how to be a successful entrepreneur

How to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

Whether you plan to own one successful business or to start an empire of enterprises, become an entrepreneur isn’t easy. How do you become a successful entrepreneur?

Whether you plan to own one successful business or to start an empire of enterprises, become an entrepreneur isn’t easy. It’s a career path that is full of challenges and risks, but if you do manage to achieve your goals and become a success, it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. So, how do you become a successful entrepreneur? Well, there are many things you will need to do, but below are some of the basics you need to look out for.

Think About Your Education

You might not always have wanted to follow the path of an entrepreneur; it might be something you decided to pursue later in life. If this is the case, consider what your previous education has been in and how that can help you. If you have no previous experience in business management or any formal education in this, you should think about enrolling on a business management course or another relevant subject to help you succeed. You can always study online to make it work around your career if this is easier through online colleges like Nothern Michigan University Global Campus at https://nmu.edu/online/.

Network

If you want to get noticed and people to start believing in your ideas, you need to put yourself out there. Utilizing networking opportunities is an excellent way to get ahead as an entrepreneur, but you will need to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Practice your business pitches, be willing to collaborate with other professionals and businesses, and make sure you always conduct a professional manner at these events. Being friendly and fun is important, but be careful that you’re not letting your guard down too much.

Keep Up to Date

Another thing you need to do if you want to be successful in your endeavors is keeping up to date with the latest trends and industry news. Ideally, you want your business brand to be a trendsetter and be one of the most innovative companies within your industry. This will keep you relevant and have people coming to you asking for opportunities to work with you, interviews, and more. It’ll also work in your favor to show how knowledgeable you are regarding current events and industry news when you’re networking or speaking with potential investors.

Leadership Skills

If you’re going to start building businesses from the ground up, you need to have the right personality for the job. Strong leadership skills are required if you want to be an entrepreneur, as people will be looking to you for guidance on the next steps of the business plan, problem-solving, and people management. You must lead by example, but also be wary that you don’t begin to micro-manage your teams as this can create a toxic working environment.

Organization Skills

Last, but not least, you must have excellent organizational skills to be a successful entrepreneur. There will be a lot of work to do when it comes to starting a new business, from market research and developing your brand to business planning, events management, and so on. Accept that you might not have a lot of free time while your business is in its infancy, but make sure that you’re staying organized so you’re not wasting time on things that are unnecessary and keep things running smoothly.

There are a lot of things you will need to do if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, but these are some of the basics.

That one essential thing your start-up depends on

One needs to be absolutely sure that the idea is feasible and has chances of gaining success

It is very important to take into consideration one aspect before you start up and that is validation of your idea.
Validating the idea you want your start-up to be based around means verifying, ratifying and substantiating you idea before actually taking putting your idea into action.

Validation is necessary because entrepreneurship and development of an idea requires immense amount of time and effort because something could actually materialise. So, if one is investing so much into an idea, one needs to be absolutely sure that the idea is feasible and has chances of gaining success without which the whole venture will head to a failure. Also, validation of the idea is crucial for you to plan for the future.

You can gain a clear idea about the demand for the product or the service, your target audience and also your future expansion plans.

Sample batch:

It is always better to do a thorough market research about your product is going to be received in the market. If the response is more on the positive end, you can be assured that it’s a great idea and will work out well where as if the idea fails with 4 out 5 people from your sample, it is doomed to be a failure with most of them. For this, you need to be careful about selecting your target group and presenting the idea to them as well.

Your friends or colleagues can also serve as great sources of validation. If you look up to someone or are being mentored by someone, they can also serve as validation.

This sample test will also give you much needed insights about your product and help you understand what customers demand thereby giving you a chance to make your product better.

Related post: Strategic marketing tips for startups

Self-validation:

For an entrepreneurial success, it is essential that the entrepreneur believes in his/her product and is able to stand up for it because if the maker is not confident, s/he is not in a position to convince others.

Hence, as an entrepreneur, you need to be cent percent sure about your product entirely.

7 tips you must follow for a successful entrepreneurial life

All successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford were successful because they put in their life’s efforts to make their big idea work

A lot of people chase success in their lives and leave it on destiny to make them succeed. What they forget is that to be successful, it is absolutely important to be hard working and come up with new ideas. Also, maintaining a disciplined life is essential for gaining success. All successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford were successful because they put in their life’s efforts to make their big idea work.

Here are seven tips you could follow to gain success in entrepreneurial life:

1. Have a vision

This might seem like a apparent thing to do but a lot of people forget this initial yet crucial step. It is important to set your goals and the path by which you would achieve the goal because if there is no goal, what are you even doing? The visualisation of success will help you remain more positive and focused and because you’re focused, your hard work will get you there quicker. Along the way, you’ll be amazed to see how you can take simple ideas and convert them into big achievements.

