Starting and running a successful business is a not so easy task for you as an entrepreneur. There are too many difficulties and obstacles you will need to pass. In my practical experience, I made too many mistakes with one of my businesses. How can you become a successful entrepreneur?
Here, I want to extract 50 different pieces of advice or suggestions that I have brainstormed from my own experience and learning. This list was made in the past several years when I write all items on a piece of paper.
Here are 50 pieces of advice to become a successful entrepreneur:
1. Think twice before you start your company. You need to prepare yourself physically and psychically. As I mentioned before, you will have many obstacles on your entrepreneurial journey. It is not an easy journey from point A to point B.
2. Business ideas book. You will need such a book because as a successful entrepreneur you will need a place where all of your ideas will stay until you start implementing them. Use business idea books to note every idea that comes to your brain.
3. First quantity over the quality of ideas. Don’t think about the quality of your ideas just note them into your business idea book. You will analyze them later.
4. Always try to increase your creativity. You really need to be a creative person. Entrepreneurs are creative people. So, be creative about your idea.
5. Unique business ideas. You need to be unique. So, your business ideas will need also to be unique. Think about the uniqueness of your business idea.
6. Develop your market. You need to do your homework analyzing your potential market if you want to become a successful entrepreneur. Find the right market and what that market want.
7. Your brand – your business name. Choose the best business name for your small business. Even it looks that now it is not important, it is still important for the future.
8. Your brand – logo. Create an excellent business logo. Think about how it will communicate the value you offer to your customers.
9. Develop your business plan. Spend some time on the development of your business plan. You will need it if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
10. Actual situation VS forecasts. Spend time to check actual situations with forecasts in your business plan.
11. List of potential customers. You need to start building a list with your potential customers from the early beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.
12. Networking. Use networking, before and after your startup stage. Your networking skills are important if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
13. Customer relationship. Start building the customer relationship. Only in such a way you can succeed with exponential business growth.
14. Social media. Today, you can not succeed in the business world without social media. Use social media tools because they are so powerful.
15. Improve your skills. Don’t stop improving your skills. You will need to continuously improve your own skills.
16. Learn, learn and learn. Don’t think that you know everything. You will have too many things to learn as a successful entrepreneur.
17. Work-life balance. Find the right way how to balance your personal and your work life.
18. Your business team – employees. Hire the best possible employees for your small business. They will increase your business potential energy and you will become a successful entrepreneur.
19. You are not alone on your entrepreneurial journey. Ask for help when you need it. Don’t try to do everything yourself alone.
20. Patience. Be patient, success is not something that comes overnight.
21. Sales funnel. Always think about improvements to your sales funnel.
22. Delegate. Start delegating non-important activities to your employees.
23. Changes. See changes as something normal and something that never stops.
24. Resistance to changes. Don’t resist changes.
25. Suggestions. Allow and use employees’ suggestions about possible improvements.
26. Listening. Always listen to what your customers want if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
27. Benefits instead of products. Sell benefits to your customers, not products or services.
28. Remove possible fears. Don’t fear possible mistakes, learn from them.
29. Take risks. Entrepreneurs are risk-takers.
30. Marketing. Never stop marketing your business.
31. Promotion. Promote your business even you think that it is not the right place for promotion.
32. Communicate with everyone. Talk with people and share your ideas.
33. Business blogging. Use the business blog to promote your business. This is one of the most important weapons for you as a successful entrepreneur today.
34. Testimonials. Ask for testimonials and use them for your promotional activities. In such a way you will increase your social capital for your small business.
35. Competitors aren’t your enemies. Don’t think that your competitors are your enemies. Learn from them and use their mistakes.
36. Price is not your competitive advantage. Don’t compete only with prices. This is a bad strategy.
37. Experiments. You need to experiment with everything in your company. Try to test everything that you start. Experiment failures don’t mean you are not on the way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. They are possibilities to learn and improve your next steps.
38. Spending. Don’t spend money on other ventures that you don’t know. Focus on what you have started building.
39. Profit. Try to increase the profit from each sale.
40. Sales strategies. Use different sales strategies like up-selling and cross-selling.
41. Automation. Automate everything that can be automated.
42. Time management. Use your time in the most effective way if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
43. Personal effectiveness and efficiency. Be effective and efficient. This means that you will need to do the right things in the right way.
44. Business effectiveness and efficiency. Make your business effective and efficient.
45. Analysing. Always analyze things around and into your business.
46. Measurement. Measure the most important metrics inside and outside your small business.
47. Reputation and image. Think and continuously improve your reputation and image. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you will need a high level of reputation in the eyes of your customers.
48. Save money. Always think about saving money and cutting unnecessary costs. You will need money for the possible “bad days”.
49. Prepare for the worst scenario. Be ready for “bad days” as they will come tomorrow and work as they will never come.
50. Vision. Think about the future and positions of your business in that future.
