming a successful Millennial entrepreneur comes down to two things:

1. Mindset — having the right mindset to scale the self before scaling the company
2. Formula — learning that building a business is formulaic (and then finding the formula to do it!)

Now that I’ve finally reached the top 99.99th percentile of entrepreneurs in America for owning a fastest-growing company on the Inc. 5000, those are the two lessons that I look back on most after 10 years, and the ones I think are most important for young Millennial entrepreneurs to internalize.

Lesson #1: Scale Your Mindset.

The first thing is that our mindsets are what can propel us forward or hold us back.

I always say, entrepreneurship is 10% about business, 100% about people and 1,000% about the self.

If we don’t develop an open-minded growth mindset committed to lifelong learning, we’re dead.

In fact, I wrote a free eBook about this very thing, called Grow Aggressive: The 9 Critical Cheats, Hacks and Shortcuts of the 4% (referring to the 4% of entrepreneurs who ever get their companies to $1 Million or more in revenue).

Lesson #2: Find (and believe in) The Formula.

The second thing is formula — as in, there’s a formula for scaling a business, and we must a) find it and then b) follow it.

That sounds simple, but there are plenty of maverick entrepreneurs out there that refuse to believe that a formula exists, and even then refuse to follow it, thinking they can do it better or that the rules don’t apply to them.

But, I assure you, there IS a formula — and today, it involves personal branding more than ever.

The reason for this is manifold; but, the central premise is that having a personal brand:

1. Forces you to assess your personal mission, vision and values, giving you clarity in your business
2. Makes you the de facto expert in your field, making your sales and marketing way easier

I designed a free infographic and video course around this very thing, called the Millennial Fast Growth Formula.

Master those two things — mindset and formula — and any Millennial entrepreneur can achieve the same results I did — or better!.