Anyone can become an entrepreneur in this day and age. With fast access to information, resources, networks, and support, it’s almost literally as easy as ordering business cards. Yet while becoming an entrepreneur has never been easier, actually succeeding as an entrepreneur has never been harder.
So just how do you find success as an entrepreneur in this digital age?
Get a Kickstart
Many visionaries have found success through launch platforms like Kickstarter, or have whiled their way to success through YouTube. Mark Fischer, CEO and founder of mobile technology studio Dogtown Media has learned, “Startup founders have a duty to question the status quo, state a bold vision, hack the system, and disrupt everything they touch. Joining the club of entrepreneurship is easy; executing on the vision is hard.”
It’s that simple. It takes more than just a dream and passion to be a successful entrepreneur. You’ve got to be willing to take it to the next step, shake everything up, and become a true leader.
Embrace Change
Our digital world is constantly changing around us. This is great news because it keeps things fresh and fun, but it can also make being an entrepreneur a daunting task. With everything you already have to think about, worry over, and navigate around when you’re just starting out, it can be exhausting. When you’re running your own business, you are everybody: the CEO, receptionist, lackey, and grunt. You’re responsible for staying on top of changes in trends, laws, and processes. Now you add in accounting, eCommerce management, social media campaigns and data analytics, too?
It can be overwhelming, so have a plan to add the right people to your team once you’re able. Many entrepreneurs find success because they stay resilient and adjust well to change.
Things change very quickly in the fast-paced digital world, so you need to stay on your toes. Stay in contact with other entrepreneurs and embrace new digital technologies as they come out. You need to be strong, but not too set in your ways.
Turning Heads
Startups are continuing to pop up every single day, bringing with it an explosion of creativity and innovation. So with so much going on, how can these innovators make themselves stand out as different from the competition. It’s difficult to really step away from the crowd and it’s hard for investors to identify the companies that have the most potential.
It’s not enough to just provide a different kind of service or product. You need to be showing consumers why you can do it better than anyone else in the industry.
Get Off Your Duff and DO!
With so much information coming your direction and so many directions an entrepreneur can take a company, what many wind up doing is being shackled by indecision. It’s fine to study, plot, and plan. Brainstorming can accomplish a lot – if you move out of the brainstorming phase. But then you need to move forward and take action! At the end of the day, sitting around wishing for success won’t actually get you there.
Help For Entrepreneurs
Take any help you can get. You don’t need to know it all, and there’s nothing wrong with taking help from others. Every entrepreneur experiences some level of struggle when they’re first starting out. Put yourself ahead by getting comfortable with the fact you’ll be forever learning. Get advice from people who have already been there. Take every opportunity you can to ask for advice, listen to what guidance others offer, and to seek out successful mentors.
Accelerator programs exist as a means to help speed the process of starting a new business along. If you have the ability and time to take part in an accelerator program, it’s time well spent. These programs pair aspiring and new entrepreneurs with mentors, potential investors and other means of support.
Don’t forget to pay it forward. Spread what you’ve learned and help others coming along behind you. Author, speaker, and coach John Maxwell advises, “The true measure of leadership is not how much you achieve; it is how much you inspire others to achieve.”
Don’t Be Afraid of Failure
You’re going to trip and fall sometimes. You’re going to have some setbacks. Failure is inevitable. The way you react to it and whether or not you choose to learn from it is what really matters.