It can seem these days that the world is wall-to-wall with self-proclaimed entrepreneurs, but while they may want the glory and satisfaction of business success, many are more ‘wantrepreneur’ than entrepreneur! They talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk, never quite achieving their full potential. So, if you want to build your own business, but want to avoid joining the ranks of such wannabes, try following these sure-fire steps for entrepreneurial success.
1. Just do it!
Wantrepreneurs make excuses, while entrepreneurs just get on and do it! Successful entrepreneurs jump right in. Talking about it endlessly and planning your business venture into the ground is not going to achieve your dreams. There comes a time when you just have to take a leap of faith and stop delaying. If you’re serious about becoming an entrepreneur, you just have to find something you’re passionate about – a vital component of business success – and get on with it. There will never be a time that is more ‘right’ to launch your business than now! Hesitating and overthinking things can lead to inertia – the enemy of the entrepreneur. If you want to avoid being a wantrepreneur, you need to keep moving forward and stop playing it safe. Risk-taking comes with the territory, and taking calculated risks can lead to true innovation and industry-leading success. What’s the worst that can happen? – You learn from your mistakes!
2. Keep learning
Indeed, the importance of continuing to learn, for entrepreneurial success, cannot be understated. Yes, learning from your mistakes is important – we all make them – but the key to success is to come back fighting, with a better plan next time. The most powerful lessons are learnt from everyday experience, and putting your plans into action. It is also vital to tap into the experience of longer-standing entrepreneurs than yourself by getting a business mentor. There is always something to learn and the shrewd, emerging entrepreneur recognises that they don’t know everything, so getting help is the way to go. When research has shown that getting a mentor doubles your chances of surviving in business for at least five years, you’d be mad not to! Continually building your entrepreneurial skills is also a savvy move, and getting the training you need to boost your business acumen is easier than you might think, with online courses that can fit around your workload, such as the Business Enterprise Series offered by Coreline, the training arm of entrepreneurship organisation LEO.
3. It’s not just about you!
If you want to really excel as an entrepreneur, you need to embrace the fact that you cannot go it alone. The team you set up around you and the connections you make by networking, play a vital role in your success and will take you to a much higher level than you can ever achieve solo. By building a strong team , as your business grows, you can form the foundations for a far brighter future. It is also crucial that you put yourself out there and speak to as many people as possible, nurturing a broad network of contacts, both face-to-face and online. As an entrepreneur, not a wantrepreneur, you need to become evangelical about your business. Although networking may not come naturally to you, this is the difference between sinking or swimming in the competitive world of commerce. So, it really is worth going outside your comfort zone to make valuable business connections.
4. Commitment is key
The difference between a wantrepreneur and an entrepreneur, is also that if you’re serious about achieving entrepreneurial success, you grasp the concept that what comes easy won’t last long and what lasts long won’t come easy. If you’re looking for an easy get-rich-quick scheme, you’re unlikely to excel as an entrepreneur. Commitment to your business venture, for the long haul, is key – this is not a nine-to-five job, so you have to be prepared to put in the hard work before you can reap the benefits. Whether you choose to start a business part time, fitting it around a full-time job, or run it full-time, you can’t afford to treat it like a half-hearted hobby, if you want to succeed – it takes 100% commitment to avoid being a wantrepreneur. A real entrepreneur has a vision of what they want to accomplish, sets a plan and methodically follows that plan, giving themselves step-by-step targets to achieve, until they reach their ultimate goal.
5. Bounce back
Finally, if you ask any really successful entrepreneur the secret of their success, they will almost always say ‘Never give up!’ It can take several attempts before you achieve business success, but the test of a true entrepreneur is the ability to learn from their mistakes and try, try, try again. Bouncing back from failures, with renewed resolve has seen some of the most successful entrepreneurs reach the top. You are bound to experience adversity along the way, but don’t beat yourself up about it. Just chalk it up to experience and keep going. In essence, the key is to not be afraid of being afraid – feel the fear and do it anyway! Surely, it is better to live a life where you tried and failed, than to look back and say, ‘what if’. So, let ‘never, never, never give up’ be your mantra, and no one can accuse you of being a wantrepreneur. You will have earnt your place in the elite club of real entrepreneurs, and be well on your way to success.
