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How to begin as an Entrepreneur
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What is an entrepreneur?
According to Merriam-Webster, an entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” They often take on greater risk than the average business person, possibly reaping greater rewards. Economists recognize entrepreneurship as an essential resource in production. Entrepreneurs use land, labor and capital to give back to the economy by providing goods and services.
For most new projects, an entrepreneur creates a business plan that lays out the resources required for hiring, financing and the leadership of a new business. Capital funding can be hard to come by for new entrepreneurs and their projects, so they often start small and invest their own resources into the project. Some entrepreneurs start projects alone, taking on the risk-reward ratio with little help. Others, however, seek partnerships. With the benefit of additional credit and resources, businesses tend to grow faster, seeing greater success.
To succeed, entrepreneurs coordinate with capitalist economies. They're identified as a resource that can build profit and provide new opportunities. Entrepreneurs make difficult decisions, often taking risks to achieve their goals. It's because they're willing to take these risks that entrepreneurs make a significant impact on their local economies.
“Entrepreneur” is an exciting title for many as it can be a fulfilling and rewarding career. The entrepreneurial path tends to start with a great idea. You may turn to your friend and say “wouldn’t it be great if…?” and your wheels start turning on what resources and technology you might need to bring this idea to life. Those interested should create a plan and include the following steps on becoming an entrepreneur:
Identify a problem.
Expand your formal and informal education.
Build your network.
Reach financial stability.
Solve the problem with a business idea.
Test the idea.
Raise money.
After you’ve come up with your great idea—like a restaurant concept, delivery service, coaching specialty or new app—you can then start creating the business plan. Often, you’ve found a concept or process that will make consumers’ lives easier. For example, after watching the news, an entrepreneur finds that their city lacks sufficient daycare centers for the working population. Through further research, the entrepreneur discovers that surrounding counties share the same problem.
Education is essential in an entrepreneurial career. This may be a college degree program, apprenticeship or a variety of work experience. You will want to learn the basics of business and build your vocabulary, as well as have solid business acumen. Problems occur frequently when starting a business and knowing how to overcome them is vital for the entity to thrive.
Before getting started, you may want to explore a variety of success stories—and even failures—of certain business entrepreneurs. Doing so, will likely both help you comprehend the tenacity that’s required, and inspire you to make the seemingly impossible, possible. Start by following entrepreneurs from your university or alma mater or even find influencers on social networking sites. Famous entrepreneurs who have made a demonstrative impact with their projects include Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Marc Cuban, Anne Wojcicki, Reshma Saujani, Sara Blakely, Kendra Scott, Bill Gates and Michael Dell.
It can be challenging to get a business venture going, but you can make it easier by enlisting help from other professionals or mentors. Those who take the time to network and make new connections can gain valuable benefits. Contacts may provide helpful starting loans, relevant advice or present new and greater opportunities.
Look for entrepreneurs among family, friends, neighbors or university alumni networks and reach out to them for informational interviews. Consider yourself an investigative reporter and make it your goal to learn two to three things from each of them about entrepreneurship. Take copious notes.
Also, take the time to learn about angel investors and funding for entrepreneurs and small business grants. You can find grant information on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website.
Although it's possible to obtain additional capital, experts advise that new entrepreneurs have a decent amount of savings, since they may lose money on their first business. Do not hesitate to work with a financial expert on what your P&L (Profits & Losses) worksheet may look like one, two and three years out. Many entrepreneurs find that they really start to turn a profit in three to five years and a lot can change in the market during that time. If you have a back-up stream of income, support or an additional pool of money, this can make the transition to a new business idea easier to manage and help educate your expectations.
Continuing with the previous example, the entrepreneur's solution is to open a childcare facility with multiple corporate partners who support the tri-county area. With so many businesses employing parents with small children and no business already providing dependable childcare, there's plenty of customers and revenue to be made. The entrepreneur can now formulate their business plan.
The entrepreneur’s idea is solid, but they need to test it. Local business owners are the best place to start. So, the entrepreneur surveys multiple business owners in the area, assessing their need—and the need of others they might know—for childcare. Results show that the vast majority are unsatisfied with their current childcare, citing long commutes and/or work interruption as their chief complaints.
