10 INCREDIBLE Entrepreneurship Tips for the Aspiring Entrepreneur

photo credit: Anne Worner

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

You’re probably musing over an idea you want to bring to reality or are simply waiting for the right “problem” to come your way so you can fix it. The thing is, taking that first leap into your first venture isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s the total opposite. Like running any business, constantly having to deal with new issues that crop up comes with the territory. Here’s a little help to get you in the right head space for when you’re ready to get started – my tips for entrepreneurs (or shall we say “someday” entrepreneurs).

10 things EVERY future entrepreneur needs to keep in mind:

1. Financial advice/planning is vital. Don’t fear spending your hard earned money, but be very afraid of misallocating it. The difference between having enough capital for your startup or not can be the result of years of frivolous spending. Be smart and create a plan. It is a heck of a lot easier for an archer to hit their target if they first have a target to aim for. Not having a financial plan is like being a blind-folded archer spinning in circles hoping that out there somewhere is a target worth hitting.

2. Find somebody who is able to provide effective help when you need it. I’m a strong believer in having strong, experienced mentors. If you can’t find yourself a mentor or coach, then try to contact current business leaders in the industry you want to achieve success in. Ask them what their challenges were when creating their businesses and develop an understanding of how they overcame their problems. While not for mentoring purposes per se, Warren Buffett would connect with industry leaders and then use their input to piece together an accurate picture of the current status of an industry he was interested in entering.

3. Know the importance of over-estimating your start-up expenses. It may be a good idea to double your expense figures (I often triple mine) in order to ensure that you don’t run out of financial steam half-way to what would have been a successful lift-off. Another angle you could take with this is to underestimate your expected yearly revenue.

4. Keep your eyes on the ebbs and tides of the marketplace (or marketplaces). The state of the market directly depends on various factors. For example, the real estate business is closely tied to the economy. Over time, patterns are easily noticeable (there are companies that actually collect and analyse & distribute market information if you require quick access). It is extremely important to keep up to date with market information in your industry and that you develop a healthy respect for market trends. This will certainly have a direct bearing on your medium and long-term strategic planning.

5. Make a list of other people’s successes (and how they achieved them) in order to build yourself a framework to work off of and for motivation when you need it. A little inspiration can go a long way. If you ever feel stuck or feel weary about progressing into your venture, then take a look at the stories of the men and women who have risked it all before. Pay close attention to those who risked and lost their whole fortunes, and what they did to bounce back.

There is one caveat here though. Just because something works for one person doesn’t mean it will work for you. Get inspiration and ideas from others but add your own twists and mould them to your own circumstances to ensure higher chances of success. Also when assessing a business opportunity – be smart and take CALCULATED risks.

6. Ask questions? Yes! Ask as many questions as your heart desires about everything you think may be important. Specific knowledge is a necessary ingredient to every successful business. As an entrepreneur, knowledge is not just power – it is the upper hand. Not asking enough questions can be the difference between ultimate success or detrimental failure.

7. Broaden and strengthen your social network. Business is done with people, thus people are the ultimate key to success. As you grow your network, you expose yourself to new people, new conversations & new experiences. All these are vital to the development of your business. Share ideas with mutual contacts and learn from each other.

8. Sharpen your skill set. This is not as difficult as it sounds; there are plenty of quick, relatively inexpensive online courses that can provide accredited specialization across the board – whether you need to brush up on your IT skills or if you need to pass a fluency test. Expand on your existing skills and take your career in the direction you want to go in case you ever decide to start your own venture. ALWAYS BE LEARNING.

9. Never stop dreaming. Felicity in life and business is all about creating patterns in your life that allow successful outcomes. Think about it…if a person continuously steals small things they are creating a pattern that could lead to a higher probability of larger and more audacious thefts. If you go for short runs you are likely to eventually strive for longer runs. Do not be afraid to keep an idea book that seems dreamy or idealistic. Think of it as mental exercise that helps to establish patterns that lead to success.

10. Take action. Following on from Point 9, dreaming on it’s own is not enough! Like anything worth doing, building a successful business is not a super easy road to take. To convert your dream to a reality – you will need to add a few ingredients into the equation. These will include hard work, commitment, late nights of tireless work, well-tuned reasoning and decision making ability, determination and perseverance. What do these have in common? They require one to actually exert physical effort. In other words – they require ACTION; otherwise your dream of venture success will remain just that – a dream.

Conclusion

I’d like to end this piece with a little advice – take the above tips into account and don’t wait too long to get into your first venture. Often, you learn more by doing and the sooner you’re in business the more “used to it” you will be.

Which of the above tips you feel is the most important and why?