This week’s post comes to us from guest blogger, Dave Landry. Dave specially crafted this article for the Bennis Inc blog to assist fellow “amateur entrepreneurs” and guide them toward successful endeavors. Be sure to visit Dave’s business web site for more information on the many skills he has to offer. Enjoy!
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In today’s economic environment, it is extremely important for a new breed of young entrepreneurs to take risks. As venture capital declines and direct investment opportunities increase, it really is a moment where new minds with elaborate new ideas can affect the world and embrace success.
With startup companies constantly appearing in the headlines, reports from the Kauffman Foundation show that startups have declined from 12 percent of all companies (since the 1980s) to less than 8 percent. It is now at its lowest point on record but as the Kauffman report writes “new firms and young businesses account for about 70 percent of gross job creation and disproportionately contribute to net job creation.”
Small business success is important to our economic recovery, adding a great amount of responsibility to those that are entrepreneurs. By taking the risk on new ideas that may become mainstream in the future, young entrepreneurs are incredibly vital to our economic system.
Here are seven extremely valuable tips for the young entrepreneur. By keeping these in mind, one can supply a focus to the difficult task of financially building upon your talent:
1. Create a star team
It is extremely vital to take as much time to create a team that will be strong for a startup. By honing in on strengths and weaknesses, a team can be formed over supplemental talents adding to its strength and focus.
2. Focus in on problems
Focus is what investors are most interested in. Creating a team that isolates problems, creates a proper strategy to execute a solution, and has a determined value is extremely useful for the starting entrepreneur.
3. Use failure as an inspiration
Everyday functioning for a startup can be filled with a certain amount of failures. Don’t unleash this frustration on colleagues, instead control your emotions. Mistakes can be used to coach others through their faults and toward future success.
4. Try not to work at home
Working from home can be amazing but it can also be constraining. If the lines of home life and work life are blurred, a young entrepreneur can become distracted and frustrated. If an office space seems too expensive, try sharing one or opting for a desk-for-a-day rental service that is priced well for an entrepreneur on a budget. It will also give you an added level of professionalism where you can meet clients in a real office setting.
5. Sharing Successes
A young entrepreneur should never feel the need to be too humble. Celebrating a success, no matter how big or small, inspires the team and makes investors and the public aware of your progress. By keeping a team happy through sharing each victory and by sharing them with your consumers/investors, everyone will feel a part of these small celebrations. Think of them as an adult equivalent of a gold star in elementary school!
6. Learn from past entrepreneurs
It’s important that a young entrepreneur learns from others. This can assist in starting a venture, save time and resources and most simply lend some aspiring wisdom! Literature by Venture Deals’ Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson are one helpful resources. Also try searching interviews or quotes from successful entrepreneurs such as Warren Buffett to hear how they overcame their career challenges.
7. Use spare time to reboot
Just like laptops need some time to rest, so do young entrepreneurs. By spending time with friends and family, or just getting some rest, someone approaching a new venture can utilize time away from work to approach their venture with invigorating motivation and a fresh mind.
Dave Landry Jr. is a businessman and financial strategist. Be sure and visit www.NationalDebtRelief.com to see what Dave and several others are doing to assist people during financial crises!
