It may seem strange, but anyone can learn entrepreneurship at any stage in life. In fact, an entrepreneur’s whole life is a learning process. With the right guidance and understanding of how this much sought-after enterprise unfolds, you can transform your existing business or start from scratch and build an upward trajectory.
However, there can be many ups and downs, and there is a whole set of guidelines which you should use as your arsenal so that you don’t lose heart to see new and unexpected circumstances.
To assist you in your entrepreneurial endeavors, we have collected some pieces of advice in the following, which might be helpful for you:
Types of Ventures to Choose From:
There is no special gene that makes anyone a successful entrepreneur. When we look at highly visible entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and others, they appear to be different from us; they look special. Notably however, it’s their product that has made them grow big.
There is a common narrative of an entrepreneur as a lone hero. However, research shows that having more founders adds to the prospects of success. Similarly, the choice of co-founders is also very important. You should thoroughly analyze their track record and personality before forming a team with them.
Innovation is a term we come across quite frequently. In simple terms, it is the product of an Idea and its Commercialization.
Innovation= Invention*Commercialization
Some scholars think it is innovation + Commercialization. However, according to Bill Aulet, it is not a sum, but a product. If there is no invention and only Commercialization is there, the product is zero. Similarly, if there is no commercialization and only an invention is there, the product is again zero.
An invention can be any idea, a technology or an intellectual property. Having an invention is very important. However, an entrepreneur does not always need to create an invention. In fact, the inventions that have made success possible for many great entrepreneurs came from somewhere else.
For instance, in the case of Steve Jobs, inventions such as the computer mouse created by Xerox PARC, were already there. He just had to identify it and commercialize it effectively through Apple.
Similarly, Google, which has made most of its money through AdWords, a text based, keyword-oriented advertisement, did not originally invent it. Rather, a company named Overture had invented it. Whereas Google picked it up and commercialized it. It found success in doing so.
Pay full attention to do this research, at least a few weeks. Make sure to talk to customers in the target market to get good data. In this regard, make sure you conduct a primary market research. The sooner you do it, the better.
Importantly, don’t just search on the internet or debate the market opportunities and dynamics in your office.
Don’t let your market analysis be a never-ending process because there is no perfect assessment or a perfect opportunity. Moreover, just need an overall assessment that helps you move forward.
Entrepreneurs understand and manage risk. Their strategy is to take a moderate risk. They do not gamble; they do not avoid risk. Rather, they tread a measured path.
Achievement oriented people find uncertainties interesting. They go ahead with providing solutions to unseen problems, even without guidelines.
You know that you are going to make many right decisions which can cause stress and discomfort in the short term. Decision making can take a toll on nerves. But this is exactly where an entrepreneur must stand strong.
Entrepreneurship is a state of mind, a skill and a habit. In the modern world, we have seen entrepreneurs make fortunes more often than any other class. Hence, if you have an aspiration, entrepreneurship can be a life-changing undertaking.
