1.It’s Not Just about the Profits.
If the profits don’t come you’ll be greatly disappointed to the point of giving up.
Entrepreneurship should never be about profit. It should be centered on giving value. Profit comes after the value you're giving supersedes what customers are expecting.
2. Create the Job Opportunity For You
Opportunities for entrepreneurship far exceed existing job opportunities by a millennium, because new job opportunities are waiting for you to create them.
Most people change jobs for two reasons:
- The job isn’t as exciting as they thought. First it was the money, but when the money came, the job became boring.
- The money. Yes, who doesn’t need money? But money doesn’t satisfy the needs of the soul.
Create an opportunity you’ll enjoy to work in for the next 30 years.
3. Cut down on Your Spending
Cut down on your spending and invest time and money to take care of your business. The time will come when the business will take care of you.
If you decide to go into entrepreneurship then be prepared to cut down on all luxury spending because you'll need to save every penny for the many months you'll go without a steady income.
4. Wear A Different Mindset Hat
YES, becoming an entrepreneur is no easy feat, but the hard part to change is actually your mind. It took me 7 years to change mine. I know you may not believe this, but many times I wanted to change I found myself thinking and acting like an employee. Yours may take longer or shorter, depending on the environment you come from.
Entrepreneurship is different from a job. In a job, you get an intact fixed salary at the end of each month, so you can always predict your income. With entrepreneurship, you may earn many disparate amounts of income so scattered over the month that you may sometimes feel discouraged.
5. Change Your Plans at Short Notice
Circumstances change. Markets change. People change. Without notice.
So, be prepared and flexible, to change your plans at short notice. Remember, business is customer-driven, therefore go where your customers are.
In entrepreneurship you can always change your plans when one plan doesn't work or when a plan fails.
Don't worry when things don't go well or the way you expected. This is normal. Instead, worry when everyone is praising you and giving you accolades. This is the time to worry and think hard about what can possibly bring your business down.
6. Never Give Up
I’m you’ve heard this cliché many times. That’s probably because it’s true.
The greatest mistake you can make as an entrepreneur is give up. And the greatest disservice you can do for your business is to lose patience. There's a saying among entrepreneurs, that “the darkest part of the night is just before dawn". That's when the stars don't shine their light and the light of the sun is below the horizon.
7. No One Was Born An Entrepreneur
Don’t believe this? Have you seen any child born with a silver spoon? It doesn’t happen.
People who were born in entrepreneur homes, just found themselves there. They didn’t choose to be born there. So, it doesn’t matter where you were born or where you come from.
We’re all technically at par when we’re born. What matters is where you’re going and what you decide to do about it.
I know…Many skeptics won’t agree with me, but that’s Ok. Skeptics never won the game of life.
You don't have to be born an entrepreneur or in a family of entrepreneurs to become a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can be learned just like any other career.
8. Formal Education Doesn’t Teach Entrepreneurship
You heard that right. Most successful entrepreneurs are self-made. This is because entrepreneurship is never taught at school. They take it upon themselves to self-educate themselves and also learn from others.
Not that formal education is bad. It’s just that it wasn’t designed for entrepreneurship. You’ll not find many entrepreneurship books in the school library.
But you’ll certainly find a ton of entrepreneurship books in the public library and in the street. I call it street education. It’s looked down upon by university professors, because it doesn’t comply will the school curriculum. It’s brushed aside by scholars who want to preserve their dignity. It’s dismissed by the working class because it doesn’t appear prestigious.
It’s embraced and celebrated by entrepreneurs because it’s written by entrepreneurs.
9. You’re Not the King, Customer Is King — Remember That!
The most important part of entrepreneurship is a customer. Customer is king. If you don’t treat the customer as King, they’ll just walk away to where they’re treated as such.
The sweetest music you can hear is a happy customer. Every entrepreneur knows when the customer is happy they’ll ungrudgingly give you the money and even refer their friends.
10. Prepare for Failure.
Failure is inevitable. Mistakes are inevitable. For this reason expect failure to happen any time, especially when things seem to go well, because there are so many things that can go wrong.
A business is tested, just like a person is tested. However, businesses have no voice. You are it's voice. It's your responsibility to defend the business to death.
11. One Loyal Customer Is Better Than a Thousand Lukewarm Ones
80% of your income will always come from 20% of your customers. Remember this rule. It’s time tested.
One loyal customer is better than a thousand irregular customers or one time customers who never come back, so, be wise and identify who these customers are and reward them sometimes. Customers cost money.