The entrepreneur learns two valuable pieces of information:
Most community members need the service.
There are three large employers with a sufficient amount of employees and potential onsite daycare space.
A competitor analysis can provide areas of improvement in the business plan.
It's good to have savings to fall back on, but the entrepreneur may need a lot more to start the business. There are three primary ways to obtain capital:
Bootstrap. This term refers to the act of starting a business without help. It can be done by cutting costs or using an individual's own money.
Apply for a loan. A common method for raising capital is applying for a bank loan. It may not be possible to apply for a small business loan this early on. However, individuals can apply for generic loans to cover start-up costs. The U.S. Small Business Administration provides more details on small business loans.
Find an investor. Networking helps in finding those who can provide financial aid. Pitching a business plan to an angel investor is a great option. Otherwise, the individual may need to contact a venture capitalist firm. These firms require entrepreneurs and their businesses to meet specific requirements to apply.(10).png)
If you’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, you likely have several questions. Here are the most common questions you might have:
Are there any educational requirements?
How do new entrepreneurs advertise their business on their own?
Do entrepreneurs need to be creative?
How do new entrepreneurs start a business on their own?
What are the common barriers to becoming an entrepreneur?
Can you start a business in college?
Entrepreneurs are in business for themselves. Since they're often their own boss, entrepreneurs may not need higher education. There are plenty of helpful resources on the internet to guide individuals on their new career paths. Having a college degree can be very beneficial, however. degrees in business, economics or a related field offer valuable insight into the field. Earning a Master’s in Business Administration may look better to potential investors than no degree at all.
A lot of life experience can also help. For example, if you have worked in customer service, hospitality, the service industry or even healthcare, you have a true sense of many elements to make a business successful and also unpredictable scenarios. This can help you to be adaptable and flexible to juggle your learning with your action steps to bring your idea to life.
Advertising is expensive and takes proper instruction to truly understand. For those without degrees, the internet provides resources and even introductory courses to advertising. Entrepreneurs may not always need a complicated campaign or scripted commercial. They can instead use digital marketing to advertise their business. Social media platforms allow business owners to advertise on their sites and even offer guides on how to use their ad management systems.
One key thing is to consider the power of “word-of-mouth” marketing. You may want to understand your target market and how would they help be your best advocate. This includes being clear on your values, mission, products and services as well as how you’re different from your competition.
It is helpful to harness creativity to conceptualize a business since the entrepreneur's goal is to come up with creative solutions to problems. Each entrepreneur may have a different sense of creativity (art, marketing, finances, promotions, partners). It is important to have strong skills such as mathematics and problem-solving to really bring your ideas to life.
Each helps entrepreneurs succeed by providing them with the guidance, tools and resources they need to setup their company and gain exposure.
1. Entrepreneur Connect Entrepreneur
Connect is specifically for entrepreneurs and small business owners where have the opportunity to create your own profile, explore the community, share ideas with other entrepreneurs and network. Unlike most social networks, this one frowns upon too much self-promotion and applauds idea sharing.
2. PartnerUp
PartnerUp is a social network for entrepreneurs who are searching for people and resources for business opportunities. Anyone can join, but business partners, co-founders, executives and board members will get the most out of this one.
3. StartupNation
Most social networks neglect the content aspect that makes StartupNation so useful. With articles, forums, blogs, on-demand seminars, and podcasts, entrepreneurs will be better prepared for their ventures and have the resources required to make better business decisions.
4. LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers many resources for entrepreneurs, such as groups, including the very popular “On Startups” group that has over 54,000 members. Entrepreneurs on LinkedIn should brand themselves properly so they can attract the right kind of business opportunities, and perform searches to find service providers or partners. As an entrepreneur, you should also be looking to participate in LinkedIn Answers, events and applications to spruce up your profile and become a valuable member to your community.
5. Biznik
Biznik is composed of freelancers, CEOs, and the self-employed. Like the other networks, this is a place for you to share ideas, instead of posting your resume.
