How do you know you\u2019re ready for entrepreneurship?<\/p>\n
Getting ahead in the world of entrepreneurship takes a certain kind of DNA. It takes gumption and skill. It takes a lot of attributes that people who are willing to opt for safe, regular jobs just don\u2019t have. How do you know you\u2019re ready?<\/p>\n
When Steve Tan<\/a> first started with e-commerce in 2005, he was twenty-one. And when he was first getting into it, he threw himself into every possible opportunity. Internet marketing, AdSense, blogging, SaaS, ebooks \u2026 you name it, he touched it.<\/p>\n But there was one thing that stood out from the rest: eBay auctions.<\/p>\n By the time 2006 rolled around, Tan was only seeing real success on eBay.<\/p>\n He focused on that avenue, but the experience from the other niches he pursued remained\u2014and he put it to good use later, working through some failed e-commerce and crowdfunding ventures to reach success now as an e-commerce seller who\u2019s brought in over $360,000 in one day through one particular store.<\/p>\n And it all started because he had a niche that worked, and he took advantage of it. To quote former GE CEO Jack Welch, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have a competitive advantage, don\u2019t compete.\u201d If you\u2019ve found a niche that you think you have an advantage in, take advantage of it.<\/p>\n Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most successful entrepreneurs and businessmen on the planet. He\u2019s currently worth $77.5 billion, is known worldwide, and helms one of the most influential companies on the planet\u2014Facebook (you might have heard of it). But he\u2019s not immune to failure.<\/p>\n In 2014, he invested $2 billion in Oculus, a startup VR program. It was expected that Oculus would thrive, simply due to Zuckerberg\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t. In fact, even after price cuts, Oculus couldn\u2019t convince people to get into its VR experience enough to pay off on the investment.<\/p>\n Risk-taking is one of the foundational aspects of entrepreneurship. In fact, Zuckerberg\u2019s on record saying that the biggest risk is not taking any risks. You have to be willing to take the leap.<\/p>\n John Rampton is a motivator.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also a man who went to the very bottom, with his leg crushed, lying in a hospital bed and not knowing where his life was going to go. He started digging into innovative ways of doing business, taking advantage of early electronic marketing strategies like mass text messages.<\/p>\n From there, he transitioned into being a connector of people. He\u2019s one of the top social influencers in the world in the field of entrepreneurship and marketing, and these days he\u2019s known for speaking all around the world, coaching entrepreneurs and marketing other people.<\/p>\n One of the keys Rampton notes is to \u201cpromote purpose<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever the purpose of your business is (and you need one that\u2019s beyond \u201cmake money for me\u201d), you need to find a way to sell people on it. Purpose is an intrinsic motivator, especially for millennials, and great entrepreneurs have it in spades. Having a solid vision<\/a> is absolutely key\u2014first for yourself, then filtering down to others, because if you don\u2019t have it they won\u2019t either.<\/p>\n Rampton\u2019s a great entrepreneur in his own right, but no one tastes success without being able to convince other people of their vision. You can only go it alone for so long.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s employees or customers, you\u2019ll have to convince them that your vision is what\u2019s best for them. If you have that drive and that skill\u2014or you think you can build it\u2014you\u2019re on track.<\/p>\n Entrepreneurship\u2014and success in any setting\u2014is founded on fast decisions.<\/p>\n Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, used a principle<\/a> espoused by former US General George Patton in his decision-making: \u201ca good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week\u201d.<\/p>\n Too often, the decision-making process wastes an insane amount of time. Most entrepreneurs you talk to will say that the biggest thing that helped them when they started out was just starting<\/em>.<\/p>\n Taking less time to talk themselves out of it, less time checking what the pitfalls could be. There are many people who don\u2019t succeed because they spend so much time deliberating about what should be done that they don\u2019t actually do anything.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a call to be rash. But it is<\/em> a call to trim the fat from your decision-making. If you don\u2019t get bogged down in irrelevancy, e-commerce entrepreneurship might be for you.<\/p>\n Persistence is the hallmark of any successful entrepreneur. If you\u2019re going to compete, you absolutely have to have a mindset that failure is not the end<\/em>. Winston Churchill, well-known British prime minister and politician, noted once that \u201csuccess consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.\u201d<\/p>\n That sums up the entrepreneurial experience for many.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re starting a business, no matter how well you prepare\u2014no matter how much homework you do\u2014no matter how much money you have\u2014you will<\/em> fail. Those failures can be big, or they can be small.<\/p>\n But if you have the resilience that entrepreneurs have, you won\u2019t see failure as the end<\/a>. You can reinvent yourself, do something different, try other things. And when failures happen, you\u2019re decisive enough to not engage in the sunk cost fallacy. Cut your losses and move on.<\/p>\n2) You\u2019re Willing to Risk Failure<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3) You Can Motivate Others with Your Vision<\/strong><\/h2>\n
4) You\u2019re Decisive<\/strong><\/h2>\n
5) You Don\u2019t Think Failure\u2019s the End<\/strong><\/h2>\n
6) You\u2019re Resourceful<\/strong><\/h2>\n