Secrets of Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

There is an old debate about whether entrepreneurs are made or born. Although I might not give you the answer, at least I will offer some secrets of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

These are just some of the few that majority of successful entrepreneurs have used over the years. Entrepreneurship is among the few ways to achieve financial freedom. A status that i  believe the majority if not everyone wants to achieve.

By combining the factors of production, entrepreneurs create businesses by exploiting the existing market gaps. It doesn’t matter whether you are supplying goods or services because as long as you do it correctly, success will come.

The reward for entrepreneurship is profits. Hence, the better you do it, the more the profits. Below are some of the secrets of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

1.  Doing extensive market research

Market research is not negotiable and should become the first step toward becoming a successful entrepreneur. This is because it is the only way to identify market opportunities. Success starts at getting a market gap and then filling it.

With the global dynamics changing every day, research should be continuous to ensure you are on top of things. Some of the things that are constantly changing include technology, government policies, and customer preferences.

Each of these items has an impact on your business as an entrepreneur. Hence, you should make it your obligation to keep up with the change. This way, you will remain relevant and compliant.

There are various approaches to conducting market research such as;

• Staying In touch with your competitors
• Participating in the industrial forums and conferences
• Engaging your customers
• Conducting market surveys

However, research alone will not suffice. You have to implement necessary changes when the market demands so.

2.  Taking Risks

Entrepreneurship involves committing your capital even when there is no guarantee of returns. Although it sounds easy, it’s a major challenge for most people to do. This is because the majority of us prefer comfort zones.

However, as an entrepreneur, you must get out of your comfort zone. It is the only way to create value. There are various risks that you take in the market such as Introducing a new product or service when there is no guarantee anyone will buy it.

It is good to note that the higher the risk, the higher the returns and vice versa. Think of it, “leaving your well-paying job on top of other benefits to start a bakery”.  To some people, this might sound crazy. However, to an entrepreneur, this is a dream action.

Sometimes taking a risk doesn’t always lead to rewards. That is why the majority of businesses fail within one year of startup. Hence, you should take strategic risks. Those risks with a higher chance of success. A key way to take strategic risks is to do adequate market research explaining why the first point is important.

3.  Hiring the best workers

Among the key roles of an entrepreneur is the optimal use of labor which is an important factor in production. This happens when your business requires employees to run. Due to the critical nature of workers, you should only get the best in the market.

One of the ways to achieve this is by matching skills with work. You should only get the most competent worker to do a specific task. Doing so increases productivity giving your business a competitive advantage in the market.

Some entrepreneurs tend to use shortcuts during the hiring process to achieve cost-cutting by hiring unqualified workers for less cost. In the real sense, this is detrimental to the business in the long term. You may lower labor costs in the short term but end up being uncompetitive in the market.

However, if you can’t match the skills for the work available, consider doing training for your workers. This could be either externally or internally.

Another key aspect of labor is employee retention. No one wants to spend a huge amount of resources training employees only for them to leave for competitors. Some of the ways to achieve employee retention levels are through competitive compensation and provision of other benefits such as medical covers and leave allowance.

4.  Working hard

There is no alternative to putting in a lot of work as an entrepreneur. This is most intense in the early days of your business. You should remember that the success of the business is entirely based on your actions. Hence the reason to put in many hours.

Starting a business has no limits on the number of working hours. Until you break even, be ready to invest a lot of your time and energy into building the business.

Some of the areas you have to spend the most time on is growing your customers and brand. The modern customer is more complicated making it a requirement to put in work in achieving customer satisfaction.

Another area you have to put work in is guiding your employees to become an asset to the business. To achieve this level of acceptance, they have to buy into your business and also see value for themselves.

Hence, hard work is of the key secrets to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

5.  Patience

As the saying goes, “patience is a virtue”. You have to be ready to wait and think in long term for success. New businesses may take years before they can get any form of breakeven.

This happens because it also takes time to not only grow the customer base but also achieve customer loyalty. During this period, you should maintain a razor-sharp focus on business development.

The majority of entrepreneurs go in looking to achieve quick success only to end up with disappointment if this turns out the opposite. Most of these also end up quitting when the business is almost picking up.

Some of the key factors to consider are how long your competitors took to break even. This helps to understand approximately how long it could take you as well. However, it is harder to do this if you are introducing a completely new product or service in the market.

If you are patient enough, work hard, hire the best workers, take the risk and conduct market knowledge, there is a high chance you will become a successful entrepreneur.

These secrets are some of the many factors that make a successful entrepreneur. If you believe you can follow them like a cult, entrepreneurship could be calling you secretly. Give it a try.