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Escaping the Hamster Wheel Trap®

You didn't start a business to become its hardest-working employee.

But that's exactly where a lot of successful business owners end up. The business grows. The team grows. Revenue grows. The problems grow. And instead of more freedom, you're working harder, carrying more responsibility and becoming more essential to the business that was supposed to give you choices.

That's The Hamster Wheel Trap®. This podcast is about escaping it.

I'm Peter Boolkah, business coach and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life. For more than 20 years, I've worked with business owners and leadership teams around the world, and the goal is always the same: a business that works without needing you at the centre of everything.

Each episode tackles the problems most owners eventually hit: founder dependency, leadership, people, culture, sales, profit, cash, scaling and exit readiness. Plus what it really takes to build a business someone else would want to own.

Sometimes that means challenging the way you think.
Sometimes it means admitting the thing holding the business back is you.
And sometimes it means accepting that bigger doesn't always mean better.

I also sit down with entrepreneurs, authors and leaders such as Chris Voss, Mark Divine, Verne Harnish and Brad Sugars to unpack the decisions, mistakes and lessons that shaped how they think about business and life.

You won't hear hustle talk, vanity revenue or anyone pretending entrepreneurship is easy.

Because sooner or later, every business owner has to answer one question:

Do you own the business, or does the business own you?

Find out where you stand. Take the free Hamster Wheel quiz: https://hamster-wheel-trap.scoreapp.com

Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H465YQMP

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Escaping the Hamster Wheel Trap®

Entrepreneurs Aren’t Born: How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset

December 20, 2022 • Peter Boolkah

0:00 | 4:59

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Are successful entrepreneurs born with a special mindset, or can entrepreneurship be learned?

Many aspiring business owners are intimidated by the belief that they lack some natural entrepreneurial advantage. Peter Boolkah challenges that assumption and explains why becoming a stronger entrepreneur begins with becoming a student of business.

In this solo episode, Peter explores the numerous ways you can deliberately develop your business knowledge, confidence and entrepreneurial thinking.

You’ll discover:

Why an entrepreneurial mindset can be developed
What it means to become a student of business
How books and audiobooks can accelerate your learning
Where to find useful free business content
How webinars and introductory courses can strengthen your foundations
Why business events provide more than information
How mentors and business coaches can accelerate your development
The value of networking groups, peer communities and masterminds
What biographies reveal about the people behind successful businesses
How interviewing experienced business owners can provide powerful lessons

Entrepreneurial development is not a single event. Choose a source, begin the process, apply what you learn and continue developing as your business grows.

CONNECT WITH PETER BOOLKAH

Website: https://www.boolkah.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boolkah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pboolkah/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boolkah
X: https://twitter.com/boolkah

ABOUT PETER BOOLKAH

Peter Boolkah is a business coach, author and speaker who has spent more than 20 years helping business owners build stronger, more valuable businesses that do not depend on them for everything.

He is the creator of The Hamster Wheel Trap® and author of Your Business Sucks: Build a Business That Works Without Destroying Your Life.

Peter works with founders and leadership teams on the issues that ultimately determine whether a business creates freedom or becomes another job: leadership, founder dependency, people, profit, execution, scaling, exit readiness and enterprise value.

His approach is direct, practical and built around one simple question:

Do you own the business, or does the business own you?

Learn more at https://www.boolkah.com

[Light, upbeat music]

PETER BOOLKAH:

Hi, Peter Boolkah here, and welcome to today’s edition of The Transition Guy.

Now, today I’d love to focus on how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset because that’s a question that often comes up.

Many people feel perturbed and, I suppose, intimidated by the idea of an entrepreneurial mindset because they assume they should already have it. They see all these successful people and believe they were born with it.

Now, some people may be born with genes that predispose them more towards entrepreneurism than others. However, guess what? Most of it is learned, and you can learn it too.

So, where’s the best place to start?

Well, I always say that, if you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to be a student of business. You have to start studying business.

What does that mean?

Start reading business books.

I know a lot of people leave school absolutely hating the education system and the process they’ve been through. They vow never to read again.

However, if you don’t consume business content, number one, you’re not going to learn very quickly. Number two, the only person you’re punishing is yourself.

A lot of my clients are dyslexic and, therefore, don’t necessarily like reading books. But we’re so lucky today because we have audiobooks.

If you don’t like reading, you can listen.

My preference is audiobooks, and I go through a book a week.

So, you’ve got books. You’ve got YouTube.

YouTube is one of the best resources on the planet. There’s so much free business information available.

You can even go to my YouTube channel and access more than 200 free episodes covering various business topics.

Then there are webinars.

So many people are doing webinars right now, and they’re free. Why would you not consume webinar content and improve yourself?

You’ve also got courses you can take. There are places such as Udemy where you can complete some very basic business courses. They’re great for anybody looking to start or grow a business.

Then you’ve got events.

There are so many business events out there. What was the last business event you attended?

Book yourself onto a business event. Go and learn. Listen to speakers and be among other business owners who are there to learn as well.

Talk, mingle and network. I’ll come back to that later.

Then you’ve got another option.

You can get a mentor or business coach who will be there alongside you, helping to accelerate your journey, become a stronger entrepreneur and develop the mindset you require.

You can join business networking groups. You can do something locally, such as BNI, or join your Chamber of Commerce.

If you’re a young entrepreneur, you’ve got organisations such as YPO, provided your business meets the necessary criteria. You’ve also got EO, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Join those kinds of groups where you can meet fellow entrepreneurs because that’s one of the best ways to learn.

Learn from your peer group and their experiences, and share your own experiences.

Join a mastermind. That’s another great networking opportunity.

Do what you can to spend time with other entrepreneurs.

Finally, one of my favourite strategies—alongside reading biographies and autobiographies, because they help you understand the person behind the success—is to interview successful business owners.

Why don’t you buy them lunch, listen to their story and ask them questions?

These people love to share.

Being asked to be interviewed or invited out for lunch is rare because people don’t think they can do that.

I know so many people who have done it and had really great experiences.

A friend of mine gets these people onto his podcast. How much do you think he learns from interviewing other people?

A shedload.

Hopefully, you can see that there is a pathway to developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

All you really need to do is start the process. Once you’re on the journey, continue it.

Now, if you loved today’s episode, I’d love you to share it, like it and subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes.

If you’ve got any questions or comments, either leave them in the comments section below or head over to Boolkah.com and get in touch.

Most importantly, failing to learn is learning to fail.

Please stay safe, and see you soon.