(ThyBlackMan.com) The internet has a wide range of ideas on how an aspiring entrepreneur can become successful. If you are someone who preferred studying it by the book, there are courses available in universities or online webinars on how to start your business from scratch and make a profit. You may already have a business idea and now focusing on creating your business and marketing plan.
No matter how prepared you are with all the requirements in starting up a business, it does not ensure success as you embark on your journey as an entrepreneur. There’s no shortcut to success but here are some key valuable lessons from some prosperous entrepreneurs that you can learn from:
Find a niche and be an expert.
According to Mark Cuban, an American investor, and entrepreneur who currently owns the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Dallas
Mavericks, “Choose something that you both love and are good at.” Sometimes it will take years of hard work to be an expert on something while it’s only a matter of days or weeks to find one or two things that you would love to do. Too often, we choose a path that we think would make us successful without even reflecting if that’s something we would love to do for years. As a budding entrepreneur, pursuing a balance between what you love and are good at saves time and effort. Doing what you love and staying good at doing it would allow you to release your creativity and be committed to your goals.
Your business is not about you.
Do not focus or be obsessed with yourself no matter how successful you will be in your business. Always remind yourself that you thrive not because of you or your competitors. Always put your customers at the center of everything you do in business. This approach is what made Jeff Bezos, best known as the founder, CEO, and president of Amazon as one of the richest men in the world. He said that the most important thing to focus on is the customers. That should be your main goal as these consumers will help your business continue to flow.
Learn from experiences.
One of the ingredients to success is learning from your experiences, mistakes, and even from your detractors. According to Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” He treats unhappy customers as assets. They are always the ones to bring the flaws in your products and services to your attention. They will help you look for ways to do things better in your business.
Never give up.
Most of us, we tend to stop or give up when we get multiple rejections or failures in our business. This is not what happened to Jack Ma, a business magnate and co-founder of Alibaba Group. He did not let his academic and career failures dictate his future. His never-say-die attitude helped him conquer all setbacks and reached his way up the ladder of success. We can learn from his advice to never give up. Today may be hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.
Build quality products and services.
In a conceptual context, business is a number’s game. But according to the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Apple Inc, Steve Jobs himself, quality is much better than quantity. Business is not always about the number of leads, products, and customers that could generate high revenue. His approach is focused on delivering quality products. When you aim for excellence in creating your products and services, your sales number would increase automatically.
These are just some entrepreneurial and life lessons from some of the successful magnates that can guide and help you build your own pasture in the field of entrepreneurship.
Staff Writer; Ellie Carter
