8 Things entrepreneurial people do differently

There are aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset that will enrich your work and life. Here are 8 things entrepreneurial people do differently.

Entrepreneurship goes beyond Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Garrett Camp, and it embodies something bigger than Twitter and WhatsApp. Entrepreneurship is a mindset, an attitude, and a lifestyle adopted by people who aren’t satisfied with the status quo.

It’s an approach to life that favors creativity over conformity and action over inaction. Bestselling author, investor, and entrepreneur James Altucher says that for him, “Being an ‘entrepreneur’ doesn’t mean starting the next Facebook. Or even starting any business at all. It means finding the challenges you have in your life, and determining creative ways to overcome those challenges.”

So, even if you’re not tinkering away at the next world-changing invention or looking to set up shop in Silicon Valley, there are aspects of the entrepreneurial mindset that will enrich your work and life. Here are 8 things entrepreneurial people do differently.

They’re brave enough to commit to their dreams.

Entrepreneurs choose to forego the security and familiarity of a ‘regular job’ to live an uncertain and insecure lifestyle. It takes a lot of bravery to make that tradeoff, but for icons like Walt Disney, the potential reward is worth it.

They think of their customers more than themselves.

Entrepreneurs are rarely out to seek fame for themselves. Instead, they’re more concerned with the people they want to help or the problem they want to solve. This infuses their task with a layer of meaning that can be the difference between success and failure when things get tough. In his book, APE – Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, former Apple chief evangelist Guy Kawasaki writes, “In your darkest, most frustrated hours, remember the value you are trying to add to peoples’ lives, the satisfaction you’ll feel, or the cause that you’ll further.”

They never stop learning.

Since they’re in the business of creating new products and inventing new ways of doing things, much of what entrepreneurs do can’t be taught in a classroom. They know that the most important lessons are learned through living, so throughout their lives, they remain open, flexible, and curious in order to absorb as much as possible.

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, started off with a small student magazine, before eventually growing a string of record stores, a music label, an airline, and now even a commercial spaceflight company. Rather than becoming an expert in one area, he continued to learn and adapt throughout his life.

They never give up.

Rarely does an inventor or entrepreneur succeed on the first try. To create something lasting and worthwhile, it usually takes years of hard work, focus, and dedication; an idea is just a starting point. Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, a spoken word poet and the founder of a production company, believes this level of persistence is a critical element of entrepreneurship. “That’s what it means to be an entrepreneur: to really focus on that one thing that does not exist yet and keep working towards it until it becomes real,” she says.



They love failing.

For most of us, the fear of failure is entirely paralyzing, but for entrepreneurs, failure is something to embrace. It’s an indication of pushing the limits, and inevitable when one is constantly trying new things.

They find and fill a need of the world.

Entrepreneurs want to do more than indulge their own interests — they want to solve a problem or create a product that satisfies a need.

Some started businesses because of frustration with an inefficient or defective system. Others were moved by a personal encounter with poverty or misfortune. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, started his business after traveling to Argentina and seeing kids who didn’t have shoes: “An absence that didn’t just complicate every aspect of their lives — including essentials like attending school and getting water from the local well — but also exposed them to a wide range of diseases,” he writes in Start Something That Matters.

They take old ideas and make them way, way better.

While one might think that entrepreneurs are focused mainly on never-seen-before ideas, they often revamp an existing model or upgrade an outdated product. Sometimes, these reinvented ideas change the way we exercise, read, or eat.

And once in a while, they revolutionize ice cream.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, started out in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, before growing a globally recognized brand that features unusual flavors like ‘Cherry Garcia’ and ‘Hazed & Confused.’ They’re also pioneers in the socially responsible business movement, speaking often about how business can give back to the community and earning Ben & Jerry’s a B-Corporation certification.

Above all, they act.

Entrepreneurs execute when for many others, an idea simply fades into the past. They are masters of turning the abstract into the concrete. This seemingly simple action is one of the great challenges of life and in the end, it’s what defines an entrepreneur.



Five keys that every investor looks for in a start-up

Here are a handful of the things that most investors look for in promising startups. Which do you find most valuable, and which do you believe are irrelevant?

As an entrepreneur who’s looking to attract funding, it’s imperative that you understand what investors are looking for in start-ups. By getting a clear idea of what investors want to see, you can better frame your pitches, and guide your conversations to encourage positive outcomes.

