What is an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneur-a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
An entrepreneur is a person who brings an idea to the table, sets the steps for success in motion and sees them through. Now you may ask yourself, “How do I know if I would be a successful entrepreneur and is the risk worth it”?
While entrepreneurs are responsible for all the risks in their business, the upside is that they are also responsible for all the rewards that come with it too. While being an entrepreneur can be very stressful the rewards may outweigh the risks for some. Are you ready to find out? Let’s dive a little farther in and find out.
The steps to becoming an entrepreneur is known as entrepreneurship.
Steps to becoming an Entrepreneur
- Decide on your “niche”. Will you be offering a service or product(s)?
While most businesses are known to focus on one area or type of business, others may branch out to multiple areas. Starting in one area and growing may be the best/safest place to start. Having an entrepreneurial mindset means that you are able to think big but still work within your parameters to grow.
Are you offering a product(s) or service to your customer base? The way to decide this is to identify a problem and offer the solution.
2. Develop a business plan.
A business plan materializes your business ideas onto paper. How will your business be operated? Do you want/need a partner? What is your financial plan? How much time do you have to invest in this idea? How much financial risk are you willing to put forward? What type of corporation will you be (S Corp or C Corp), research the differences and decide which is best for you and your business needs. Where will you operate your business, home or a brick-and-mortar location?
While you are developing your business plan you may want to consider/research your competitor market. What can you do to stand out and make your business different than other similar companies.
Something else to keep in mind while developing your business plan is the future. Where so you want to be in 5 years? 10 years? Set a 5 and 10 year plan in motion and decide on the steps you need to take to get there. These plans and steps may vary as time passes but keeping them in mind and possibly even in your daily line of sight to stay on track may be a good idea.
3. Be frugal. Think twice before taking out loans or signing leases. Most people start with a limited amount of money, these funds should be used with caution. As time goes by and your business becomes successful you may be able to loosen the reigns some, but in the beginning be a penny pincher and keep a close eye on the amount of funds you have going out versus what’s coming in or projected to come in.
In the very beginning you may have to be very “hands on” and do things the hard way or even the long way to be sure that your funds are balancing correctly. As time passes, you may be able to hire out certain aspects of your business as your time and resources are better used elsewhere in the business. Being an entrepreneur means having a hand in every aspect of your business until things “get off the ground”.
To determine if the expenditure is worth it, you may want to refer back to your business plan. Aiming to do more with less.
4. Expand your knowledge and education.
As an entrepreneur you should always be a student. You will never stop learning. Does this look like a degree or classes that will be helpful in running your business? This may also be conferences or seminars from like-minded people in your industry.
You may even benefit from researching other business successes and failures outside of your area of expertise. Taking what others have learned and applying it to your own field is a great way to keep learning and growing. Learning how others solved problems may be useful in how you confront your own as they arise.
Be a forever student.
Finding a mentor is always helpful. This can be someone in your exact industry or outside. The purpose is to find someone who shares your ideas but also helps you develop more. A mentor is someone who shares your dreams of success but is also able to look at things from the other side of the fence when you may be overlooking something. Mentors generally coach you along or serve as a sounding board for issues as they come along. A mentor can be a great source of encouragement, while still keeping you grounded in your business plan. This may also be in the form of a business coach for yourself. Mentors can come a lot of different forms, but finding one that fits your personality and business mindset is imperative.
5. Build a winning team. While in the beginning the team may consist of yourself alone, as time passes and you become more successful, it will be important to have the proper help. Find things that are not your favorite or things that you do not excel at and build a team to do them. This may be having a bookkeeper so that you can focus on sales, or having a sales team so that you can focus on customer service and being the face of your business. You may need an assistant to answer emails, calls and make your schedule. Whatever you decide, do the research and find employees or contractors that fit your needs and business profile.
While these will not be your only steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur, these are crucial to your success. You may not follow them all in order. Keep in mind this is YOUR BUSINESS and you choose how far and where to carry it. You may aim for the stars or you may decide to stop growing when you reach a comfortable level. Your needs and dreams will evolve with the business itself.
Entreprenurial Mindset
Having and continuing to develop an Entreprenurial mindset is imperative to your success.
- Remembering that failure is part of success. Failure is only failure if your let it stop you, otherwise, its a learning experience. All businesses will experience some kind of failure, what you choose to do with that failure determines how successful you become.
2. When you have a problem, approach it from all angles. Put yourself in all shoes, find the pros and cons to all the solutions and choose the one that best suits you and your business model.
3. Keeping your vision in the forefront of your mind is a skill that will serve you well. Alot of entrepreneurs choose to make a vision board, or even multiple vision boards for different locations that you are at. Tell others around you what your dreams and goals are, let them hold you accountable for things. Give them a goal to remind you about and ask for updates from you. Having others cheer you on to success is very helpful.
4. Build on your strengths. Finding your personal strengths and using them to propel you forward will help keep in motion. It is important to remember that you will have strengths and weaknesses, the weaknesses do not have to be your downfall. Allow those to be teaching tools until you can find a better solution. Find people smarter than you in areas of your business and use their strengths until you form your own.
It is important to remember that there is no special sauce or recipe for success. Everyone encounters different challenges and successes. But using these few simple steps and having an Entreprenurial mindset at all times will help you on your road to success. Your roadmap may be full of hills and valleys, but you cannot reach the mountain top without first conquering the mountains. Good Luck in your venture!