2. Have a routine

Waking up at 12 pm and working till 5 am might seem feasible but it definitely isn’t a healthy routine. Because an entrepreneur is always under so much stress, his health shouldn’t be compromised upon. You should wake up early and have proper meals to keep yourself energised for the day. Also, try and exercise thrice a week to keep your health in proper shape. Once, you are healthy you are able to focus and work better which is important for your success.

3. Overcome the barriers

As mentioned before, an entrepreneur’s life isn’t a smooth sail. It has its ups and downs and there’ll be many barriers that cause hindrances in your path. However, you should be determined and try and work out a solution for each barrier. The biggest obstacle is the one you set for yourself and it can be overcome only when you decide to test your inner strength and decide to defeat it. Also, as long as you don’t give up, the barrier can be beaten.

4. Keep your mind and body in good shape

You can’t work hard if your body and mind don’t cooperate. Try and take breaks between long stretches of work and do something constructive like watch movies, read a book etc which will keep you inspired to work harder with a fresh mind. Also, as mentioned before, an entrepreneur needs to engage in some sort of physical activity because it is essential for your body to support you in your endeavours.

5. If things aren’t going your way, don’t be disheartened

The road to success isn’t a plain road; it is full of hurdles and potholes. There will be many obstacles that will come in your way and you’ll be tempted to give up at many points. However, you should rely on hope and your hard work and not lose it no matter what. If you lose hope, you lose half of the battle. In the end, because of your hope and inner strength, you will be able to overcome all obstacles and emerge stronger.

6. Use your time wisely

Time is a wonderful gift and might turn out to be your worst enemy if not utilised sensibly. As an entrepreneur, you have a million tasks and you need to manage your time wisely in order to gain fruits out of you hard labour. Make a list of the tasks you need to do in a day and complete the most important tasks first, followed by the less important ones. However, if you think some tasks aren’t very important, you can delegate it to your team.

7. Be patient

No entrepreneur became successful overnight; a lot of hard work and perseverance has gone in to becoming a successful human being. Patience is an important virtue every entrepreneur needs to have and practice for success. At times, you will see your venture failing and decisions not bearing success, but you need to be patient and wait for your idea to click.

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6 ways to become a mentally strong person

For an entrepreneur to keep pushing forward and achieving his goal further needs to be a very mentally tough person.

It is a known fact that an entrepreneur doesn’t have it easy. Amidst the kaleidoscope of risk-taking, organising, managing and constantly innovating, it is very common for an entrepreneur to have a mental breakdown. However, an entrepreneur to keep pushing forward and achieving his goal further needs to be a very mentally tough person.

Climbing the corporate ladder and still looking after a team might seem taxing but the fruits achieved out of the hard labour are definitely rewarding.

Here are a few ways in which one can become a mentally strong person:

1. Be happy for others

“Dost first aaye toh bahut dukh hota hai”, stands true for the Indian crowd. It is very easy to envy and rant about co-workers who are doing well for themselves. But, this kind of attitude is just unhealthy and is getting you nowhere. Competition is a reality and to get to the winning spot, you need to work harder than before. The more you hate people, the more negativity you preach.

Also, try and congratulate your peers on their success and learn the tricks of trade from them. Their mistakes could teach you a lot about business.

2. Learn to give feedback to yourself

Don’t wait for validation from others regarding everything in life. If you think an idea is good enough, go ahead with it. Your belief and validation are all that counts. If you think you did well and believe aren’t getting praised enough, don’t feel bad. Instead, buck up and try and make yourself feel better. You are your own critique and use that power to the maximum.

3. Discontentment and whining will get you nowhere

As an entrepreneur, you need to accept that life is never fair and not everything is going to work out in your favour. And, whining about an unfavourable situation isn’t going to get you anywhere. You’ve chosen your life, so why not try and use time more constructively and not whine about things not going your way.

You need to learn to be positive and accept everything that comes your way. The challenge might seem complicated but a fresh and focused approach is bound to do wonders.

4. A calm and composed approach is essential

In the hustle bustle of a busy life, it is very easy to get bogged down with heaps of work and lose your composure. Screaming at employees will just dampen their spirits and cause rifts in the internal situation. A serene approach to important matters is the key to succeeding. If you think things aren’t going your way, take a deep breath and begin again.

If you’re a naturally hot-headed person, try practicing yoga or meditate daily for a composed inner self.

5. Do not forecast results

Mentally strong people never make the mistake of forecasting results as soon as a decision is made. What is even worse is that some people already think of an idea as a failure before thinking of the possibilities of making it work. If you dwell on the idea that it is not going to work, it probably won’t. Instead, if you put in efforts and try to make it work, you might actually succeed.

Hence, predicting negative or unfavourable outcomes is dangerous and partly why your end result is a failure.

6. Money isn’t everything

Earning money is essential for survival but your life shouldn’t revolve around how much earn. As an entrepreneur, you should value the growth and achievements of your company more than the profits you are making. It is easy to earn money but what’s the use if you aren’t getting job satisfaction out of earning that money.

