Top Lessons I Learnt In Entrepreneurship
It’s been an interesting journey setting up new companies, trying them out and learning what works, what doesn't and why. Before, I used to think entrepreneurs fitted the common stereotypes. You know what I mean, the money or power hungry egotistical person who everyone really thinks is a jerk. Now, having gone through it myself and meeting other visionaries and entrepreneurs, I think differently. Deep down, entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) have one thing in common: the desire to make a difference. Either for themselves, or for the people they serve.
Here’s my top learnt lessons:
1. Entrepreneurship is leadership
Think about it. What does an entrepreneur do? They influence people to contribute or help to achieve the overall business goal.
What does a leader do? They influence people to contribute and help achieve the objectives of the organization (or their team).
In both situations, there are commonalities:
- leveraging on and needing other people (it is not a lone task),
- uniting and mediating between people or teams,
- developing efficiency,
- building trust and confidence,
- and having effective communication.
The only big difference I see are in the commercial gains. Entrepreneurs find skilled people, capture value on the work they do, and sell it to their customers at a price point to make a profit. Whereas leaders, develop people, elevate them to contribute at a higher level and gain the benefit of delegating some job responsibilities.
2. Communication and Marketing is the bloodline.
I started my career as a designer, and as a designer, I have realized that ‘we’ are great at communicating with each other about design topics, such as, ‘the design process’, ‘the future of the industry’, ‘design details’, ‘design celebrities/books’, ‘design methodologies’ etc. In entrepreneurship and business, it does not matter how deep your knowledge is about one specific subject. All people (investors, partners and customers) really want to know is: ‘what can you do for me to help me move forward? What impact will you have on their business?’ That is the key thing to communicate in your marketing. All the other stuff is just additional fluff, and kudos for your specialist area.
P.S if you are a designer, learn to speak in numbers (ROI, Sales figures, Growth %), this is the language business people understand.
3. Adaptability and persistence wins!
When starting a business you typically start assuming you can market ‘x’, and it will attract ‘x’ person, and you will make ‘x’ amount of money, in ‘x’ amount of time. The reality is, you don't know what you don't know.
I have learnt it is better to be ready to adapt and persevere. Offer your product or service to the market, knowing that you will have to tweak and refine it over time. You might find that you attract a different audience than expected. You might sell higher amounts at a different or packaged price point, than originally anticipated. Furthermore, you might come across external factors that force your customers to change — leaving you to adapt your existing product, service or business model to meet these new demands. Either way, be flexible, adapt and persevere through it.
4. Your cash flow is directly liked to the value of the problem you solve
If your product or service does not solve a problem — don’t expect anyone to pay for it. Now knowing this, I have met entrepreneurs that get stuck trying to think of a big new innovative way to solve a problem they feel is, kind of, being solved by someone else. Most of the time, you do not need to have a big brand-new way, just a slight adaption on the alternative. For example, every day clothing brands compete in fashion every day. They all solve the same fundamental problem - People needing every day clothes to wear. But how they differer is in the variants applied, such as styles, quality, marketing channels, location, size ranges, ethics, customer service etc.
5. Don’t expect everyone to stick around
This is both personally and professionally. Friends will soon get tired of you being too busy, having unpredictable cash flow or changing from the person they once knew etc. Colleagues, contractors, business partners, investors etc, will eventually drift off and pursue other ventures they feel are more lucrative or in line with their new needs. Don’t worry, it’s natural. Or, as they say, ‘It’s just business’. Every relationship serves a purpose on your journey. Just try to figure out a way for you to move forward and develop resilience.
6. Instead, be open to bonding with new, unexpected people
THIS is what life’s about. Finding people that get you and you get them. That’s when you help and connect with each other without even trying. Entrepreneurship and business involves heavy networking to connect and build your tribe. I have found myself having amazing conversations with people who I would have never usually crossed paths with. And I am sure some of them would say the same about me. Be open to change and changing.
Thanks for reading. I’m a Design Leader, writer and speaker. I help to create complete experiences for end-consumers and businesses.
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