12 Ways to Foster a More Entrepreneurial Culture

Ways to foster a more entrepreneurial culture

Consider these 12 strategies for fostering an entrepreneurial culture. 

1. Hire aspiring entrepreneurs.

Fostering an entrepreneurial culture starts with the hiring process. Look for individuals who demonstrate creativity, motivation and an entrepreneurial mindset. These employees will bring innovative ideas, inspire others to think outside the box, and contribute to a culture of innovation and ambition.

2. Make employees feel like partners.

Treating employees as equal stakeholders in your business will inspire workers at every level to give their best effort. By focusing on collaboration instead of hierarchy, you can foster a sense of shared responsibility and ownership. Instead of prioritizing managers over staff, treat every employee as a business partner. Employees who feel valued and respected become more invested in your company’s growth and success.

3. Empower and encourage employees.

While treating employees as partners fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, empowering and encouraging them can build confidence and drive innovation. An empowered team feels confident taking initiative, sharing ideas and solving problems, which can ultimately bolster your organization’s growth.

Fostering a culture of empowered employees opens the door to new opportunities for your business. When workers feel comfortable voicing their ideas and concerns, you gain valuable insights that can help take your business to the next level.

4. Be open to micro-failures.

Encouraging employees to take risks requires being open to potential failures along the way. Micro-failures are an inevitable part of innovation and growth. They show that you and your team are pushing boundaries, not just playing it safe.

Create an environment where employees (and you) feel safe making occasional missteps. Treat setbacks and errors as valuable opportunities to improve and learn from failure. By embracing small failures, your team members can refine ideas, gain insights and ultimately move closer to achieving their full potential.

5. Incentivize employees.

When employees feel unappreciated, their efforts and loyalty will wane. However, when they’re incentivized and motivated, they’ll match your energy by performing at their best. 

Offering incentives will increase employees’ productivity and loyalty to your business. Creative perks, raises, employee bonuses and a generous paid-time-off (PTO) policy show your employees that you care about their well-being. 

6. Lead by example.

In business, being an inspirational leader is more important than being the “boss.” If you focus on micromanaging employees or constantly pointing out their mistakes, they’ll pick up on this negative energy, leading to resentment, anxiety and even employee burnout. 

Instead, approach management from a leadership perspective. Guide your team with empathy, encouragement and a focus on collaboration. Don’t exert authority just for the sake of it.

7. Give employees a voice.

Create ways for employees to share their feedback and ideas. This environment encourages individuality and contributes to a more entrepreneurial culture of diverse views and idea sharing. Ideas for encouraging employees to speak up include instituting an open-door policy, collecting anonymous feedback, and publicly recognizing and rewarding employees who share great ideas.

8. Make it safe to share ideas.

It’s not enough to just create opportunities for employees to share their ideas; it’s equally important to ensure those ideas are met with openness and respect. Really listen to your employees when they speak up, and consider ways to implement their input.

9. Give employees ownership over their responsibilities.

Entrepreneurs thrive when they feel a sense of ownership over their projects. When you’re fostering an entrepreneurial culture, avoid micromanaging your employees to the point where they lose autonomy over their work. Instead, trust them to handle tasks and assignments independently, even if it means allowing them to take risks and occasionally fail. This approach will create an environment of accountability, creativity and growth.

10. Ask employees for their recommendations.

Demonstrate trust and appreciation for your employees by seeking their recommendations on software, strategies, sales decisions and more. Their insights can uncover valuable opportunities and solutions. An entrepreneurial culture thrives on merging and embracing diverse perspectives.

11. Create a startup culture.

Like an entrepreneurial culture, a startup culture is hyperfocused on growth and innovation. This type of culture encourages managers to share resources, foster collaboration, and host regular meetings to discuss the company’s goals and progress. By cultivating a startup culture with a growth mindset, you naturally create an entrepreneurial environment, as the two go hand in hand.