You chose entrepreneurship for freedom and because you love what you do. Once you work with dedication and sincerity, money is bound to pour in. Pump back these profits into your company and watch it grow with pride.

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5 lessons for leaders who are just starting out

An entrepreneur needs to be a great leader to motivate his team and make them work as a single entity towards a common goal

In the past we’ve come across some great leader all budding entrepreneurs could learn valuable lessons from. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were able to mobilise the population of a whole country and made them unite against a common enemy, the British. The movement penetrated down to the peasants who revolted against the British malpractices and in the end, India gained independence.

In the entrepreneurial world, we’ve seen various great leaders such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Binny and Sachin Bansal etc. An entrepreneur needs to be a great leader to motivate his team and make them work as a single entity towards a common goal.

However, not all entrepreneurs are born leaders so here are lessons which will help them emerge as great leaders:

1. Almost all leaders are self taught

There is so course or college which teaches leadership skills. Management teaches the major aspects of leadership but cannot make a leader out of you. Moreover, everyone’s style of leadership is different which is why it’s best if you teach yourself and find your way.

Some leaders are empathetic, while most are a combination of sternness and empathy. You need to find how you want to be perceived and try and learn from leaders who inspire you.

2. Delegation is an art

It delegation might seem like the easiest thing to do but it actually is an art. Delegation doesn’t simply mean handing over tasks to people who are accomplished in their fields. You actually need to find people who you believe are appropriate for the company and hire them. It is a huge responsibility because you trust them with the company’s vision. For instance, if you want an advertiser to make an ad for a product, you are handing him the responsibility of how your product will be perceived by customers.

Thus, it is a huge task and needs to be done well.

3. Keep learning

As a leader, it is also essential to be able to accept criticism and learn constantly because it might be your first time as well. A leader needs to be a good listener because only then can he work out strategies and make his employees feel more empowered and involved in the whole process. An employee in your company might be more experienced and have a brilliant idea and if an entrepreneur lets ego come in his way, he will be losing out on an opportunity of making his company succeed. Hence, it is important to be open to suggestions and be objective about them.

Related post: Things to do to grow your business

4. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

You’re just starting out so you’re bound to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make them because mistakes are our best teachers. We learn valuable and important lessons from them. Also, don’t be afraid to let your team members take risks in terms of the venture because that will help them learn and excel in their respective fields as well.

5. Try servant leadership

While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

A servant leader focuses more on the growth aspect of the company and even though he’s more powerful than others, he puts his employees’ well-being above all else.

Related Post: How to get better at leadership?

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6 Ways to manage small business success

Coping with small business success can be difficult and very stressful and requires various qualities and a structured format.

You might have started a venture as a part-time thing because you thought your idea has potential, however, it has gained massive popularity and the success might be unnerving.

These situations are common for entrepreneurs who hadn’t planned very far ahead. However, coping with small business success can be difficult and very stressful and requires various qualities and a structured format.

To cope with your success, follow the points listed below:

1. Make required changes in your business plan

It doesn’t matter if your business is small or big, a business plan is a basic requirement. A good business plan has the marketing plan, industry details, executive summary, risk and contingencies listed and they need to be revised from time to time. If you have achieved a certain target, it is time to open the original plan and document the development and add new targets for the coming time period.

2. Don’t be a slave to technology

In modern times, where everything is ruled by technology, don’t let yourself fall prey to smart phones and laptops so much so that you lose connect with the real world. Currently, there’s an app for everything, it is still important for you to maintain the quality of relations you did with your employees, VCs and customers. You might be big today, but, once you start ignoring people, you might start digging a ditch for yourself.

3. One man show is overrated

Being a one man show might seem appealing but after a point, it can be very taxing. Hence, you should build a team of dedicated and talented individuals and work towards a common goal. Also, you should have confidantes and mentors who are there to guide you through every walk of life. This will help you cope with the success better as your process of decision among will become more structured and easier.

4. Build alliances

It is very essential for growing small companies to build relationships with other companies. This can be in form of partnerships, mergers or acquisitions. Acquisitions are mainly done to kill competition in a certain market.
For instance, if I am soft toy maker, it will benefit me to have a strategic partnership with a cotton vendor or take over another soft toy making firm to gain monopoly in the market.

5. More rounds of investment

The initial investment made might not be enough to sustain a growing and successful company anymore. As you revel in the successes of your venture, you also need to keep in mind that you have to cope with the growing expenses of the same business. To manage the finances, more investments might be necessary to sustain. Hence, more VCs need to be pitched to and more profits need to be pumped back into the business to keep it running.

6. Don’t be afraid of failure

You’ve done beautifully well with your venture and there is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. Failures are not hindrances; instead, they’re valuable lessons which stay with you all your life which is exactly why you shouldn’t be afraid to face them. Also, make your own mistakes as you’re bound to learn from them and the training and experience gained hands-on is the best kind of teaching.

Just like you’ve managed fine with till now, you can succeed further by only following these basic rules in your career.

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