5 tips for being a good entrepreneur
We know how the world we live in works, unfortunately, there is no single recipe for success in each subject. However, there are some general guidelines that can help you become a good entrepreneur and the goal of this article is to get in touch with some of them.
Many people have great ideas and a strong desire to improve our daily lives but lack detailed plans to realise their ideas. By following a number of principles, which I will outline throughout this article, these goals will be more achievable.
But, it is time to leave the introductions aside and move on to action. Let’s start looking at how we can become good entrepreneurs.
Why is important to be a good entrepreneur?
We can approach the answer to this question from two points of view. Both of these are equally important since the activity of undertaking will impact on them:
- The personal side
- The community one
From a personal point of view, when we start an entrepreneurial venture, we will be alone facing the world. At most, accompanied by our team and the support of our loved ones. But, when we face failures, it is usually the one who is in front of a project who will be pointed out. Therefore, being a good entrepreneur will help us to avoid such unwanted situations and end up succeeding.
With regard to the community point of view, it is undeniable that the enterprise we carry out will be circumscribed in the framework of society. Obviously, being a good entrepreneur will increase the chances that our projects or ideas will have a positive impact on the society in which we find ourselves.
Being a good entrepreneur will benefit:
- Ourselves
- Our loved ones
- The society in which we implement our ideas
In short, being a good entrepreneur goes hand in hand with being a good citizen.
1 – Identify a need or gap in the market and focus on it
The most successful business ideas are those that provide solutions to problems or needs that haven’t been solved yet. It is important to focus on them in order to achieve a successful implementation of our ideas.
The best entrepreneurs are those who detect empty spaces or problems where most human beings can’t even imagine them. In this way, by developing their idea, these entrepreneurs quickly gain the necessary market share to reach every possible user.
Moreover, by solving these kinds of shortcomings in society, they are not only being successful but also providing a product or service that improves people’s daily lives.
Developing a sharp eye to detect such issues in advance is certainly a characteristic that every good entrepreneur needs to develop.
Planning and preparation once again provides the key to success
2 – Develop a business plan
At this stage, thinking like a software developer will be helpful in achieving the ultimate goal of being a good entrepreneur. Programmers often take a big problem they have to solve and break it down into smaller pieces that are simpler to tackle.
Following this logic, our business plan should address each of the stages that our idea or project will face in order to facilitate the successful outcome of each one of them.
We can easily identify the following stages:
- Business idea. In this stage, we will describe briefly and concisely the concept of our business, its objective and an action plan.
- Business description. Here comes the time to detail the product or service we will offer, define the market we are targeting and our competitive advantages.
- Market analysis. We must then evaluate the market we are targeting, in order to know the viability of our product or service in it.
- Operations planning. We reach the stage in which we specify how our product or service will be produced and distributed, as well as how our company will be managed or administered.
- Financial plan. Now, it’s time to get fine-tuned and set out the company’s financial projections, such as revenues, expenses and cash flows.
- Risk analysis. It’s essential to identify and evaluate the possible risks that our project may face and to foresee how to deal with them.
It is necessary to clarify that this is an extreme simplification of a business plan, but this brief guide will undoubtedly be useful to begin to visualise a plan that comprehensively contemplates the life of our project.
3 – Taking measured risks and adapting to market conditions
Far from contradicting the previous point and downplaying the importance of creating a detailed business plan, recent years have undoubtedly taught us that flexibility and adapting to change are extremely important in our daily lives. Since Darwin’s Origin of Species, it has been clear that those who adapt are those who succeed.
Furthermore, we need to keep in mind the famous popular saying:
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
However, when taking risks, we must first consider the possible consequences they may have on our project. A good entrepreneur is someone who knows how to adapt to changes in the environment and, at the same time, takes calculated risks, knowing the dangers and potential benefits.
4 – Maintain a positive attitude and stay focused on your goals
Entrepreneurship is difficult. It will involve a large part of our day’s hours and therefore lead us to resign from many other activities since our time, as we all know, is limited. However, the amount of time we commit to being entrepreneurs will not guarantee our success.
On the other hand, we will encounter many opportunities where reality, or the market, will respond in ways that are the opposite of what we expect or need. It won’t be easy, but staying positive in stormy times will give us the competitive edge to succeed and be good entrepreneurs.
A good strategy, when the market doesn’t respond as we expect, is to focus on our goals. Instead of getting frustrated and thinking about quitting and returning to the security of our old jobs, there is nothing better than returning to our business plan.
When you see entrepreneurs writing their goals by hand, whether on a piece of paper or a large whiteboard, they are merely reminding themselves where they need to go and what awaits them once they get there.
To be a good entrepreneur, continuous improvement must become a way of life
5 – Continuous improvement is the way
In today’s world, thanks to technological advances, the world is moving forward in giant steps. Products or services, which in the old days would have lasted for years, nowadays last only a few months. The market is tyrannical and we can quickly fall behind, which means being forgotten plus failure.
So what does a good entrepreneur do in order not to lose this race? There is no better answer than continuous improvement. It is undoubtedly the path to follow in order to remain present beyond the unstoppable passage of time.
But it is also important to make a distinction. There are two types of continuous improvement:
- One related to our project
- Another one related to ourselves
Clearly, neither should be lost from sight. A good entrepreneur never stops trying to improve his product or service. But at the same time, he never neglects his own progress as an entrepreneur and as a human being.
To both approaches, the guiding principle is the same: continuous improvement leads us to be better.
Conclusion
It’s inevitable to close this article, in the same line in which I opened it. Although it is not possible to give an exact guide on how to be a successful entrepreneur, these 5 tips will undoubtedly help you get closer to this goal.
It’s evident that being an entrepreneur involves huge risks and unpleasantness for those who venture into this epic. However, without the effort they put in, it would be impossible to have the comfort level we have these days.
In conclusion, if entrepreneurship is for you, these 5 tips can help you stay focused and take your project or idea to the market.