If you’re a business owner (actually, you don’t even need to be an owner), the path to profitability includes you. Why? Because every element of your company — whether you’re flying solo or leading a team — is influenced by your beliefs, attitudes and actions. Think negatively and you create self-imposed limitations; think positively and you create opportunities.

So, what practical steps can you take to change your thinking and drive more profitability for your business?

If you haven’t already, I suggest it’s time to develop a growth mindset.

What Is A Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed rather than fixed, innate gifts. Those with a growth mindset achieve more by pursuing continuous learning, collaborating with others and being willing to take risks. With a growth mindset, you understand that failures are necessary, hardship and setbacks are inevitable, and persistence will keep you moving forward.

 Why Mindset Matters

The people in your business probably look to you for leadership, collaboration, direction and decision-making. What you think and the resulting actions you take can ripple throughout your company and can drive how profitable your business can become.

Think of it this way: In challenging times, many businesses go on the defensive. They scale back ambitions for growth and prioritize short-term revenue over long-term profitability. This mindset rationalizes decisions as “playing it safe.” However, they’re operating on fear. Those with a positive mindset defiantly stay on the offensive, doubling down their efforts and investments into growth. Inevitably, these businesses come out of tough times in a much stronger position.

Have you ever seen the movie “Forrest Gump”? Remember when they’re on the boat and the storm comes? They choose to go into the storm with a boat built for a storm. Your business has got to be built for a storm. If you’re retracting, recessing and cutting costs, you’re essentially tying yourself to the rocks. In the movie, all those boats tied to the rocks got smashed. The only one that survived was the one that took the storm head-on. That’s what we need to do — strengthen our boats and go for it.

To acknowledge the impact of your mindset is to accept personal responsibility for any outcome your business encounters. So, it’s clear that having a growth mindset does matter. Without it, there are endless reasons your otherwise bulletproof strategy might fail.

However, with it, you will:

•  View challenges as markers for improvement and be motivated to push boundaries, uncover innovative solutions and adapt more quickly to market shifts.

•  Be more resilient to sudden and unexpected adversity, bounce back from setbacks, learn from every failure and stay motivated to keep making progress.

•  Develop a thirst for knowledge and improvement for you and your teams, always looking out for new information, developing skills and staying at the forefront of innovation.

•  Be open to embracing new technologies, innovative strategies and unique business models to help you compete against even larger businesses.

 How to Develop a Growth Mindset

The advantages of having a growth mindset are clear, and the opportunities your business could unlock are limitless. However, as with most matters related to your mind, making a change is easier said than done. You won’t develop this mindset overnight, but you can take practical steps to put you on course to a new, bolder and more resilient way of thinking.

 What to Do Next

•  Take control of your growth. Growth doesn’t just happen; you must make it happen. Whether via audiobooks, YouTube videos, podcasts, courses or outside advice, there are limitless ways you can become better, more positive and smarter.

It doesn’t only need to be learning. You could spend time reflecting on your business, work on developing your processes, or meet regularly with your team to discuss what they need to do to do their best work. Dedicate as little as 30 minutes a day to this, and you’ll make consistent progress toward making your business more profitable.

•  Aim high; it’s OK to fail. In tough times, many businesses lower their targets. They think the additional challenges can’t be met. Instead, you should aim even higher than you usually would. Once you realize it’s OK to aim high and fail, you’ll achieve great things — even if you don’t reach your targets.

Developing a growth mindset can be the catalyst to making your business more productive, profitable and resilient. Once you’ve made some progress in this area, you can start to build on your mindset with more outwardly focused actions.

Some Final Thoughts

Tough weeks, months and years are guaranteed for every business. What matters most is how you choose to think. This will ultimately drive your actions, influence those around you and lead to real-world outcomes for your business.

To keep profitability on track, start with a growth mindset. Then, watch new opportunities rise to the surface.

In our next column, scheduled for March 2024, we’ll continue on a related “mindset track” with additional insights into the four Ps: perspectives, points of view, provocations and plan of action.

“For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” — President John F. Kennedy