Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur looking for other like-minded and highly driven individuals to collaborate with or is a business owner or team leader looking for employees who are executive material, finding entrepreneurial thinkers can be difficult. Here are four ways to find suitable candidates without wasting a great deal of time and effort.

Look For People Who Love to Solve Problems


Real entrepreneurs don’t shy away from problems; they deal with it in a creative and calculated way. Entrepreneurs employ out-of-the-box thinking to arrive at unconventional solutions when needed. You can find good problem-solvers everywhere you look, regardless of their educational background or work experience. This quality isn’t merely based on one’s professional career but is instead a mindset adopted over time.

Look For People Who Thrive Independently and in a Team


Although many entrepreneurs will lean towards one or the other, great entrepreneurial thinkers understand the need sometimes to work independently and other times as part of a group. They can play the pivotal roles of both a lone visionary and an effective collaborator.

Look for Resourceful People


There are at least a dozen rags-to-riches stories of ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs who were born poor and had nothing growing up, only to rise up the ranks in their respective industries. The average individual will see a problem and find the constraints to doing it. However, an entrepreneur will see a problem and come up with a solution based on the available resources.

Create a Work Environment That Breeds Entrepreneurial Thinkers


Sometimes, you don’t find entrepreneurial thinkers; you create them. As a business owner or team leader, you have the power to create a work environment that breeds entrepreneurial thinkers through constant and consistent education. Provide yearly refresher courses and free training programs designed to advance your employees’ individual career trajectories.

As a motivational speaker, Jim Rohn famously coined, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Surrounding yourself with entrepreneurial thinkers elevates not only your business or side projects, but it also makes you a better entrepreneur yourself as you feed off of each other’s energy and drive. You can collaborate with people who see the same long-term vision and have the guts and work ethic to make it a reality.