by Sumeet Manhas
Republished from GoodMenProject, July 18, 2018
Becoming an entrepreneur can be exciting and rewarding. There are, however, a number of things you’ll need to master as fast as possible to start and grow your business to be successful.
To blossom and bring your ideas to life, you’ll need to know what, how, and when on a number of business decisions. The following can be an excellent primer for your future entrepreneurial endeavors.
1. Money, Money, Money
Money is, of course, an obvious one. However, it may not be what you think. Gathering enough funding to start your business may prove challenging. The seed money you round up from friends, family, crowdfunding, and your savings will serve as the catalyst.
But sadly the money game is nowhere near over. Did you know that 29 percent of startups fail because they run out of cash? To be a successful entrepreneur you’ll need to consistently hunt down funding and keep the flow of cash steady for your business to succeed.
This should be your top priority as the founder. Get a general idea of how much funding you’ll need to sustain your first few years after your seed money dries up. Then make a plan and ensure cash flow never becomes an issue.
2. Figure it Out Yourself
With money and budget in mind, don’t be the founder that hires a handful of employees and start outsourcing everything. This is a sure fire way to quickly deplete your cash flow.
Instead of spending unnecessary money, learn how to do multiple startup processes yourself. For example, any entrepreneur building their first business can easily do social media marketing with a little research.
Another very costly expense is building a website. You can spend $2,000 minimum getting your website developed and optimized. Or you can do it yourself. Launching a WordPress site is actually pretty easy these days with a little due diligence.
Don’t spend money on things you can quickly learn how to do. Once you know how to do them, you will be able to manage your team better in the future as well. Now if it is too technical, lean on the professionals for help.
3. Prioritize What’s Most Important
Once you begin working on your new entrepreneurial endeavor, you’ll find it challenging to keep up with the daily tasks. But this is normal and shouldn’t be a discouraging moment.
The digital era has ushered in a number of productivity apps and platforms that can help you streamline nearly every business process, from task management to invoicing new customers.
For example, Trello can help you stay organized with highly productive task management, allowing you to knock out the most important tasks first in the day, week, and month.
4. Don’t Buy Anything
Circling back to cash flow, don’t start buying office or warehouse space from the get-go. The entrepreneurial journey is most certainly not a straight line. There will be ups and downs with plenty of unforeseen expenses.
Before you buy any property, computers, etc., work from home, rent space, and use the tech gadgets you already have. This allows you to minimize cost in those early stages and keeps your startup from being a failure statistic.
Steve Jobs is a good example, toiling day and night with Steve Wozniak in the garage of the Job’s home until they built enough equity to rent a place. Until your spare bedroom becomes unbearable, don’t run out and start buying office space.
5. Market Test Your Idea
One of the most essential elements of becoming a successful entrepreneur is passion. One of the biggest pitfalls of entrepreneurs is passion. Yes, you may think your business idea is the greatest ever, but is there a place for it in the marketplace at the moment?
This makes market testing absolutely vital to your growth and success. In fact, the number one reason startups fail is no market need with an estimated failure rate of 42 percent.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to market test your idea. You can run Facebook lead generation ads to see your target audience’s interest. If you run a targeted ad and see good results, you know you’re onto something.
6. It’s Hard, But Keep Going
Entering the world of entrepreneurism is definitely rewarding, whether you’re a stay at home parent looking for a passive income, or a full-fledged startup. However, the time commitment and challenges you’ll face are all too real.
Staying positive and breaking down obstacles is just another part of being an entrepreneur. Be ready for anything, be motivated, and you will find success in any venture. What advice can you give to budding entrepreneurs?