To most long-time business owners, their brand and/or business is their baby, figuratively speaking. Perhaps you, as a new entrepreneur, feel the same way. Your brand most likely started out as a dream, growing into a side-hustle, and now it’s walking, maybe running, on legs of its own.
Your blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights have kept this dream alive and moving. Entrepreneurship is hard work. But with the right tools and tips, your hard work and countless hours can grow into success.
4 Tips For Entrepreneurs that are Just Starting Out
1. Obsess Over Your Customers
Your customers are the reason you do what you do. Aside from profit, your reason for starting a business needs to be to serve customers by providing whatever products and services you offer. Obsess over HOW to do that. How to know what platforms they are on, how to solve challenges they face, and how to relate to them. Create personas based on your target audience and look often at your insights to gather more information on the psychographics and demographics of your audience. Not sure what that means? Learn more.
2. Revisit Your Business Plan Often
It’s a great idea to take a look at your business plan often. If you’re feeling burnt out or lost as an entrepreneur, look at your business plan to remember why you started and where you want to go. When COVID-19 hit, many business owners were forced to pivot and look for alternative ways to serve customers. You may have to look at changing a few things in your business plan to adapt but don’t lose sight of your beginning goals for your business.
3. Be Prepared to Succeed AND Fail
Being a new business owner won’t be easy. Your journey won’t be a straight line to success, but more like an uphill climb, a few falls, and a lot of bumpy roads along the way. Prepare to succeed and fail throughout your journey. This is the case for experienced entrepreneurs as well! Learn who you can trust and nurture those connections now and in the future.
4. Learn & Listen to Other Experienced Entrepreneurs
Other entrepreneurs have been through it all – they know how much hard work it takes and they know about a lot of the challenges you will most likely face as a new entrepreneur. Getting advice from other entrepreneurs who have more experience than you can be extremely helpful. Ask questions and listen to what they have to say!
As an entrepreneur for over 20 years, Symboliq Media Co-Founder, Randy Blakeslee gives advice for new entrepreneurs starting out in the business world.
“Stay focused on your goals, and learn how to set proper goals that can be achievable and a second set that can shoot for the stars,” says Randy Blakeslee. “Keep positive during missteps or mishaps that will happen in business, and forge forward with the passion that made you want to do the things that make you happy. Find something you love, nurture it into something you can do for others, and you will be successful.”
