How to become an entrepreneur?

Owning your own business where you call all the shots is such a cool idea. It might even be worth quitting your present day-job and investing all you have in it. It’ll pay off in the end, right?

Scratch….

Not so easy. The truth is that most startups fail and only about 10% of them survive with about 1% becoming big corporations.

It is, however, important to know that the success of your startup all depends on the efforts you put into its success.

It is not enough to have a novel idea that can change the world. You should also have a plan for the process involved in the ultimate goal.

If you have always wanted to dip your toes into the waters of being an entrepreneur, you have come to the right place for resources on how to jump-start your dream.

What is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who is willing to take a risk and try new things. He or she has an innovative mindset. He or she is not afraid to fail, learn from the experience and keep trying.

If you are a beginner, the first thing you should do is to get a mentor. This is the best way to help you learn about entrepreneurship and how things work. You should also learn about the business world.

If you are a seasoned entrepreneur, you should be able to take your own risks. You have already done what is necessary to get where you are. You should know what is going on in your industry and the market.

You also know that there will always be new challenges to meet and overcome. If you are a seasoned entrepreneur, you will be able to take the right risks and keep moving forward.

If you are not ready for entrepreneurship, don’t worry about it. There is no need to rush. There are plenty of other things that you can do to make a living and get ahead.

If you are ready, then it is time to start your journey!

How to become an entrepreneur? 9 steps.

1. Identify profitable business ideas. Trust me, not all business ideas are profitable. And just because everyone is doing it does not mean you should. When you conceive your idea, research how feasible it is before you invest in it. This step is probably the most important of all. If you asked any successful entrepreneur out there, they probably had one or more stories of failure; trying different methods or even ideas before they finally hit the target. It’s easier to keep working on your ideas until you are sure you hit the gold mine than just starting blindly.
    
2. Identify and focus on a growing category. It’s undoubtedly a bad idea to put effort into designing vintage clothing styles when they are mostly used for costume parties these days. The idea here is that you need to identify the current trend in your chosen business area so that you can fit your plan accordingly.
    
3. Fill an underserved demand. What makes a good startup is its ability to fill a gap. Facebook filled a gap for real-time communication without phone calls while Google filled the gap by pulling together tons of information that would have taken ages to gather on a normal day, in real-time. In other words, your business idea has to fill a ‘want’ gap. This means you should identify the deficiency in your chosen field and seek ways to bridge that gap.
    
4. Test your idea with buyer persona research. You can do a quick market survey to test the waters and see if your idea is really what is needed. Nobody wants to sell a product or service nobody really wants. Doing that is simply setting the stage for a massive loss and disappointment. Get the opinion of some of your potential clients before you launch big.
    
5. Start with a minimum viable product (MVP). Before you roll out the big guns, start with something small and lowkey, a product that solves part of the problems you have set out to solve. Test the waters. Don’t just rush into things.
    
6. Create a business plan. This is important if you want to attract investors. Your business plan gives your investors an idea of what you intend to accomplish in a given timeline and also a projected profit. Even if you are planning to fund your business yourself, creating a business plan will keep you focused, with particular goals in mind at different milestones.
    
7. Create a website. This is the period of technology and social media. The majority part of the world gets their information online. Creating a website for your business helps put your business in the world view, especially with the right SEO tools.
    
8. Build your network. You need to sell your ideas to the world. Reach out to people and market your product. You can do that by sending cold emails and even paying for advertisements on social media platforms, other websites, or traditional media.
    
9. Raise money. As said earlier, with your business plan, you can approach financial institutions like banks and other investors for loans to kick start your business. You could also start small and use personal savings. Another method of funding is crowdfunding. Whatever method you use, make sure your head is in the right place and transact wisely. Plan your spending to maximise profits.
    
10. Grow your business. Lastly, it is important to grow your business. While some businesses may choose to stay small, growing may actually mean spreading your sphere of influence from your local area to increase the number of your customers. You may not need to increase the number of your employees, but you must constantly revisit your plans and update them to make sure your business can keep up with the competition.
     

What are the important attributes of an entrepreneur?

1. Perseverance, never a quitter – every great endeavour requires someone who does not give up easily. A great entrepreneur is tenacious and goal-oriented.
    
2. Great planner – great planning is important for the success of any business. An entrepreneur plans out every detail of the business without leaving anything to chance.
    
3. A visionary – entrepreneurs must have the visions to run with, otherwise, they stand the chance of failure. You must be able to think and see the big picture. That will keep you going and focused.
    
4. Focused – being easily distracted is not a good attribute of an entrepreneur. Being focused is essential as it means you don’t spend time on frivolities.
    
5. Risk-taker – a very important attribute of an entrepreneur. Every business owner takes a risk at one point or the other. What makes the difference between a successful venture and the one which is not is the ability to recognise the venture that will pay off.
    
6. Decisive – an entrepreneur should not be indecisive. Making the hard choices comes with the territory of being a business owner, no matter how small.
    
7. Passionate – a good entrepreneur is always passionate about their business goal. You can see it in their attitude and commitment.
    
8. Excellent manager – excellent management skills are a requirement for any great entrepreneur. If you don’t have it, you have to learn it. What keeps a business going is good organisational skills which come with good management skills.
    

Conclusion

Every new venture may seem scary at first. But the idea is to make a good plan and stick with it.

You may need to learn new skills along the way. You can either learn by being self-taught or take some diploma courses. You can even understudy established entrepreneurs so that you can learn from them and build on the knowledge.

Entrepreneurship is worth it and rewarding only when you have put in the work. That is when you can really reap the fruit of your labour. You don’t have to join the entrepreneurs whose businesses fail. Just learn to start small and scale up as you go. The sky is the limit.