How to Become an Entrepreneur

by Living On Dividends

All entrepreneurs start as unabashed optimists.

Even those that fail.

But the successful ones have one thing in common: They act. And more importantly, they act until they get it right.

If you are getting into entrepreneurship, there are a number of battle tested actions you can take to get off to a successful start. This is the practical advice that I recommend to friends who aspire to be entrepreneurs:

1. Become an Idea Factory

Create a ‘Business Ideas.doc’ and brain dump all your ideas without editing.

Organize only your top 10 ideas. Bump up or down ideas within these Top 10 based on which are most feasible (cash investment within your ability) and offer you the highest return on your investment (expected return/investment). The good ideas will literally rise to the top.

Keep a small notebook by your bed, in your car, and in your purse—if you’re a lady. Jot ideas whenever inspiration strikes. If you can pee standing up (i.e. don’t have a purse) just put a few more business cards in your wallet. Write ideas on the back of these when ideas come up so you don’t have to carry something extra.

2. Organize for Efficiency

You’ll quickly accumulate hundreds, if not thousands, of documents and images for each business idea that are either required (legal and tax documents), useful (business plans, branding mocks, product mocks, etc.), or inspirational (branding aesthetic samples, marketing ideas, etc.).

To keep efficient, create folders for your active businesses, old businesses, and prospective business. You’ll know which of your ideas merit further research as these are the select few within your Top 10 ideas that also linger in the back of your mind throughout the day.

Create subfolders to stay more organized. Over time you’ll develop a custom system to keep yourself highly efficient.

3. Save $1,000 – $10,000 to Form Each Idea You Pursue

$1,000 – $10,000 is enough for your initial legal fees (LLC, Trademarks, Copyright) and branding (logo, simple website, business cards), depending on your skills in these areas and what you need to outsource. This does not include inventory costs, equipment, or operating cash, which vary widely. This is sufficient to start your company legally and give it a professional, branded appearance though which opens doors and works wonders persuading others to believe in you and your idea and to invest in it, if needed.

To save money, try trading services with professional friends, bargaining, or designing your own logo, website, and business cards, if you can do it par excellence. I once convinced a lawyer to form an LLC entirely for free because when I approached him, I shared that I would be forming two LLC’s within the next 12 months. He did my first LLC for free. And he gained me as a long-term client.

4. Study the Basics of Business

Aim for familiarity. Don’t worry about minute details.

You want to learn enough to know what you do not know. Then you can fill in the gaps when it’s actually necessary. Overtime, you’ll learn this stuff like the back of your hand anyway by actually doing it firsthand.

The must-know topics today include: LLC’s, trademarks, marketing and copywriting, business plans, financial statements, and anything and everything on competitive strategy in the real world (e.g. SEO Guerilla Marketing). If you can mimick these analyses and apply them to your own ideas, you will succeed as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is purely a game of strategy, afterall.

5. Start Small

Studying business can only take you so far. Eventually you have to do it. You have to go through the startup process.

If your goal is to be a serial entrepreneur and start multiple companies in your lifetime, you’d be smart to choose one idea and just go for it. Don’t make it your best idea. Don’t make it your biggest. Choose one with low upfront investment (online business, blog, affiliate marketing, etc.) and just go for it. The point of this is to familiarize yourself with the startup process and remove the inherent intimidation of ‘starting a business.’ Learning this first hand is empowering to change your frame of mind into that of an owner and an entrepreneur.

Those are my practical tips for aspiring entrepreneurs. What would you add?


Related Posts

Leave a Reply