12. Make potential new hires “draw an owl.”

Consider adopting the “draw an owl” hiring philosophy to assess candidates’ confidence and self-sufficiency. The idea is simple: Provide minimal instructions, such as “Draw two circles; then draw the rest of the owl,” and observe how candidates self-direct and approach the task. This playful method shows candidates’ ability to think independently, handle ambiguity and demonstrate problem-solving skills — key traits for thriving in an entrepreneurial culture.

Traits of an entrepreneurial culture

Entrepreneurial cultures often have these traits in common.

• Innovative: Innovation is the backbone of an entrepreneurial culture, as it encourages new ideas, risk-taking and growth. Companies with this mindset continuously seek creative solutions to challenges.
• Experimental: Experimenting is essential for exploring opportunities and testing ideas. By embracing experimentation, companies can evaluate concepts without fully committing to or investing in ideas that might not work, ultimately saving time and money.
• Empowering: Empowering your employees builds their confidence and helps them adapt to an entrepreneurial mindset. Employees who feel valued and trusted are more adaptable, resourceful and motivated to contribute to the business’s success.
• Diverse: Diverse and inclusive companies typically enjoy an entrepreneurial culture where disparate ideas, perspectives and experiences contribute to decision-making.
• Passionate: Passion drives productivity and high-quality performance. In an entrepreneurial culture, passion serves as the foundation for innovation and sustained success.

The benefits of an entrepreneurial culture

An entrepreneurial culture brings numerous benefits to a business. 

Innovation and engagement

An entrepreneurial culture is a breeding ground for innovation and improved employee engagement. “Fostering an entrepreneurial culture within your company can be a great way to drive innovation and increase employee engagement,” said Adriana Luna Carlos, co-founder of She Rises Studios. “Companies that encourage an entrepreneurial spirit are more likely to attract innovative problem-solvers and thinkers who may just have the solution you need for your next big project.” 

A common mistake business owners and managers make is micromanaging their employees. In an entrepreneurial culture, employees should feel free to embrace their creativity and passions. 

“When companies are too controlling, they stifle innovation and creativity,” said Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl. “When employees feel like they can’t innovate without getting their hands slapped, they tend to go into a defensive mindset. … When employees feel like they have free reign to try new things, however, you’ll see them thrive.”

Workers in an entrepreneurial culture feel more confident in their abilities and are more open, leading to a positive snowball effect of fresh ideas. “Creating an environment where employees feel empowered to take risks and think outside the box can lead to higher levels of creativity as well as a sense of ownership that will help keep employees motivated,” Carlos said. 

Business transparency

An entrepreneurial culture creates top-down business transparency by building trust between employers and workers. 

“Entrepreneurship comes with both highs and lows, and creating [an entrepreneurial] culture … means sharing both your successes and failures in a transparent forum,” said Mike Gullaksen, CEO of NP Digital. “It’s important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of individuals within your company while also acknowledging the obstacles you encounter along the way. By openly sharing your struggles, you help your employees understand the significance of their contributions in overcoming these challenges and fostering the growth of the company.”

Healthy risk-taking

An entrepreneurial culture must involve some form of risk-taking, but teams can work together to develop healthy, calculated risks. 

“An entrepreneurial team will openly share and discuss ideas, debate approaches and strategies without taking things personally, and embrace healthy risk-taking in the spirit of moving initiatives forward,” said Ravi Raman, an executive career coach. “Two ways to do this are to encourage deep listening and creative ideation throughout the team interactions.”

“The key is to make sure employees feel supported and appreciated so they don’t feel like their ideas are being shot down or ignored,” Carlos added.

Productivity

The more autonomy you give employees over their work, the more inspired, confident and productive they will feel when tackling projects. 

“When employees feel a sense of ownership over their job, they feel more personally invested in your business,” said Erin Banta, co-founder of Pepper Home. “They’ll succeed, you’ll succeed, and a feeling of mutual respect will naturally emerge. From there, you’ll have fostered a good corporate culture that retains employees who feel valued, and you’ll be promoting growth and development from within.”

Kimberlee Leonard contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.