10 entrepreneurial 'tips' to help you develop the right way of thinking
How can you develop someone's entrepreneurial skills? As I was busy that day, I was a bit hasty in giving him the answer, telling him that while you can learn some entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurs are basically born with them. But it wasn't long before I started to think about this further. One of the first things I did was to think about what the true definition of entrepreneurship was.
Why did I define myself as an 'entrepreneur'?
The word "entrepreneur" is a French word, and in today's entrepreneurial society, it can sound like a high-class word. But what is the difference between the word 'entrepreneur' and the word 'business owner'? Essentially, there is no difference between the two. For example, the relationship between an entrepreneur and a business owner is the same as that between a 'butterfly' and a 'flying insect', the former just sounds better. If you don't believe me, you can close your eyes and experience it.
What is the difference between a butterfly and other arthropods? Many of us would agree that what makes a butterfly special is its dazzling wings. But when it comes to the question of "what is an entrepreneur", few of us realise the connection between entrepreneur and business owner; we are always willing to add a fancy label to ourselves and lose sight of the essence.
Can you call yourself an entrepreneur if you can't remember the last time someone paid you for your work? That's why an entrepreneur is a business owner, or a business person.
In my personal experience of running a start-up business, I have experienced many things, both good and bad. And I'm always trying to take stock of what made me rise to the occasion and what made me reap the rewards of losing. The important thing about being an entrepreneur isn't what you're doing or what you achieve. At the heart of being an entrepreneur, it should be the way you think.
There is really no one-size-fits-all approach to developing entrepreneurial skills. On the entrepreneurial journey, you will find yourself struggling all the time, and there will be times when you will be your own best teacher; and times when you will be your own worst enemy. However, there are indeed ways to keep getting stronger along this path of growth. These methods have helped me before.
1, Learn to listen
No matter what, you should make yourself a good listener. When you are talking to someone else, you need to be engaged and ask them specific questions.
It is sometimes useful to pretend to listen, for example by nodding at the other person when your mind is already a thousand miles away. But listening is a very important skill for entrepreneurs, and you need to learn to pay attention to the problems of everyone around you and their needs.
Asking the person specific questions will help you get them to open up more quickly. Remember to be specific and try to appreciate the difference between "How was your day?" and "Did you get good feedback on the product presentation you prepared yesterday?"
The ability to listen will give you many benefits, such as helping you to make the right business decisions at the right time.
2, Finding solutions
You need to make yourself the person who can solve the problem. If you stumble upon a problem, the best thing to do, is to inform your team of the problem and if your team can't solve it, you offer them a workable solution.
To do this, you have to combine it with the last one: listening. When someone confides in you, you are likely to discover the problem they are experiencing and it is then up to you to try and find a solution to that problem.
However, it is important to note that unless you are sure that the person really cares about your opinion, you should not rush to offer a solution, as they may not appreciate it and may feel that you are being "nosy". Too often, we can be overly enthusiastic and lose sight of the other person's real needs, or they may just want to use you as a gripe and not ask for advice.
3, Be serious at the beginning
Starting a business doesn't mean you have to quit your current job, you can do both. But that doesn't mean you can treat it like a chicken feed; once you start, you need to be serious. You can start a project that you are passionate about while maintaining your current job. This project can take various forms: creating a podcast, for example. In managing the podcast, you can set yourself goals such as keeping the number of visitors up and increasing at a certain rate; increasing your visibility on the internet and then finding ways to monetise this podcast.
When is the best time to start pursuing your dream? That time simply doesn't exist. Instead of thinking ahead, start today.
The internet and various software provide you with valuable tools that you can use to prototype products or build international communities, and all without you having to risk quitting your job. You can sell prototypes to the customers who need them most urgently. You also don't need to rely on the support of a publisher to publish a book you've written yourself online.
Don't wait for the supposedly excellent time. As SamuelBeckett famously said.
"Tried. Failed. That's okay. Do it again. Next time fail in a better way."
Failure cannot be avoided. You may fail many times. But you should never admit defeat; every failure is actually every semester you spend at a top global university.
4, Control the fear
Starting a business can be a scary thing. But what can you do without risk? A comfortable life and changing the world have never been good friends. You should get used to this life of fear. Entrepreneurs are people who walk on the edge of a knife.
In my eyes, fear is like a flame on the cooker. On the one hand, it can cook the rice, on the other hand, it can burn my hands. Fear can constantly spur you on. Fear can also keep you from doing reckless things. But if it is not well controlled and allowed to spread, fear also has the potential to burn you to ashes.
If one day you find yourself free of fear, don't think it's a good thing. You should think first that you have a fire of fear burning in your body all the time, and then learn to control it rather than ignore it.
Don't mistake fear for weakness. Don't think that ignoring fear is a sign of bravery either. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of fear.
5, Embrace uncertainty
If fear is a fire burning somewhere in the back of your mind, then uncertainty is the air you live on. As an entrepreneur, you need to constantly be making plans and strategies. But no matter how perfect a plan is, there is always the possibility of it spiralling out of control. Reality will always tear your plans apart before your eyes, leaving you dumbfounded in place.
The key to dealing with uncertainty is to keep yourself flexible.
Many people see instability as their worst enemy, and for these people entrepreneurship is not for them. It is those who see uncertainty as an interesting challenge that are better suited to entrepreneurship and for us to worship.
These are the people who will make mistakes, who will be beaten by reality, who will fall to their knees and struggle, and who will come to the brink of giving up. But they just take a break on the edge and never give up. Because these people know that it takes countless battles to win the war.
