Here is the definition, or meaning, of a business brain or business mind.
A person with a business brain or business mind sees – and captures – opportunities to provide value to others. At the same time, they have a sense of personal worth that encourages them to make large financial gains from their enterprise.
The terms business brain and business mind came about as a way of describing people who have a particular kind of intelligence. Some people are able to consistently make money and succeed in business even though they may not possess a higher IQ than others.
Qualities of a Business Mind
Many different elements go in to forming a good or great business mind. And those elements vary between individuals. Some people, for example, succeed on the back of their own talents while others have the ability to bring talented people together, perhaps by force of personality.
To get at the essential meaning of a business brain or mind, you need to consider what prevents everybody else – i.e. those without a business mind – from succeeding. That’s how you can reduce the definition of a business mind to a person with three unusual qualities.
An individual with a business mind:
- Sees opportunities to bring value to others. They have a helping instinct and often identify ways to contribute by creating a new product, or delivering services better than competitors.
- Has a pragmatic streak that allows them to get things done. They are visionary, persistent and good problem solvers, enabling them to overcome challenges.
- Is unafraid to seek reward for themselves and those around them. They capitalise on their good intentions and hard work by growing their own wealth.
Expanded List: 5 Business Brain Characteristics
What makes a good business brain? What characteristics are needed to succeed in business, commerce and entrepreneurship compared with other environments, such as science, the arts or government? How does studying business management or working in business develop your skill set?
Being immersed in business poses certain challenges and demands certain skills. You sink or swim depending on whether you really have a brain for business.
While people follow many different paths to business success, certain characteristics appear vital in any challenging business environment. Here is an expanded list of the top 5 characteristics of the business brain or business mind.
1. Sees opportunity
A business mind sees abundant opportunity around them. Building a business is about creating value. So if you don’t live in a world where opportunity abounds, you will definitely struggle to succeed in business.
Seeing opportunity is about more than making money, though this is important. A good education in business and management will cover accounting and finance. Knowledge will give you the financial tools to calculate how much things affect the bottom line.
But seeing opportunity is also important in business relationships. Getting deals done is about finding win-win opportunities. It is much easier to build successful partnerships with suppliers or customers if you naturally construct deals in which everybody benefits.
You also need to see opportunities to serve customers in a way that appeals to consumption psychology. Getting in the heads of prospective customers and clients is how you can create an offer they want to buy. You may want to study psychology, even just informally, to fully develop a business brain.
2. Risk tolerance
It is possible to succeed in business without taking major risks. But you have to be in a lucky position to start with for that to happen. Without exposing yourself to risk at some stage, you have limited prospects of building a company or taking on new ventures.
So the ability to tolerate risk is part of the business brain. You need to be prepared to risk capital and your reputation to create something new that adds value.
If you love risk, entrepreneurship is likely going to be a great fit for you. Business leaders have to take calculated risks every day.
Sujan Patel
Being able to tolerate risk doesn’t mean you like risk or like to gamble. Over the long run, being rational is better than gambling speculatively. But you definitely need the gumption to put your neck on the line when required.
Part of the quality of risk tolerance is the ability to apply trial and error. Taking many small risks can be a sensible and vital strategy for learning and innovating. Constant risk aversion is, on other hand, a sure way to stifle creativity.
3. Vision
All successful entrepreneurs have the ability to see a future product or service and then follow through to realize their vision. An ability to see the future is what enables you to keep your business on track. It gives you a guiding light. Vision also provides inspiration to keep persisting during the tough times. Giving up is all too easy if you don’t have a clear long-term objective.
A vision is also a device for motivating others. If you can effectively communicate how you are going to change the world, it inspires others to follow your business leadership.
A visionary quality is useful in some other fields, but certainly not all. If you’re sandwiched somewhere within the hierarchy of a government department or large corporation, a vision can be more of a hindrance to your career than a help. It can put you at odds with bosses and co-workers and lead to behaviors that others don’t understand. You may be expected to follow the culture and norms of your environment; not think for yourself.
4. Solution finder
What deters many people from taking on a business venture are all the problems they see ahead. They see difficult issues that could sink the venture.
A person with a good business brain doesn’t think like this. A business mind sees challenges to overcome and problems to solve. You expect to find solutions, not brick walls.
Building a business inevitably throws up all kinds of challenges. There are technical issues, financing issues, management tasks and aggressive competitors. If you see each challenge as a problem with multiple potential solutions, you will do better than if you fixate on the problem itself.
Managing a business teaches you problem solving skills. You have to do whatever it takes to stay alive and grow your business. Whatever the best solution is, it is up to you to find and implement it. You cannot sit around complaining or waiting for someone else to solve the problem for you. Passive and defeatist doesn’t work; active and “just do it” does.
5. Accountable for getting things done
Operating a business forces you to be accountable for everything you do. There is the ultimate performance indicator: the bottom line. If you don’t perform, your business will fail. If you don’t produce practical, real, good outcomes, guess what? That’s right, you fail. You have to be accountable every day in order to succeed over the long term.
Being able to readily accept and shoulder responsibility is an important quality for a good business mind. If you are naturally this way, you may find business and entrepreneurship a comfortable profession. But it is also something you can develop with enough exposure to the ups and downs of managing a business.
You may have noticed how business leaders are easily frustrated by groups such as government officials, lobbyists, politicians and lawyers. There is a brain-related reason for this.
Business people operate in an environment where they are constantly accountable and must be in touch with the real world (of business). Some other professions lack true accountability.
Away from business, performance indicators might include not making mistakes, arguing persuasively, getting elected, or impressing fellow legal professionals. It’s possible to succeed on such performance indicators while being out of touch with reality. That may be why business people are usually quick to notice when someone is talking out of their hat.