6. Perfect Business
If you want to meet thousands of serious entrepreneurs, experts and investors from a variety of industries, then Perfect Business might be the perfect social network for you. The type of people you’ll find are potential business partners, potential clients and advisers. Additionally, the site has leading business partners like Entrepreneur and Virgin Money.
7. Go BIG Network
The Go BIG Network embraces job seekers, in addition to funding sources, service providers and entrepreneurs.
8. Cofounder
The Cofoundr network is made up of idea makers, entrepreneurs, programmers, web designers, investors, freelancers and executives. The primary purpose of joining this network is to start a new web venture. Unlike most of the social networks already listed here, Cofoundr is a strictly private network, which means that you can’t view member profiles before you register for an account.
9. The Funded
The Funded is an online community of entrepreneurs who research, rate and review funding sources.
10. Young Entrepreneur
If you’re young, entrepreneurial and socially active or just curious, then Young Entrepreneur is a great starting point for you
11. Markethive ( First Social Market Network on Blockchain)
Markethive is an all in one 100% FREE Inbound Marketing System for entrepreneurs & has the combined power of Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketo and Amazon.
The Greatest Market Network Ever Built!
This Billion Dollar Platform is now available to you for Free!! Markethive is an all in one 100% FREE Inbound Marketing System for entrepreneurs...
Plus, we are built on the Blockchain which allows Airdrops of 250 HiveCoin , upon joining and micropayments for using the tools mentioned above.
This premier hybrid social network includes news feeds, blogging platforms, video channels, chat channels, groups, image sharing, link hubs, resume, profile page and peer to peer commerce.
But more than a social network, we have also delivered to you “Inbound Marketing tools” like broadcasting, capture pages, lead funnels, autoresponders, self-replicating group tools, traffic analytics, and more.
100% Free to everyone to start...
MarketHive members are growing in their level of excitement as the impending launch of MarketHive is growing ever closer.
The excitement seen in the various comments made by members as well as the excitement expressed by the MarketHive team itself is palpable and with each passing day we know that the first official day of MarketHive is quite literally just around the corner a wee bit down the tracks.
The train has already left the station and has entered the tunnel of metamorphosis.
Very soon MarketHive will enter into it's cocoon and begin it's 30 day metamorphosis from a beta company into a fully matured adult company just 30 days later. MarketHive is going to be far more than a mere adult butterfly, but instead is going to be a business portal for many thousands of entrepreneurs globally.
The premium upgrade will be bought by thousands of members very soon after launch I predict because MarketHive offers substantial benefits for the small cost of the premium upgrade. However... Right now in this moment we all have the extremely RARE opportunity to be able to reap a substantial portion of the profits of MarketHive through the Entrepreneur One (E1) upgrade. BUT, the E1 upgrade will be no longer sold via MarketHive once we launch to the world!!!
We are quite literally 'down to the wire' and only those who ACT FAST will be able to obtain your own E1 while they are still available.
We are so close to launching that I'm starting to feel it in my bones. We don't have the date for the launch yet, however I am almost certain that the announcement will be made during one of the next 3 meetings and then the E1 will be on a countdown timer.
You really need to watch the video Tom ( The CEO) posted explaining the ILP and how incredible it is going to be for the FEW, WISE E1 upgrades and his projections of what each ILP can generate for you.
At ONLY $100 per E1 upgrade you can't go wrong getting multiple E1 upgrades.
You will be able to sell them later in an internal marketplace for much more than the total cost of the E1, so that is a consideration too.
There are so many different ways that you receive more value than the small $100 monthly cost plus you receive the ILP after the E1 has been paid for.
Of course right now we can get 50% of an ILP after just 12 consecutive monthly E1 payments and with 2 E1s you would have a complete ILP after just one year whereas it normally would take 10 YEARS to achieve that and $12,000.
Instead we can now earn a complete ILP after 2 E1 monthly payments of $200 each or $2,400! That is a simply gargantuan benefit of getting the E1s right now!
I hope you will join the ranks of the E1 members today!
If you're an entrepreneur, you'll want to experience Markethive for yourself.
Get signed up today.
To get started, click HERE <<<
To your success!
Andries van Tonder
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Serial Entrepreneur/investor since 2013.
South Africa.
Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter, WebTalk, Instagram & Markethive
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