Starting a business is a true leap of faith. And while you may feel nervous and anxious now, in the end, being an entrepreneur is exciting and extremely rewarding. There’s nothing better than being your own boss and taking total control of your career path. It’s a feeling like no other!

For first-time entrepreneurs, being successful means learning from those who have already achieved similar goals. As a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, here are six tips from Justin Caldbeck that you’ll want to keep in mind when navigating the landscape of owning a business and bringing it to fruition.

1. Embrace Being Different

As you’ve likely heard before, we’re all unique. Recognize and highlight what makes you and your company different from the rest. Standing out from the crowd is how countless companies grow into large empires. Don’t be afraid to be different!

It may be tempting to copy or imitate what other successful business owners are doing, especially with little to no experience in entrepreneurship. But this does nothing for your brand!

What consumers value the most is a company that is unique! Get your business up and running with original thought and inspiration. You may be surprised at how far it takes you.

2. Be a Voracious Learner

Justin Caldbeck recommends setting a personal goal to learn something new every single day. With this type of mindset, you’ll be open to accepting new thoughts and ideas from those around you. Being open and receptive to new information will prevent you from becoming complacent and stuck in your same ways and thought patterns.

Being receptive means you’re less likely to overlook things, especially small details that actually have more importance than you originally thought. Seek our new information and find ways to apply it to growing your business and life in general.

3. Be Respectful & Empathetic

No one wants to do business with someone who is irritable or an outright jerk. As a new entrepreneur, you’ll be interacting with countless people, including employees, business partners, and investors.

It’s important to treat these people with respect and empathy. Doing so not only sets a good impression, but it allows you to become a better leader and partner. Being able to understand other perspectives outside of your own will take you far.

Justin Caldbeck says by being respectful and empathetic, you set yourself up as a much more desirable business partner or a company that’s worthy for investors.

4. Stay Motivated

The biggest threat to the success of your business is you! We all have our moments where we lack motivation and procrastinate more than we should. While business owners are humans like everyone else, the fact is that losing motivation or procrastinating too much can be detrimental to your success as an entrepreneur.

There’s nothing good about procrastinating! If you find yourself not staying focused or slacking on tasks that need to get done, you’re heading down a very dark road.

According to Justin Caldbeck procrastination is the enemy of progress. It’s important to stay focused and motivated. The second you feel procrastination coming on, squash it immediately!

5. Always Strive for More

It’s okay to be happy with what you have, but don’t let happiness turn into contentment and complacency. Appreciate how far you’ve gotten, but always strive to do more and to do better.

Your success is limitless, and there’s nothing that you can’t achieve as an entrepreneur. The only ceiling that exists is that one that you place yourself!

Don’t let satisfaction keep you from pushing for bigger and better things.

6. Don’t Dwell on Mistakes

You’re human, which means you’re going to make mistakes, especially as an entrepreneur. Even veteran business owners have occasional slip ups. The difference is how an amateur vs. a seasoned business owner handles the fallout of making a mistake.

An inexperienced business owner may try to pass the blame to someone else in order to save face (and ego). Doing so sets a horrible example for yourself as a person and as a leader. On the other hand, a veteran owner will own his mistakes, learn from them, and keep things moving.

As an entrepreneur, expect to make mistakes. And when you mess up, own it, learn from it, and continue on with your head high.

Running a business isn’t easy, and there are times that you’ll second-guess or doubt your decisions. What’s most important is that you follow these six tips, and others that you pick up on the way, to make your journey to success a little smoother.