• HOME
  • LAUNCH
  • BUSINESS
  • LEADERSHIP
  • MONEY
  • SUCCESS
  • NEWS
Monday, 1 March 2021
ExpertHub
  • HOME
  • LAUNCH
  • BUSINESS
  • LEADERSHIP
  • MONEY
  • SUCCESS
  • NEWS
    • All
    • Company Posts
    • ExpertHub Today
    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    The 7 Strategies of SA’s Strongest B2B Sales Performers for 2021

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    3 Sales Strategies SMEs Can Borrow from SA’s Strongest Performers

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    SA’s Strongest Salesforces Focus on Value, Not Discounting

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

    Why SMME’s Need To Think Small

    Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

    Five Money Management Principles To Start 2021 On The Right Financial Footing

    Trending Tags

    No Result
    View All Result
    • HOME
    • LAUNCH
    • BUSINESS
    • LEADERSHIP
    • MONEY
    • SUCCESS
    • NEWS
      • All
      • Company Posts
      • ExpertHub Today
      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      The 7 Strategies of SA’s Strongest B2B Sales Performers for 2021

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      3 Sales Strategies SMEs Can Borrow from SA’s Strongest Performers

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      SA’s Strongest Salesforces Focus on Value, Not Discounting

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

      Why SMME’s Need To Think Small

      Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

      Five Money Management Principles To Start 2021 On The Right Financial Footing

      Trending Tags

      No Result
      View All Result
      ExpertHub
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home LAUNCH Starting a Business Start-up Advice

      Will/Won’t vs Can/Can’t

      Allon Raiz by Allon Raiz
      Nov 13, 2013
      in Start-up Advice
      0
      Positive-Attitudes-in-Business_Start-Up-Advice_Starting-a-Business
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

      RelatedTopics

      How to Start a Small Business in the UK in 2021

      How To Attract Your First Clients With a Business Product People Will Pay For

      The Advantages of (And How To Choose) a Business Partner


      Having worked in the entrepreneurial development environment for more than a decade, I’ve noticed a stark difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs in terms of their attitudes towards problems that present themselves.

      In my view, unsuccessful entrepreneurs work from a paradigm of ‘things that can or can’t be done’ and ‘problems that can or can’t be fixed’. In other words, they have a binary view of whether or not any given problem can be resolved.

      Coming from this paradigm, when a problem appears, it’s given a cursory examination, and the resulting attitude is either ‘it can be solved’ or ‘it can’t be solved’.

      The problem (or ‘can’t’ attitude)

      Let’s take a hypothetical example. Bob’s factory produces 100 widgets per day. An old customer calls with an urgent request: She has to have 1 000 widgets by the next day for a major project.

      Working from a ‘can/can’t’ paradigm, Bob quickly sees that he will only be able to produce 200 widgets by then, and so he can’t fulfil the order. He regretfully tells his customer that he can’t do it, and she will have to look for another supplier.

      In doing so, he not only loses the order, but also any reputation for reliability that he may have had.

      The solution (or ‘will’ attitude)

      Successful entrepreneurs also have a binary approach to problems, but this approach operates in a different direction. Their view is that any given problem ‘will be fixed’ or ‘won’t be fixed’. By viewing a problem in this light, successful entrepreneurs begin with the question ‘how will it be fixed?’ This question is at the heart of entrepreneurial thinking.

      Let’s go back to our example. Bob, being a true entrepreneur, immediately tells his customer, “You’ll have 1 000 widgets by tomorrow,” and then sets out to figure out how he’s going to fill the order. He has 200 widgets in stock, produced for another customer who is only expecting delivery next week.

      He calls in temporary staff to increase production and offers overtime pay to ensure that he can continue production through the night, meaning he can produce 500 widgets by the end of the next day.

      He even manages to source another 300 widgets anonymously from his competitors, which means he’ll be able to fulfil his customer’s order. The customer is delighted, and happy to pay the premium that Bob adds to his usual price due to the urgency of the order.

      Creative solutions

      The problem with the ‘can/can’t’ paradigm is that it short-circuits the kind of creative thinking that lies behind successful entrepreneurship.

      At Raizcorp, we work with a definition of entrepreneurship that describes five elements that are required for entrepreneurship to precipitate. One of these elements is that ‘entrepreneurs must have belief in their ability to muster resources.’

      The words in the title of this element are carefully chosen. It’s not an entrepreneur’s ‘ability to muster resources’. It’s their belief in their ability to do so that’s important. This belief is reflected in the ‘will/won’t’ paradigm of approaching problems.

      The distinction can be summed up as follows: Unsuccessful entrepreneurs will only take a risk if they have the resources required to capitalise on an opportunity. On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs will take that risk if they believe they can muster the resources required.

      This means that at the time the opportunity presents itself, the resources do not necessarily need to be in place; just the entrepreneur’s firmly held belief that they can be sourced.

      An entrepreneur’s self-belief is central to his or her success. However, operating from a paradigm of ‘can/can’t’ artificially limits entrepreneurial thinking, and does not allow entrepreneurs to explore the boundless opportunities that a healthy belief in their own abilities as entrepreneurs can bring them.

      ShareTweetShare
      Allon Raiz

      Allon Raiz

      Allon Raiz is the CEO of Raizcorp, the only privately-owned small business ‘prosperator’ in South Africa and the only South African Enterprise Development faculty accredited as a Centre of Excellence by the UK-Government approved Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI). In 2008, Raiz was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 he was appointed for the first time as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Following a series of entrepreneurship master classes delivered at Oxford University in April 2014, Raiz has been recognised as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Follow Allon on Twitter.

