It’s not easy being an entrepreneur. After all, to be one, you usually have to go it alone and build something capable of standing on its own, and also of magnetically attracting the interest of those also willing to invest their money or time into the idea.
With much competition in the market at all levels, and many more entrepreneurs just like you looking for any slice of the pie, it’s not exactly easy to try and launch your own enterprise, no matter how passionate you feel.
Then again, entrepreneurs usually accept that it won’t be easy on the first day they try. They simply know this effort is worth trying. But what does that mean in practical terms? What, exactly, should an entrepreneur do differently from everyone else to try and gain that foothold in the market? Should they disregard or adopt conventional business wisdom?
In this post, we’ll discuss how entrepreneurs might like to deviate from that path, without throwing the commercial insight earned over decades away. Without further ado, let’s begin:
Risk Taking
The entrepreneurial spirit is one often defined by its willingness to accept risk, because entrepreneurialism is risky to begin with. This means you have the chance to pitch investors on bold new ideas, take a radical stance on how you wish to integrate new standards into specific industries, and also to accept that not every approach will pan out how you’d like.
Risk-taking means being wise to this, but also accepting it. You may not have a risk mitigation team helping with percentage success rates or forecasts, but if you have the heart to make something, then doing so can be your way into the industry. Moreover, larger firms may not be able to tolerate risks, but smaller individuals can.
After all, you may have less to loose if an idea goes south, and you can always restart and try again when you’re most able to do so. Some businesses can only dream at having that flexibility, so leverage that for all its worth. If you’re successful, that kind of pivoting speed is nowhere near as possible as it once was.
Non-Conventional Staff Management
When you have a small enterprise with hired staff helping you run it, you get to decide the terms of their employment within the appropriate laws. This means you can be more flexible if you hope to. For example, browsing the common types of payroll schedules will show you the very many means of reimbursing staff, allowing you to hire certain individuals who are more adaptable to this kind of working format.
You can also outsource, or take on freelancers depending on your needs as well.You get to decide the specifics of how you train, integrate and motivate staff, and sometimes going against the grain of conventional methodology can work wonders here. For example, in Karen’s Cafe, the famous chain known for being mean to their guests, they have to emphasize unprofessionalism as a theatrical performance as opposed to actual work philosophy, and vet candidates appropriately so their concept will work with the correct people.
An approach like this might seem simple, but it takes time, effort, and willingness to make it happen. Only your entrepreneurial insight can help you lead that vision, even if basic considerations like on-time payment, health and safety and staff training are non-negotiable necessities you need to pay attention to.
Achieving Missions
Many businesses focus on gathering enough revenue to break even and then pursuing a profit motive from there. This way, they can settle their debts, pay helpful live-supporting salaries, and then invest back into their business.
As an entrepreneur, there’s a tacit understanding that the cost of business and opportunity costs may not be as break-even friendly as they could be in the future. For this reason, you can focus on the missions you hope to achieve first and foremost. Entrepreneurialism is often adjacent to idealism, even if conventional business sense suggests idealism is actually harmful to a successful business.
Maybe you hope to offer a certain staple as a serviced software, or integrate a common industry into the modern world such as how Uber did. Maybe you hope to represent a community, resolve annoying call centre jingle music with a more interactive option, or whatever else you feel is untapped in the market. Entrepreneurs can afford to take a mission-based approach to their value, so don’t feel bad about pursuing that yourself, too.
Branding Yourself
Branding yourself is about showing who you are, what you stand for, and why individuals should care about what you have to offer. It’s not always easy to discuss this, but with a little care and consideration, standing proud as your business is essential.
In other words, you need to be the biggest advocate for whatever you do, because no one else will fill that roll for you. Much marketing and promotional advice is often geared to businesses with some kind of impartiality or even a pedigree of being noticed in their field. To start from scratch you have to be affable, to humanize your brand, and to source exposure in the correct way.
Provide Solid Guarantees
Ultimately, you have to give people a reason to take a chance on your new operation. If you’ve unproven, then doing so requires a leap of faith on the behalf of the consumer. That’s why solid guarantees can help, such as offering a 100% money-back guarantee, or amazing first-time discounts to get people in the door.
Over time, as you prove yourself, this will become necessary. Entrepreneurialism is almost akin to being hired for a job, you need to be careful about your approach, willing to take on advice, and start out with modesty before you hope to grow and expand your career in the right direction.
With this advice, you’re sure to deviate from conventional business wisdom, but only when it’s most necessary and worthwhile to do so. This way, you won’t try and rewrite the rulebook, but you still get to have your own input.
