The recent challenges confronting small and medium enterprises' performance have become a serious debate in emerging economies like Nigeria. The objective of the study is to examine the effect of entrepreneurial mindset on the performance of SMEs in Delta State, Nigeria. To achieve this objective, this study postulated three research hypotheses on the effect of opportunity recognition, risk-taking, and innovativeness on SME performance. The study adopted a quantitative research design, using a descriptive approach and cross cross-sectional survey design. The study adopted a primary source through a structured questionnaire. The population of the study is 39,664. While the sample size is 570 (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970; Salkind's 1990). The study adopted a stratified sampling technique. The method of data analysis is descriptive and correlation analysis. Out of 570 questionnaires administered, the study was able to retrieve 421 from owners/managers of SMEs in Delta State, Nigeria. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings found that the entrepreneurial mindset has a significant effect on SME performance in Delta State, Nigeria. Hence, the study empirically found that opportunity recognition, risk-taking, innovativeness, and entrepreneurial intention have a significant effect on SME performance. Therefore, it is recommended that managers of SMEs should use an entrepreneurial mindset as an avenue to recognize business opportunities, take calculated risks and increase investments in innovativeness, in order to achieve optimum performance, and boost profitability and competitiveness in domestic and international market scenes.