The Importance of a Formula

Ask any investor what they look for in start-ups with high growth potential, and they’ll begin to rattle off a list of trademarks that they search for and red flags that they avoid. While they may not refer to their process as a formula, that’s essentially what it is. If you want to be a successful start-up investor, you must follow a formula. That’s the only way to keep your emotions in check, and make sound decisions that are likely to deliver high returns.

There’s no such thing as a perfect formula–and most undergo frequent changes and tweaks–but having a process will help you to identify profitable opportunities that others might miss.

Investing in an unproven business is a lot like betting on a sports team to win. You can study the trends, and look at historical data points, but you’re always taking some kind of a risk. If you want to learn about investing analytics, study sports handicappers.

As an investor, the takeaway is simple: don’t listen to what everyone else tells you. Do your own research, develop your own formula, and put your money where you believe it’ll deliver the highest return. Your investing formula is the only thing that matters.



Five Keys That Investors Look For

With that said, you need to identify important keys, and give appropriate weight to the different factors that you deem valuable. In no particular order, here are a handful of the things that most investors look for in promising start-ups. Which do you find most valuable, and which do you believe are irrelevant?

Strength of the Founding Team

There are certain elements of a start-up that can be fixed and others that are unchangeable. The makeup of the founding team falls under the latter category. You can’t force change upon a startup’s founder. They either have what it takes to be successful, or they don’t. An entrepreneur may have all of the knowledge necessary to launch a venture, but do they have the passion to navigate through difficult seasons? A founding team may be capable of creating colorful presentations and well-worded briefs, but do they really understand what’s happening at a foundational level?

As an investor, one of the first things you need to consider is the founding team. Look at their history, ability to lead, incentive to succeed, and overall versatility. If you don’t feel good about the founding team, you can’t be confident in the future of the business.

Clear and Unsolved Pain Point

The next thing that investors turn their attention to is the pain point. Any time you’re studying a new start-up, ask yourself three questions in regards to the value offering:

  • Does the product solve a palpable pain point in the marketplace?
  • Is that pain point widespread and relevant?
  • Are there currently any other solutions?

If you can answer “yes” to the first two questions and “no” to the last one, then there’s a clear, unsolved pain point. This is promising, but it doesn’t mean that you’ve found a start-up worthy of an investment. You’ll now need to turn your attention to the actual product.

Sales Momentum and Sample Data

Investors want to be sure that a start-up will be successful before investing money in the venture. One of the best ways to do this is by studying past performance. While past performance isn’t always indicative of future success, it’s generally a good indicator.

You can look at any number of metrics to determine success, but analyzing sales momentum in the form of data is the most objective method of studying success. If the start-up has been in business for any amount of time, they should be able to supply you with this data.

Long Term Business Model

A start-up can have the right people, a palpable pain point, and some sales momentum, but you’re investing in its future growth. What happened in the past does very little to deliver a return on your end. That’s why you need to study the start-up’s business model, and consider its feasibility.

Does the business have the right structure? Is the business plan accounting for future competition? What are the three, five, and ten-year goals? If you want to feel confident in the long term growth of the business, you need answers to questions like these.

Fair Valuation

As angel investor Basil Peter points out, “Over-valuation is one of the most common structural problems angel investors encounter.” If you over-value a start-up when you present an investment, you’ll find yourself swimming upstream for years to come. The negative repercussions of over-valuing are hard to overcome.

While a founding team obviously wants to attract as much capital as possible without giving up more equity than they feel comfortable forking over, the reality is that the investor often does the entrepreneur a favor by correcting the valuation. They may not like the fact that they’re getting less capital on the front end, but it’ll save a lot of headaches down the road. With that being said, make sure that you only invest when the valuation is fair for all parties.

This article was originally published in Inc.com



Image Credit: http://www.businessinsider.com

10 Things entrepreneurs must avoid while starting their ventures in India

With the launch of ‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ initiative this weekend, many would-be entrepreneurs who were earlier waiting in the wings will be more willing to take the entrepreneurial leap and start their own ventures.

With the launch of ‘Start Up India, Stand Up India’ initiative this weekend, many would-be entrepreneurs who were earlier waiting in the wings will be more willing to take the entrepreneurial leap and start their own ventures.

