By Cristiane Namiuti
Very often, stories of successful entrepreneurship fail to touch on the untold rejections and harsher realities that are representative of entrepreneurs’ journeys. The reason for it could be that stories of despair, hardship, fear, doubt, and anxiety aren’t really inspirational. Or quite possibly because few people want to hear about the struggles first-time entrepreneurs face and their occasional desire to quit.
In reality, entrepreneurship starts out with a lot of insecurity and numerous surprises. Much like searching for true love, there are many things to uncover along the way before a calming assuredness of success sets in. The following are some of the issues new entrepreneurs should brace for.
Finances will rarely be enough
Many new entrepreneurs get it wrong right out of the gate when it comes to finances, mainly because they don’t accurately determine how much money is required to launch the idea. Those who do so quickly realize that money is a big factor to success, and maintaining sufficient cash flow or raising adequate capital is a tough endeavor.
In this day of venture capitalists and angel investors, your idea may be good enough to get meetings with investors. But you’ll always need a strong team and a sound business model validated by real customers to convince them to invest in your idea. Early in the ideation process you have to do the math and come up with an accurate picture of how much you need to develop and get your idea into the market.
School has taught you little
The business knowledge you acquire in school is by all means vital to your development, but you will soon realize that it doesn’t prepare you for everything you will face as an entrepreneur. The only way you will learn to handle the issues and pressure of entrepreneurship is by going out and becoming an entrepreneur.
In the same vein, you have to acknowledge that you don’t have all the knowledge. Overconfidence hurts a lot of new entrepreneurs. Be humble and accept that there are some things you have little knowledge of. That’s when your strong team makes the difference allowing you to delegate to people you trust.
You may need help
Understanding that you can’t get everything done on your own leads to the reality that you may need a partner to help out. Having a reliable partner can ease the pressure and reduce the responsibilities on your plate. Besides, shared ownership can motivate you to become better and is a good way of attracting talented individuals. Partnerships also mean giving up some level of control and ownership – something many new entrepreneurs find hard.
People want you to succeed
The fear of failure is what prevents many people from becoming entrepreneurs. What many first-time entrepreneurs realize quickly is that everybody wants them to succeed, so all stakeholders will work towards success and rally during tough times. Mistakes and failure will happen along the way, but use them as opportunities to learn and correct.
To Learn more, Visit : https://about.me/cristiane.namiuti
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274743
Very often, stories of successful entrepreneurship fail to touch on the untold rejections and harsher realities that are representative of entrepreneurs’ journeys. The reason for it could be that stories of despair, hardship, fear, doubt, and anxiety aren’t really inspirational. Or quite possibly because few people want to hear about the struggles first-time entrepreneurs face and their occasional desire to quit.
In reality, entrepreneurship starts out with a lot of insecurity and numerous surprises. Much like searching for true love, there are many things to uncover along the way before a calming assuredness of success sets in. The following are some of the issues new entrepreneurs should brace for.
Finances will rarely be enough
Many new entrepreneurs get it wrong right out of the gate when it comes to finances, mainly because they don’t accurately determine how much money is required to launch the idea. Those who do so quickly realize that money is a big factor to success, and maintaining sufficient cash flow or raising adequate capital is a tough endeavor.
In this day of venture capitalists and angel investors, your idea may be good enough to get meetings with investors. But you’ll always need a strong team and a sound business model validated by real customers to convince them to invest in your idea. Early in the ideation process you have to do the math and come up with an accurate picture of how much you need to develop and get your idea into the market.
School has taught you little
The business knowledge you acquire in school is by all means vital to your development, but you will soon realize that it doesn’t prepare you for everything you will face as an entrepreneur. The only way you will learn to handle the issues and pressure of entrepreneurship is by going out and becoming an entrepreneur.
In the same vein, you have to acknowledge that you don’t have all the knowledge. Overconfidence hurts a lot of new entrepreneurs. Be humble and accept that there are some things you have little knowledge of. That’s when your strong team makes the difference allowing you to delegate to people you trust.
You may need help
Understanding that you can’t get everything done on your own leads to the reality that you may need a partner to help out. Having a reliable partner can ease the pressure and reduce the responsibilities on your plate. Besides, shared ownership can motivate you to become better and is a good way of attracting talented individuals. Partnerships also mean giving up some level of control and ownership – something many new entrepreneurs find hard.
People want you to succeed
The fear of failure is what prevents many people from becoming entrepreneurs. What many first-time entrepreneurs realize quickly is that everybody wants them to succeed, so all stakeholders will work towards success and rally during tough times. Mistakes and failure will happen along the way, but use them as opportunities to learn and correct.
To Learn more, Visit : https://about.me/cristiane.namiuti
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274743