      Quick Links

      • Business Plan Advice
      • Business Plan Format Guide
      • Business Plan Format
      • Sample Business Plans

      NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

      Sign-up for Weekly ExpertHub Updates

      * indicates required





      EXPERT INSIGHTS

      https://vimeo.com/311685299?loop=0

      Browse by Category

      • Academic & Alumni Networks
      • Accounting & Payroll
      • Accounting & Payroll
      • Advertising
      • Advice
      • Angel Investors
      • Are You Suited to Entrepreneurship
      • Are You Suited to Franchising
      • Arts & Crafts
      • Attracting Investors
      • Auto & Transportation
      • Automotive, Travel & Transportation
      • Bank Finance
      • Banks
      • BEE
      • Bootstrap Financing
      • Branding
      • Budgeting
      • BUSINESS
      • Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
      • Business Ideas
      • Business Ideas Directory
      • Business Landscape
      • Business Leadership
      • Business Leadership Q&As
      • Business Model
      • Business Plan Advice
      • Business Plan Format
      • Business Plan Research & Preparation
      • Business Plan Template
      • Business Plans Q&As
      • Business Services
      • Business Survival
      • Case Studies
      • Cash Flow
      • Celebrity Businesses
      • Change Management
      • Checklists
      • Children
      • Children & Education
      • Company Posts
      • Compete to Win
      • Compliance
      • Computers & Internet
      • Construction & Engineering
      • Consulting
      • Cool Offices
      • Direct & Email Marketing
      • Doing Business in Africa
      • Doing Business in SA
      • Doing Business in SA Q&As
      • Doing Good
      • Eastern Cape
      • Education & Instruction
      • Entertainment & Events
      • Entrepreneur Competitions/Awards
      • Entrepreneur Daily
      • Entrepreneur Profiles
      • Expansion Finance
      • ExpertHub Today
      • Financial Management
      • Financial Management Q&As
      • Financial Reporting
      • Food and Farming
      • Franchise & Biz Ops Spotlight
      • Franchise Finance
      • Franchise Listings
      • Franchise News
      • Franchise Your Business
      • Franchisee Advice
      • Franchising
      • Franchisors
      • Free Mentorship Services
      • Free State
      • Funding
      • Funding Q&As
      • Funky Marketing
      • Gauteng
      • General Business Networks
      • Get Organised
      • Government Funding
      • Government Funding
      • Government Grants
      • Growing a Business
      • Growing a Business Q&As
      • Health and Beauty
      • Hip Retail Spaces
      • Hiring & Managing Staff Q&As
      • Hiring Employees
      • Home Products & Services
      • Hotels & Hospitality
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • Import Export
      • Import Export Q&As
      • Import/Export
      • Increase Profitability
      • Increasing Productivity
      • Innovation
      • Intellectual Property
      • International
      • Investing
      • KwaZulu Natal
      • Labour Complexity
      • Labour Law
      • LAUNCH
      • LEADERSHIP
      • Leading
      • Legal Assistance
      • Legal Contracts
      • Lessons Learnt
      • Limpopo
      • Long Term Courses
      • Managing Staff
      • Manufacturing
      • Manufacturing
      • Marketing
      • Marketing Q&As
      • Marketing Tactics
      • Medical & Health Care
      • MONEY
      • Mpumalanga
      • National
      • Networking
      • Non-Profit Organisations
      • Northern Cape
      • Ongoing Learning
      • Ongoing Learning
      • Online Business Plans
      • Online Businesses
      • Online Marketing
      • Online Mentorship Services
      • Online Networks
      • Partnerships
      • Performance & Growth
      • Performance Monitoring
      • Personal Finance
      • Personal Improvement
      • Personal Improvement
      • Personal Improvement Q&As
      • Personal Services
      • Personal Wealth Q&As
      • Pets & Animal Services
      • Podcasts
      • PR & Publicity
      • Presenting
      • Private Equity
      • Professional Mentorship Services
      • Professional Services
      • Property Investment
      • Publishing and Media
      • Ready to Launch
      • Real Estate
      • Real Estate
      • Recreation
      • Referrals
      • Researching a Franchise
      • Restaurants & Bars
      • Retail
      • Retail Business
      • Risk Management
      • Sales
      • Sales Confidence
      • Sales Prospecting
      • Sales Q&As
      • Sales Strategy & Management
      • Sample Business Plans
      • Sample Business Plans
      • Santam for Business
      • Sector Focus
      • Self Development
      • Services Businesses
      • Setting & Achieving Goals
      • Setting Up Systems
      • Short Term Courses
      • Small Business
      • SME Incubators
      • Snapshots
      • Special Interest Business Networks
      • Sports, Outdoors & Fitness
      • Staff
      • Start Up Tools & Infrastructure
      • Start-up Advice
      • Start-up Guide
      • Start-up Industry Specific Q&As
      • Starting a Business
      • Starting a Business Q&As
      • Starting an Export Business
      • Starting an Import Business
      • Strategy
      • SUCCESS
      • Success Stories
      • Support for Women Entrepreneurs
      • Tax
      • Techniques
      • Technology
      • Technology
      • Tools
      • Types of Businesses to Start
      • Uncategorized
      • Upstarts
      • Venture Capital
      • Western Cape
      • Women Entrepreneur Competitions
      • Women Entrepreneur Successes
      • Women Entrepreneurs
      • Women's Business Networks
      • Women's Funds
      • Work Life Balance
      • Worksheets
      • About Us
      • Write for Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms & Conditions
      • Sitemap
      • Contact Us

      Copyright © 2021 ExpertHub.info

      No Result
      View All Result
      • HOME
      • LAUNCH
      • BUSINESS
      • LEADERSHIP
      • MONEY
      • SUCCESS
      • NEWS

      Copyright © 2021 ExpertHub.info

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Fill the forms bellow to register

      All fields are required. Log In

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In