But even the most experienced professionals will agree that entrepreneurship is a tricky choice to make. On one hand there are so many things that you have to do to achieve success and growth, while on the other there is an equally lengthy list of things that you absolutely must NOT do at any cost if you want your venture to survive.

So, in a bid to empower the budding entrepreneurs with the knowledge to make the most informed and viable business decisions, here are a few things that you should avoid like a plague if you want your venture to succeed in India.

1. Half-prepared entry

This is one of the most elementary mistakes a first-time entrepreneur can make, and yet it is one of the most easily avoidable ones. Often, while starting their ventures, entrepreneurs can be swayed by their own vision so much that they fail to factor in several key requirements to make their vision a reality.

Do you have enough employees to support your business? A viable revenue model? Do you know who your competitors are in the market? Any future strategies that will help you evolve past the initial stage? All these things need to be addressed before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship.

2. Ignore the value of analytics and research

Another easily avoidable mistake that most entrepreneurs starting their own businesses make is discounting the pivotal role data analytics and market research can make to your business.

Data analytic tools have improved to such a great extent today that they can often identify and predict consumer behavioural patterns and market trends well before they even occur. Leveraging them could give your business a big boost by identifying the strategic opportunities for your venture.

Moreover, a market research can also help you in identifying the target demographic for your product or service, which will make it easier for you to decide on the optimal brand positioning.

3. Modelling your business on short-term trends

Jumping on board a particularly popular bandwagon is a needless pit that entrepreneurs often end up jumping into. Needless to say, most of these startups often fail to survive beyond the initial few years.

In a digital age where people have the attention span of a goldfish, what is popular today may not be popular tomorrow. Therefore, if you are in for the long haul, always devise your products to address market gaps instead of trends.



4. Make more than just another job

Most entrepreneurs start their ventures to ‘work for themselves’ and escape the tedium of their professions. This sort of approach can hamper the growth of a start-up. Entrepreneurs must always look to evolve their businesses beyond just another ‘job’ that they do and continuously work on expanding their business.

5. Focusing too much on the idea and not enough on the team

A great business has a great idea at its core, but at the same time it also has a great team working hard to make that idea a success.While the idea that you come up with might be very good in itself, you also need to hire individuals that can support your venture’s long term vision.

6. Square pegs in round holes

This covers everything from hiring to incorrect business decisions. As a first-time entrepreneur you will require individuals who work as an employee as well as independent freelance contractors for one-off tasks.Both have their own sets of benefits and drawbacks; a contractor getting paid on a pro-rata basis might fail to meet deadlines, while having an employee is a full-time drain on your resources. The difference lies in identifying what to choose as the best-fit for your venture.

  • Most entrepreneurs also end up taking on multiple responsibilities to cut down operational costs. This practice should be avoided, as it leaves you with no time to build your business. Moreover, follow the tenet of ‘you get what you pay for’. Do not compromise on the quality of your service to save a few pennies.

7. Over emphasis on a certain business function

A successful business is a seamless confluence of several vital functions – sales, administration, marketing, finance and operations.End up concentrating on only one area of your business and you end up neglecting the others. This can be detrimental to a budding start-up.

8. Focusing on short-term gains

Many entrepreneurs often lose sight of the bigger picture in order to secure short-term gains. The effort, instead, should be on building lasting professional relationships with clients in order to ensure repeatable business. Will taking a cut in fees ensure the client will be associated with your venture for the long haul? Do it.

9. Inflexible business model

One of the most frequent mistakes that first-time entrepreneurs make is getting too attached to their idea. It sounded good when you told your colleagues about it and it looked good on the drawing board. However, always create an agile business model that will help your start-up survive the rough and tumble of the real market.

10. Ignoring the importance of contracts and legal framework

Never, ever, ever get into any arrangement without defining the contract. You and your clients mutually decide and agree upon certain terms and conditions when entering into a business deal; a contract is a documented proof of that agreement.

It often becomes your saving grace when the client expectations start to strain your budget more than your initial operational outlay. The benefits of a legal advisory, whether associated full-time with the start-up or on a consultation basis, cannot be stressed enough in these cases. Always ensure that you cover your legal bases in all your business dealings with clients or auxiliary service providers.



Image Credit: www.huffingtonpost.com