Q. What piece of advice would Mitchell give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs?
Mitchell: Focus on your ABZs. Where you are now, your next step, and your larger goal.
Q. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Mitchell: I’d continue to ask myself what the top priority tasks are from the start. What can I do now that will make everything else either easier or unnecessary?
When I first started out, a lot of my time was focused on the wrong things. Something I learned the hard way.
Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Mitchell: Problem-solving, resilience, persistence.
Q. What entrepreneurial tricks have you discovered to keep you focused and productive in your day-to-day busy schedule?
Mitchell: Schedule your big rocks for the week. The top priority, needs to be done type stuff. Then schedule your smaller tasks.
Working on a schedule might seem limiting, but it’s extremely liberating not having to constantly strain yourself for what’s next on the agenda.
Q. What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs to invest their time in?
Mitchell: Figuring out what the bottleneck of your business is and fixing that. Do that over and over and you’ll always be working on the important tasks.