“Be your own boss” has such a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Admit it! Entrepreneurship is the new “sexy.” According to a study, more than a billion people want to start their own business in the next few years. That is a lot.
And most of them will be asking the same question: How?
We’ve all heard of the college dropout stories, the teenagers who preferred staying in their garages, tinkering away. We have all been encouraged by Jack Ma, Arianna Huffington, Mark Zuckerberg, and more. Nowadays, we have more support in the shape of funding. According to another survey done by OECD, around 70% of men and 58% of women in the United States of America would instead work on their own brand than do a job. People are ready to invest in your startup if they see you have what it takes.
The question is: Do You?
Let’s see what you need to have to become a successful entrepreneur.
There are a few things that are a must. You need to know about them whether you want to do them yourself or hire someone or a company to do it for you. One of these things is digital marketing. If you don’t exist on the virtual stratosphere, you don’t exist at all. Do not take digital marketing lightly. No matter what industry or niche you enter, what your product or service is, or who your target audience is, you will need this to ensure that people find you and interact with you. It includes social media marketing, email marketing, and SEO practices like outbound links and more. If you can’t do all of it by yourself, you can hire someone to do it. You can even give the responsibility to a third party, and they can take care of it for you. It all depends on your ability and budget.
But let’s not wait any longer and dive into the things you need to become a successful entrepreneur.
1. A Solution
Everyone has good ideas. There is no shortage of those. But if we just tried to run with a good idea, you might not get far, which is precisely why some of the best businesses went down. They had a vision and developed a product, but they found out that there was no market for their idea. According to one study, around half of startups fail because of this.
So, what should have if not an idea? You should have a solution. You need to look for problems you can solve. Once you have identified a problem, you can work on a solution, and THAT can be your idea. Let’s look at an example. Mary Anderson was on her way to New York City in 1902. The only problem was that her driver would stop the car every little while, get out of the car, and wipe the windshield. Mary saw the problem and thought of a windshield wiper. That was her idea, which was actually a solution. Now, every car has them.
2. Define Your Own Success
It is something that every entrepreneur should do if they want to survive. You have to define your own success instead of taking it from someone else. You have to know what makes you unique and different. If you have the strength, the passion, and the motivation to make money, you have the holy trinity of entrepreneurship. But to do that, you have to dig down deep and look at yourself. Find out what your strengths and weaknesses are. We have to tell you; an entrepreneurial life is hard. You have to make sacrifices; you have to be patient and persevere. Make sure that you can do that. If you spend every dollar that you make, you’ll be done before you even know it.
3. Passion
We shouldn’t even talk about this, right? It’s so obvious. But you’ll be surprised to know just how many people ignore it, in the frenzy of making it big. They think that their drive to make money or make a name for themselves will benefit them more than passion. Nothing fuels your fire like passion. The allure for money and fame will go away, but your passion will stick with you forever. Passion is what pushes you when you are dead tired. It is what makes you keep on walking when you just want to fall down. So, find out your passion as early on as possible. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is that one thing you have carried with you since your childhood?
- What is the one thing that is entirely natural for you?
- What is the one thing you see yourself doing, even if you are not making money initially?
- Does that one thing align with your business idea?
- How do your strengths align with your passion?
4. Clear Goals
So, you have an idea, and you started running with it. It took off, and you are as happy as can be. Something’s missing, right? It would help if you had clear, precise, and definite goals to reach your true potential. Without goals, you are on a journey with no map. You don’t know what your final destination is. Most often than not, you end up somewhere you never wanted to be, and it’s all a waste of time.
On the other hand, when you do have goals, you have a target. You can easily focus on it. You can envision it and map out a process to achieve it. Also, when you set goals, you have a ten times better chance of actually achieving them. So, make sure that you follow this point.
5. Get Started
Last but not least, get a move on. You can’t just sit around all day, talking about your great idea. You have to take that frightening, scary first step. You might feel overwhelmed by the huge task you are about to undertake. You might be afraid it won’t work out. All of this is normal. Yes, there are jitters. Others have been through it too. In times of need, look at this quote from Zig Ziglar, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
Final Words
Here you go. The five secrets that you needed to know to become a successful entrepreneur. Let’s see what we discussed. First, make sure that your idea is a solution to someone’s problems. Second, never follow somebody else’s definition of success. Always follow your passion. Have clear and precise goals, and finally, don’t hesitate. Follow these rules, and you will be good to go.