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Getting started

What advice would you give to a newbie entrepreneur?

To begin, I’d like to quote Scott Galloway – see below. His advice is to build on your natural gifts and talents and forget your passions, which are usually creative endeavours that don’t make any money and should remain as hobbies. Your next step is to figure out what kind of entrepreneur you are.

 

For example, do you perform better when working on your own or instead thrive in a team environment? Not everyone is built to run large organisations; some people will always perform better as solopreneurs or freelancers. Most importantly, you’ll need a strategy.

For that, I highly recommend Seth Godin’s new book, “This is Strategy”. From branding to positioning to marketing – yes, they are different things – to business processes, you’ll have to have a well-defined strategy to ensure the best chance of success. 

Find something that you are naturally good at, that you can get great at, in an industry with a 95% employment rate.

Scott Galloway

Next steps

Then, once you have a plan and strategy ready, put your head down and work like you’ve never worked before. Forget TV and leisure time. Whenever successful entrepreneurs are asked about their early days in business, they say something like, “I got really serious, focused and put all my energy into it”.

Focus and dedication is the best predictor of initial success. Once you get the fire going, so to speak, you can tone down the craziness a little.

As with any new business, it needs time to grow, so embrace patience and maintain consistency in your output.

Man with a notepad writing a plan for his business

In addition, expect challenges. Regardless how well you plan, problems will always arise. There will even be times when you’ll get so frustrated or feel so helpless that you’ll want to give up – that’s to be expected. But it’s during those times that your resolve as an entrepreneur will get tested. So don’t give up, do your research and see what others have done in similar situations. 

And always pray for wisdom.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5 NIV).

It’s in the tough times that you’ll be able to realise whether entrepreneurship is for you or do you prefer to just work for someone else – for most, self-awareness is best developed through experience.

 

This post only scratches the surface of what you should know when embarking on a business journey, but I covered at least some of the essential points to get you thinking.
I wish you all the best on your new journey – you can keep me posted about your progress through a DM on Linkedin.

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