If you or someone you know are an entrepreneur-in-the-making, this message is for you.
Being an entrepreneur-in-the-making is tough. Whether you’re 15 or 55, trying to fit into a structured system is hard for an entrepreneur, whether that’s a school system or a real job.
When I was 18, I was lost, confused, insecure, and a mislabeled derelict. I didn’t realize I was an entrepreneur until I was 29 years old. I would have had such a jump-start if I had known what I was at 18: a future entrepreneur.
Let’s first confirm that you’re an entrepreneur-in-the-making. Do you have lots of ideas? Are you a dreamer, creative, great at solving problems, a learner/curious, and able to see the big picture and connect the dots? Do you have street smarts, common sense, the ability to persuade people, drive, passion, and the ability to take risks? Are you a hard worker, ambitious, and self-motivated, and want to make a lot of money? Do you have ADD and/or dyslexia?
If 80 percent of what I’ve just shared sounds like you, you might be a successful entrepreneur someday. Take the Entrepreneur-in-the-Making Assessment here. If you score 90 or higher, there’s a pretty good chance you’re an entrepreneur-in-the-making. You’re one of the 4 percent of the population. If you are, I am on a mission to find you, wherever you are (in school, the corporate world, prison, raising children, the military, unemployed, homeless, retired, etc.) and show you the life you were born to live.
Assuming you’re an entrepreneur-in-the-making, let’s now give you a glimpse of your future life. Because being an entrepreneur is hard. And you can end up living either the dream or the nightmare. Sadly, most entrepreneurs live the nightmare and end up broke and miserable. To prevent the nightmare scenario, avoid these eight critical mistakes that almost all entrepreneurs make when starting their business:
- Not having a vision
- Hiring the wrong people
- Not spending time with your people
- Not knowing who your customer is
- Not charging enough
- Not staying true to your core
- Not knowing your numbers
- Not crystallizing roles and responsibilities
Watch this video for a deeper dive into the above mistakes.
In addition to avoiding the eight critical mistakes and living the dream, you must learn, as soon as possible, what type of business you’re drawn to and what you’re built for. Every entrepreneur cannot build every business. You have to decide:
- What industry appeals to you?
- Are you a product entrepreneur or a service entrepreneur?
- Are you a B2B (business to business) entrepreneur or a B2C (business to consumer) entrepreneur?
- Do you prefer high price, high quality, low volume or low price, commodity based, high volume?
- Do you want to build a $1 million company, a $1 billion company, or something in between?
Fill out MyBiz Match here to answer the above questions and determine the right business for you.
Now, let’s move to the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur. On the journey, you will have to make many decisions, learn many things, and be aware of some important steps along the way. They are as follows:
- College or not?
- Discovering your passion
- Finding a mentor
- Taking action and be patient (10-year thinking)
- 8 disciplines to increase your odds of success
- The 9 stages of building your business
Knowing these things will greatly increase your odds of success and help you avoid half of the mistakes you’re going to make (the other half are unavoidable and all part of the learning process).
To learn about all of the above, read Entrepreneurial Leap.
I’m on a mission to help a million entrepreneurs-in-the-making get a huge jump-start on taking their entrepreneurial leap and starting a better start-up.
If you think you’re an entrepreneur-in-the-making, go to the tools section of the website for a wealth of free resources.
Also, if you’re someone who helps, teaches, coaches, and mentors entrepreneurs-in-the-making, become a collaborator. For instance, we have collaborators who teach this content:
- In the prison system
- To military members transitioning to civilian life
- To women who aspire to become entrepreneurs
That’s just to name a few examples. If this appeals to you, join forces with us and help the cause.
I wish you tremendous success. You deserve it.
