What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurship, despite the recovering economy, is a booming industry. Small businesses are, and continue to be, the backbone of the economy. With that, we wanted to give a shout out to all of our customers, friends, and family that are either thriving or aspiring to become entrepreneurs.

If you are currently an entrepreneur and want to share your success story with us, we would love to feature your business on our website!

Just Follow These 4 Steps:

• Tell us about why you chose to became an entrepreneur
• How you overcame obstacles
• How you drive your business’ success
  • Email [email protected] with your story!

For those of you who are thinking of becoming entrepreneurs, let us first establish what it means to be an entrepreneur.

An entrepreneur is someone who takes initiative, and makes a leap in organizing and operating a business. Anyone is capable of becoming an entrepreneur! When you come up with new ideas, think outside of the box, and act on these innovations ideas, you are taking the first steps to becoming an entrepreneur.

 However, there is a big difference between wanting to become an entrepreneur, and succeeding as one. Let’s take a look at what characteristics make a successful entrepreneur.

• Support
  • A successful entrepreneur has a strong support network. No entrepreneur does it on their own. This begins with the very conception of entrepreneurship! You need to be able to sell your idea to your family and friends first. They have the ability to poke holes in your ideas, ask questions you might not have the answers to, or tell you that they don’t have a clear idea of what it is your start-up business is trying to accomplish. After this initial pitch,  you’ll know you have more groundwork to complete. If you can sell them on your business model then you are ready to take the next step in presenting to future investors, business partners, and banks for financing.
    • Role Models & Advice:
      • As part of an entrepreneur’s support team, it is important have a role model who can act as a figure of influence and inspiration. Don’t go through the hardship of trying to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when you can ask questions and learn from others who have made a similar journey. Becoming a successful entrepreneur means understanding what has made previous entrepreneurs successful and adopting those tactics.  

• Business Mindset
  • What makes or breaks a start-up company can sometimes be the lack of a business mindset. Many entrepreneurs create start-ups because they are unemployed. They have ideas, but don’t have the motivation to keep it going. In order to be a successful entrepreneur you need to be driven and have the ability to think strategically and innovatively in order to move from a hobby to a business. Becoming a business owner requires you to stick to your vision and develop a strategy to acquire income and use this to grow your business. Document your processes, your milestones, and what you hope to achieve. Use this as a guide when you have questions on your innovative journey. That way, you will be equipped with the information to back up your statements.

• High Risk Assessment
  • It is important to be able to understand risk and make educated, well informed decisions. As a start-up owner you need to be able to accept trials of uncertainty and be prepared for a multitude of outcomes. A general rule of thumb rings true in entrepreneurial circles: “Plan for the best, Prepare for the worst!”

• Investment Capital
  • All businesses start with great expenditures. You must invest in your business in order for it to reach any potential in the market. Because of this, you need to make sure your company has the funds to outlive the beginning stages of business and either hit the threshold of breaking-even or gaining a positive net profit. The lack of money can prematurely close down a potentially successful business. For a savvy entrepreneur, make sure you plan out your expenses ahead of time and plan on having enough money to manage and run your company at a loss for the first few years. Spend wisely and carefully. Annotate how, with each expense, your company will grow and turn a profit. 

As a budding entrepreneur, sometimes a lot of what you are looking at is cost.  Take advantage of FREE tools and resources to make your life easier. Below are 5 free tools and websites to help you start and manage your business.

1.      Google Workspace

• Google provides free resources on a majority of their services including Google calendar, email, and contact directories; There are also file management, and marketing analytics data to be found in Google Analytics, and Google Drive.  Access and share your files from anywhere using ‘Google Docs.’ Analyze your marketing strategy, and plan content with keyword research  with data using Google Analytics. Advanced business services are available with a subscription to Google Workspace.

2.      Evernote

• Evernote acts as an electronic notebook that can be synced and accessed from any device. Take notes, share notes, organize, and present your data. Always  keep your information available and accessible.

3.      Mint

• A simple application that can help you manage your finances in an organized and efficient manner. Categorize your recurring costs and calculate your monthly, quarterly, and annual spending.

4.      Start Up Stash

• This website can help you identify key stepping stones you will need as a start-up business. The website provides you with a “stash” of the industry leading resources to help you figure out your marketing, website, financial strategies and more!

5.      Code academy

• Learn how to code and build an online presence for your website. Take things into your own hands and learn what it takes to update, fix, and debug your website or application’s code. This will help you with both the creation of your own website, as well as understanding the structure of websites that will influence marketing and competitor strategies.