5 Secrets (That Aren't So Secret) To Being A Successful Entrepreneur

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So you’ve come up with an idea that you think might change the world, or at least a small part of the world in a way that you can turn a profit. Starting a business as an entrepreneur brings an incredible amount of unforeseeable obstacles as well as the predictable and equally burdensome routine challenges. Going into business with a startup is something that takes serious contemplation and some level of courage, making it qualified for the classification of a high-risk high-reward endeavor.

As an entrepreneur makes his or her way into the business world, accounting and management can be learned and mastered by anyone with the drive to succeed. But underneath all the details of starting a business lies an entrepreneurial spirit that some have and others don’t. That entrepreneurial spirit is what separates the successful from the mundane. Here I have gathered a list of five pieces of advice successful entrepreneurs often have for those who are just starting out, demonstrating lessons about how an entrepreneur should approach their craft.

1. Surround yourself with the right people

Obviously networking can be a big part of starting your own business. Getting to know the right people is always useful and making friends with people who work in similar industries can bring you into contact with others who will help your business succeed. But even further than that, making friends with similar goals and interests to your own can be beneficial to your career as an entrepreneur in ways that may not be obvious. Entrepreneur Jody Greene wrote an article for Forbes last year advising business owners to pick their friends wisely.

“Research has proven, she wrote, “that women who have peer to peer mentors on a regular basis are more successful, more willing to take risks and earn more money than those who do not have this type of interaction.”

Making business connections is important, but making friends with like-minded colleagues may be just as helpful.

2. Be ready to welcome change

If you’re an entrepreneur, then you know that the world needs some kind of change you can offer. Hopefully you have an idea that no one else has acted on and what you provide will be a valuable new innovation that’s worth paying money for.

But another important part of this to keep in mind is that change can be inconvenient and burdensome at times. Making your dream a reality will sometimes mean breaking away from your previous plans to take advantage of circumstances in front of you.

Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Shiller said:

“My standard advice is not to make the mistake of thinking too much in the framework of your life cycle, ‘I am at this age, it’s time for me to take my exams and graduate, then I have to find a spouse, then I have to do such and such.’ Consider that opportunities come once in a lifetime.”

Being an entrepreneur means you’re trying to facilitate change, so don’t try to keep change from coming into your own life.

3. Expect yourself to make mistakes

As the founder of Dunkin’ Donuts William Rosenberg said, ”Show me a person who never made a mistake, and I will show you a person who never did anything.”

As you go through the trials of starting your own business you will undoubtedly make a wrong decision every once in a while. Success as an entrepreneur will come through accepting the mistakes you’ve made, correcting them, and moving on.

4. Don’t give up

Starting your own business is no simple task and entrepreneurship is not for the weak-minded. Any successful entrepreneur will tell you it was hard work and dedication that got them to where they are now and this means making sacrifices. An entrepreneur can’t expect to see an immediate rise to fame and fortune and should treat major setbacks as necessary hurdles.

Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, said the best piece of advice he ever received about getting started was “It’s a competitive business, but don’t give up.” This advice may have been directed at the entertainment industry, but it applies to every type of entrepreneurship.

5. Stay hungry

Being successful is about more than just refusing to give up–you have to want what you’re working for.  An entrepreneur has to constantly be in search for better things to help him or her improve. As Dallas Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban said, “Do the work. Out-work. Out-think. Out-sell your expectations. There are no shortcuts.”

The best piece of advice concerning an entrepreneur’s drive to succeed comes from Steve Jobs’ commencement address at Stanford in 2005.

“Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Source: Flickr.com / Alfred Lin

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