BEST BUSINESS TIPS FROM 15 SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS You probably haven’t noticed, but the rate of business failures is increasing everyday. And in a recovering economy such as ours, starting and running a business successfully is not exactly the easiest of tasks. Success in business generally boils down to the level of information an entrepreneur has, and how effectively this information is managed.
If you’re thinking of starting a business, or already in the first three – six months of your business; then you’re in luck; take a look at the following business tips from 15 successful entrepreneurs to help you on your path to wild success in your business endeavors.
The best business tips comes straight from those who have been there and done that.
Below are best business tips from 15 successful entrepreneurs. Check it out.
Get a mentor
Learn as much as you can about your industry immediately. Become an expert in that industry. Obviously, there are plenty of resources out there between your library and the Internet, but also try to find a mentor who directly answers your questions. Any information is always good information
Daymond John
Founder, fubu
For any aspiring entrepreneur out there, it is needful that you start actively looking for a business mentor; particularly one that is well-placed in your industry, and who is where you want to be.
Work with a mentor, surround yourself with others who can support you on your journey to entrepreneurship. Get clear about how to manage your money when you are not getting a weekly paycheck
Nancy Sinclair Brooks.
These 15 entrepreneurs are successful in their own rights; here’s what they have to say.
- Richard Branson. He is one of world’s most recognizable billionaires, and the founder of virgin group. Sir Richard has successfully built an empire of more than 400 companies, including; airlines, record stores, publishing organisations etc.
The best businesses come from people’s bad personal experiences. If you just keep your eyes open, you’re going to find something that frustrates you, and then you think, ‘well maybe I could maybe do it better than it’s being done’, and there you have a business.
If you can improve people’s lives, you have a business. People think, ‘ well everything’s been thought of,’ but actually, all of the time, there are gaps in the market here and gaps in the market there.
- Sophia Amoruso. Founder of Nasty Gal; she transformed Nasty Gal from an eBay store into a multi million dollar empire with her own clothing line. In 2012, her clothing line was named the fastest growing retailer.
Don’t give up, don’t take anything personally, and don’t take no for an answer; you never know what you’re going to learn along the way.
The people who told me no, were the people that eventually told me yes; so don’t forget it.
- Arianna Huffington. Arianna is a co-founder of The Huffington Post. She is the author of the recent New York Times best-seller, ‘The sleep revolution’. She recently stepped down as the editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post to pursue her new wellness startup, Thrive Global, which will offer wellness trainings and workshops on stress reduction.
If you’re going to start a business, you need to really love it, because not everybody is going to love it. When The Huffington Post was first launched in 2005, there were so many detractors: I remember a critic who wrote that the Huffington Post was an unsurvivable failure.
When you get reviews like that, and detractors like that, you have to really believe in your product. When you really believe in your product, you are willing to deal with all the naysayers and persevere.
- Aliko Dangote. He is the founder of Dangote group, the largest indigenous industrial conglomerate in sub-saharan Africa. As of March 2018, he had an estimated net worth of $14.1 billion
To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.
- Tim Ferriss. Tim is a New York Times best-selling author of three books, including the 4-hour work week. He hosts the #1 ranked business podcast, and an entrepreneur in his right.
The best advice I’ve ever received is that you’re the average of the five people you associate with most.
I’ve actually heard this before from more than one person, including best-selling authors, Drew Houston of Dropbox, and many others who are icons of Silicon Valley. It’s something I re-read every morning. It’s also said that ‘your network is your net worth’. These two work well together.
- Chase Jarvis. Chase became one of the world’s most well-known photographers at a very young age. From there, he went on to cofounder CreativeLive, the world’s largest live streaming education company.
Scratch your own itch, go after solving a problem that you have. Something’s that near and dear to you. Not some random market opportunity.
Because when things get hard, if you’re chasing just the dollars, or a random market opportunity, you’re not going to be able to have the fortitude, the passion, to stay with it.
- Sol Orwell. Sol is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience, with 6 companies and 8 figures generated from his businesses, including Examine.com
I have to go with: inaction. New entrepreneurs tend to over think things that don’t really matter( logo, copy, etc) but instead of validating their idea, they get lost in the weeds.
The advice is simple; just do it. Do a minimum version, talk to some friends, and see if they would be interested in it. If so, make a quick version and go from there.
- Robert Herjavec. Robert is a leading authority on information security technology. A seasoned entrepreneur and investor who’s built and sold several companies to brands like AT&T.
You have 60 secs if you’re lucky. If you can’t make your point persuasively in that time, you’ve lost the chance for impact. Facts and figures are important, but it’s not the only criteria, you must present in a manner that generates expertise and confidence.
If you’re not prepared to make your pitch, you may just miss your next big opportunity.
- Lewis Howes. Author of the New York best-selling book, The School of Greatness, Lewis is the host of the top-ranked podcast, The School of Greatness. He is an online educator, writer and speaker.
Perfectionism cripples a lot of entrepreneurs. They won’t launch their site, or put their product up for sale, until they think it’s perfect, which is a big waste of time. It’s never going to be perfect.
Pitch your product or service as soon as you have the bare bones of it put together. This will give you valuable feedback about whether your market really wants it. You can polish it later.
- Larry Kim. Larry is the founder of Mobile Monkey, a next generation chat bot for marketers, and Wordsream, a leading provider of AdWords, Facebook, and keyword tools used by over a million marketers worldwide.
The biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs make is overestimating the novelty of their big idea.
Most often when I get pitched ideas, from first- time entrepreneurs, I ask ‘how is this different from X?’ Seriously, because it takes so much time and effort to go all-in on a business idea, you might as well wait for a truly great one.
- Charles Igwe. He is the CEO Nollywood Global Media Group. Charles has this to say to budding entrepreneurs.
Getting things done is better than having things perfect. Done is better than perfect. Whatever you have in your hands, get going with it, just do it.
- Oliver Madiba. Olivier Madiba is the founder of kiro’o games in Cameroon
Dreaming is good. But now your dream must be profitable. For example, you cannot find investors who will put funds in your project without them seeing the potential for profitability.
- Nkemdilim Begho. CEO of Future Software Resources Limited, Nkemdilim believes that;
It’s crucial to listen to your customers. Deliver on time and don’t over promise or underpromise or overpromise and underdeliver. I learnt to run my business very efficiently. It’s also important that you communicate and be responsive.
- Jack Dorsey. Jack is the founder of Twitter and Square. He has this advice for startups.
Having first mover advantage is over-rated. MySpace was a first mover. It’s more important to have an idea BEST than have it FIRST. There is always room for disruption. Constantly better yourself to stay ahead of the game.
- Mark Cuban. He is the owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Landmarks Theatres, Magnolia Pictures, and is the chairman of the HDTV cable network AXS TV.
What I always ask people is (1) is it dimy you love to do, and (2) is this something you’re good at?
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