10 Practical Tips to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

When figuring out how to be a successful entrepreneur, some people might think that everything hinges on having an extraordinary skill, a revolutionary idea, or a business degree. While all those things definitely won’t hurt your chances of success, none of them are essential to finding success as an entrepreneur.

There are multiple ways to run a business, but some strategies are almost universal in their benefits. This article will discuss six techniques and mindsets to help you achieve the results you want in your business endeavors and be a successful entrepreneur.

What People Get Wrong About Entrepreneurship

When I talk to people about entrepreneurship and how to become an entrepreneur, some common misconceptions always arise.

They are almost always based on stereotypes that have seeped into the culture over time. We see them in movies, on television, and even from entrepreneurs themselves. But like all stereotypes, they are overgeneralizations that don’t allow us to see the accurate, in-depth picture of the entrepreneur. So, here are the most common myths I hear about entrepreneurs.

There Are “Born” Entrepreneurs

If you come from a long line of entrepreneurs (as I did), you are more likely to become one, but it’s not genetically inherited. It’s much more a function of having entrepreneurs as role models in your life. After all, colleges and universities have taught people business skills and entrepreneurship for decades.

Now, that’s not to say that there are no “born into” advantages that can help with entrepreneurship. Money is an excellent example of this. If you were lucky enough to be born into a family with money, it would make entrepreneurship a much easier proposition. After all, funding is a significant part of any startup.

That said, most entrepreneurs were not born into money and still became successful—more on how to do that later.

Entrepreneurs Don’t Have a Social Life.

This one is pretty common and sometimes perpetuated by the entrepreneurs themselves. There can be a kind of masculinity attached to the image of a workaholic: someone who is single-minded and entirely focused on excluding other things.

While entrepreneurship does take a lot of time, effort, and dedication, entrepreneurs, by necessity, need to be social creatures. No one rises to the top without a vast network of friends and acquaintances.

They Are Extreme Risk-Takers

There’s no getting around taking risks as an entrepreneur. However, successful entrepreneurs are experts at taking calculated risks — carefully exploring all the options and potential ups and downs before deciding.

The person willing to risk it all on a roll of the dice isn’t in business very long.

They Are Super Smart

Only about 26% of entrepreneurs have a college degree^[1]. While getting or having an education can’t (or shouldn’t) hurt, it is by no means a prerequisite for becoming a successful entrepreneur.

They Raise Money Through Bank Loans and Venture Capital Firms

If you can pull that one off, my hat’s off to you, especially a bank loan. You’ll find that banks are more than willing to lend you money once you’ve become successful, but before then, you’re lucky to get a cup of coffee from them^[2].

Most new entrepreneurs raise funds personally or through friends and family^[3].

Anyone Can Be an Entrepreneur

All you need is a great idea and some hard work. After all, if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.

Sorry, but that’s not true.

There is a lot involved in launching a successful startup. Not everyone has the time, ability, or inclination to do it. The truth is, successful entrepreneurs, do share some similar traits and habits. We’ll go over those next.

How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

Here’re ten practical tips for entrepreneurs:

1. Develop Your Idea

It doesn’t have to be a unique or groundbreaking business idea to be successful. The famous rideshare company Lyft was started three years after the introduction of Uber. They took on the business model of Uber and just tweaked it a little.

Just because there is competition in a field doesn’t mean you can’t be very successful when you start a business.

Go ahead and use the business model of the most successful competitor, but make it your own by identifying shortcomings and weaknesses that you can exploit for your success.

Research, Research, Research

Research the industry and know the players, trade associations, and conventions. Research the products and services involved. It’s not uncommon that the most profitable part of a business isn’t the “main” product but an ancillary add-on product.

For example, it’s not uncommon for a restaurant to break even on the food and only make money on the drinks. They can offer a plate full of food for $5.00 because of the $2.00 Coke or $5.00 glass of wine you order with it.

Finally, research the customer. Things like average age, sex, buying habits, interests, attitudes about health, wealth, social media, and status are all helpful in your targeting and marketing efforts.

Create a Formal Business Plan

This step is often overlooked and shouldn’t be. As a one or two-person show, you can probably get along fine without one, but once you start hiring employees, having a formal business plan is essential^[4].

Unfortunately, if you don’t put it in place right away, you’ll be too busy to create one when you need it. It’s always wise to do it upfront.

Test Your Ideas

Start small, as there’s no way you can predict every possible problem or issue. You’ll find it’s much easier to address these issues if they’re limited to a few test markets instead of a global rollout.

2. Keep Your Time Organized

Whether your business is brand new or fully established, entrepreneurs often have many projects and responsibilities going at once. It’s one thing that makes owning your own business so exciting, but it can also lead to stress if your time is overloaded and disorganized.

This is an area where technology shines. Scheduling apps can help you organize your day and set boundaries around your time. Find a tool that works for you and keeps your days running smoothly. Time-blocking is an effective strategy to use when you are planning out how you can manage your time.^[5]

With the crazy demands of being an entrepreneur, this strategy is valuable to ensure you get what’s most important done.

3. Hire Solid Talent and Support Their Success

When you start a business, it is often just one person or a tiny group handling every aspect of the company’s day-to-day functions. As you possibly expand and prosper, stepping back and offloading specific responsibilities is a natural and expected part of the process. Locating and hiring a great team is only half of the equation, and setting them up for success is the other half.

Keeping lines of communication open while setting clear expectations allows your employees to own their positions and create a path to winning for themselves and the business. Investing in supporting resources for your employees can be another way to set them up for success.