So, the next time you experience a setback, take a few deep breaths, learn from your mistakes and then start again from the beginning.
6, Don't feel like everyone is out to get you
Entrepreneurs always feel alone, they look around and realise that no one believes in them. You'll experience this loneliness too, and maybe you'll feel like you're being driven crazy by it. And when you try to ask for help, you get rejected by others time and time again.
Your teammates will question your decisions. Your competitors will mock you mercilessly. Those you trust the most will also let you down. You'll feel like you've become everyone's target and that everyone is targeting you.
All you have to do is accept this determination. I'm not saying that you should become a masochist. What you should do is get used to this loneliness, and just because other people don't believe in your vision doesn't mean that your ideas are wrong. Nor will other people's rejection of you sway you from success.
Perhaps for many people this is one of the hardest things to do, at least for me, and I've always had a hard time accepting rejection from other people. But once you've proven yourself right, even if it's just one little thing, your self-confidence goes way up.
Everyone has their own opinions and interests, and they have their own problems that they need to solve. Also, paradoxically, the more deficient a person's character is, the less he or she will tolerate other people's flaws.
This is just what other people think, and it is not directed at you. Although they may hurt you, judge you or make you angry, it is because they do not understand your thoughts. The people who can see what we are really thinking are those rare "soul mates" that only a lucky few get to meet in their lifetime. For the majority of us, we walk alone in the dark.
7, Learn to breathe
Stress causes a person to breathe more shallowly, which leads to a drop in blood oxygen levels. The result is a rise in tension pressures and anxiety. Forgetting the correct way to breathe can lead to various physiological reactions such as headaches, muscle aches and sleep disturbances.
Therefore, when someone tells you to take a deep breath, you'd better do what they say. In a situation of steep stress, breathing the right way can often get you into a better state of mind and is far more effective than drugs and alcohol.
Every so often, I feel like the world is trying to crush me to pieces with its weight. In these situations, I usually stop what I'm doing, keep taking deep breaths, and then focus on the smallest details around me. Doing so always brings my thoughts back into a safe zone.
You can download a meditation app, sign up for a yoga class, or find a professional who can teach you the correct way to breathe. Once, many years ago, I sprained my foot while running and my physiotherapist had a couple of sessions where he just asked me to breathe to his rhythm. At the time, as a student, I felt that the physiotherapist was just ripping me off. And today, I began to be very grateful to him for these breathing exercises, which turned out to reduce the pain in a very short period of time by just breathing.
8, Prioritisation and relaxation
Many of you will have heard of the i.e., Pareto's Law, also known as the 80/20 rule. This law is based on the idea that 80% of our results come from 20% of our actions. Although we are all familiar with this rule, most of us forget about it completely at work. We always make ourselves "stressed out" by the amount of things we have to do at the same time. And then we lie to ourselves that this busyness and the sweat we put into it will somehow pay off one day.
We dream of working fewer hours each day, but refuse to believe that we can actually get more done in less time. Keeping the 80/20 rule in mind will help you achieve this goal, and you will find that you are actually inefficient 80% of the time each day. Applying this rule to your work means putting the most important work in the 20% of your day that is most productive. In addition, you should also set aside a certain amount of inefficient time each day to relax.
Many people believe that entrepreneurs should work a minimum of 16 hours a day if they want to be successful, a statement I completely disagree with. I believe that we need multiple stimuli each day to avoid stagnation of work and thought. For example, if you are a marketing professional, you should take time out of your day to read relevant blogs or buy a few of the latest books on marketing on Amazon to read. This is good, and you should get into the habit of reading a few science fiction novels every now and then, in addition to your professional books, for a truly leisurely read. Taking a break is not a sinful thing to do.
9, Nourish your creativity
Studying for 10,000 hours in a particular field can make you an expert in that field. However, if you want to get innovative and fresh ideas, you should keep in mind that the pursuit of fresh ideas is not something that can be done alone; you will also need other people to collaborate with you.
This technique is inseparable from the listening skills mentioned earlier. The best observer makes the best creator.
Inspiration is actually all around us all the time, we just ignore 99% of it. You should engage in a variety of activities, including spending time with friends and family, playing sports, learning something new or travelling, all of which will free up your tied-up insights.
10, Small dreams
The most valuable gift life can give us is to allow you to find your purpose, the biggest dream you have in your heart. Every day you work, you work to achieve that dream.
Yes, you have heard the words: "Follow your dreams" or "There is nothing in the world you can't do". These words may energise you, but they are nothing more than spiritual opium, and only those who want to get rid of their misery as soon as possible and seek a shortcut to happiness will believe in these clichés.
Your dreams should be matched by your abilities. The journey of pursuing your dreams is very difficult and it is a challenge that never ends. Unfortunately, pursuing your dreams is even a million times more difficult than running a marathon. All you can do is put on your shoes and start running forward - and you must not be very fast, even like a new toddler.
In the process, you have to pay special attention to the things that make you happy. I call these things "little dreams". They are easier to achieve, they make you stronger and they give you the motivation to keep going. If you had to describe the pursuit of your dreams as a marathon, then these little dreams are the things that increase your lung capacity and strengthen your muscles.
Then, one day, out of the blue, your baby-like stride will suddenly be coordinated and you find yourself suddenly able to run. Maybe there will also come a moment when you find yourself moving away from the ground, sprouting wings and starting to fly with that big dream in mind.