Edition: October 31st, 2021
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts from article by Folabi Clement Solanke, published on Entrepreneur.com
The year 2020 was a washout and we’d all like to forget it. But despite the chaos and uncertainty, despite the misery, fear and tension, businesses flourished; 2020 may have been a bad year for health and wellbeing, but it was a great year for startups.
There was an increase in new business launches, and that trend has continued well into 2021. Consumer habits are driving those trends as more customers shop online and use retail therapy as a way of escaping lockdown fatigue.
As a result, there has never been a better time to launch a new business.
Here are 5 tips to help you join this growing trend and start a business of your own.
1. Use your experience or skills
- Starting a successful business isn’t about finding a popular trend and then dumping your savings into stock and development.
- You need to know what you’re doing. You must have experience in that field. If not, you’ll constantly be outgunned by your competitors.
- Look for ways to use your experience, connections or skills. There are two benefits to this:
- You can do most of the work yourself, so you don’t need to hire contractors and agencies to do it for you.
- There’s less chance you’ll make an expensive mistake. You know what you’re doing and how the industry works, so your route to success is more direct.
2. Establish a personal brand
- A personal brand isn’t essential for the success of your business, but it’ll make things a lot easier.
- Sign up for multiple social-media accounts, post videos, write content and put yourself out there.
- It’s all about making connections with influential people and establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
- The more you grow your personal brand, the more trusted you will become, it will connect you with investors, potential buyers, collaborators and brand ambassadors.
- It will give you a platform through which you can organically market your business.
- If you’re not comfortable in front of the camera, just write blogs and get yourself a LinkedIn account, it’s just about giving yourself a presence.
3. Set clear and achievable goals
- Successful business owners are very organised and goal-oriented individuals.
- They know exactly what they want to achieve in the future and what they have achieved in the past.
- Setting goals will keep you on the right track, it makes you more productive and allows you to focus on the things that really matter.
- A successful entrepreneur is someone who has clear and defined goals.
- You need that clarity if you want to succeed in business.
4. Build a team you can rely on
- It’s not “me against the world” when it comes to business.
- It doesn’t matter what you’ve seen on Instagram or what a business book claimed — entrepreneurs don’t make it entirely on their own.
- You need a strong team to run a successful company, and once you have that team, you should take them with you everywhere you go.
- Reliability is the most important trait, as well as the rarest.
- Look for people who will always be there when you need them, people who will work hard and never let you down.
5. Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks
- Successful entrepreneurs don’t gamble, they take calculated risks.
- They put their savings into projects they believe in, and they believe in them because they’ve done their research.
- It’s risky to throw money at a business idea that’s completely new to you and one that you won’t work at.
- It’s much less risky to throw money at a project you’re familiar with and will benefit from your experience and tireless work ethic.
- Take risks, but don’t be reckless and always work to turn that risk from a gamble into an investment.
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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