For example, providing access to certain software subscriptions can increase employee productivity in various positions—specifically, sales. The cost of a small number of carefully-selected apps could potentially be matched or exceeded by a single sale generated as a result of an automated program. Not only is it profitable for you, but your employees are also given the tools they need to excel in their roles.

4. Avoid Risk and Prepare for the Future

Hiccups or unforeseen circumstances are going to happen now and again in business. Occasionally going into crisis mode isn’t necessarily a cause for concern. However, if you feel like a large portion of your time is spent putting out proverbial fires rather than operating a well-oiled machine, you might want to look at potential difficulties and implement support and processes to avoid them.

Try to educate yourself first rather than jumping into risky strategies. For example, the metaverse is an important buzzword that can be a risk for entrepreneurs. One of the leading innovation experts I’ve worked with in the past and respect is Jeff Wong, EY Global Chief of Innovation. Wong wrote a great article on how you can get excited about the hype of opportunity in the metaverse.^[6] However, he also educates on how important planning is to ensure you educate yourself to avoid risk.

The Future is unknown, but successful planning can help entrepreneurs avoid unnecessary risks.

5. Be Selective With Your Clientele

Being selective in your clientele should be the goal of every aspiring entrepreneur. Not only does it indicate stability in your company in that you can afford to turn down paying work, but it also allows you to have much greater control over the overall direction of your business.

For example, one of my friends, Jason Hennessey—who wrote the book Law Firm SEO: Exposing the Google Algorithm to Help You Get More Cases—was an expert in marketing that found that he had success with law firms. Many marketing experts say they can work with every industry and take on various clients that aren’t a fit. Hennessey found the niche and dedicated time to own that niche.

When starting a new business endeavor, it might be necessary to take almost any client that comes your way to build capital and get your name circulating in your particular industry. Even after a business has reached a point of stable revenue and increasing fee structures, some owners find it challenging to get out of the habit of taking any possible business that comes their way. Having a strategy similar to Hennessey and trying to own what you do best can result in higher margins and happier clients.

Setting minimum client quality standards has significant advantages. Not only are you less likely to overstress your company-wide work capacity, but you can also service higher-paying clients and increase the profit you earn with each project. In addition, you can decline to engage with individuals or businesses that may be high paying but difficult or unpleasant to work with.

Having the freedom to choose who you work with for your success and happiness is one of the most attractive aspects of successful entrepreneurship, so make sure you take advantage of it.

6. Don’t Overlook Branding

Branding

is so much more than expressing to your team and client who you are as a company and an entrepreneur. A solid vision also gives you a clear path for the Future and goals to go along with it.

Some entrepreneurs get lost in the day-to-day slog of keeping processes going, such as practical things like cash flow. Consequently, they neglect to assess and create a plan for their business branding. Do you service high-dollar clientele only? Or are you more accessible to various clients in terms of expense and scope? Do you want to inspire a feeling of cutting-edge modernity or grassroots reliability?

If your answers to the above questions are “a little bit of everything” or “I don’t know,” a brainstorming session to focus your efforts and explore your business’s direction might be in order. How do you want to present yourself, and what can you do to accomplish this? When you answer those questions, you can be off and running.

Like the Hennessey example, focus on what you can be best at and invest in positioning yourself as an industry leader. Looking at the Venn diagram on owning your industry, you will see that multiple factors contribute to industry ownership.^[7]

Also, don’t be afraid to reassess your branding model regularly either. As you have different experiences in your personal life, your outlook is likely to evolve and change. Businesses can sometimes go through the same process. If the business’s outlook has advanced, but the Branding has stagnated, a fresh approach can change the course of your presentation in a way that better represents your brand and where you would like to take it in the Future.

7. Seek Expert Guidance

Most entrepreneurs typically bring a specific skill set to the table. Whether you’re providing a service or a product, it can be assumed you are very talented in—or knowledgeable about—your industry. As very few people are experts in every aspect of business, it is recommended to bring in expert assistance when contemplating significant changes or new ventures.

Guidance can benefit various areas, such as finance, advertising, and technology. While it can be tempting to try and keep everything in-house for cost savings or control purposes, investing in a specialist or a team of specialists can be more than worth the investment.

Starting an advertising campaign is an excellent example of when it can be helpful to elicit assistance to create focus and specify goals and metrics for success. You might invest $10,000 to dabble in various advertising strategies in attempting it alone. Even if you see some limited success, you might not know which avenue generated the best results and would not know where to focus your effort in the Future.

Compare this to investing $20,000 with an agency. You may have spent more money upfront, but they should give you a company-specific plan and deliver follow-up reports detailing your campaign results with supporting metrics.

8. Build Your Network

No one can build a successful business on their own. You’ll need investors, attorneys, accountants, bankers, vendors, industry contacts, employees, and a host.

Start attending trade shows and conventions and joining trade associations and online groups. These are all great networking resources for you.

9. Turn Early Customers Into Fans

Another advantage of starting on a small scale while learning how to become an entrepreneur is that you can develop more personal relationships with customers. Make sure to provide an excellent experience for these first customers to build up the most effective advertising — word of mouth.

10. Raise Capital and Scale Your Business

At this point, you should have a proven business model with customers, cash flow, and an expansion plan. You can now start to raise money through investors, venture capitalists, and banks.

Use the money raised to scale the business for maximum returns for your employees, investors, and early backers.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurship can be one of a person’s most challenging and rewarding experiences. It provides you with the opportunity to take a risk. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to create your path to success. Also, having sound business habits can go a long way toward getting you there.