Tips for a novice entrepreneur from Oliver Amberton

And again with us Oliver Emberton. We have already translated the articles on how to find your vocation or learn how to fulfill your dreams. The time has come for specific recommendations. If you are thinking about “going into free swimming”, but do not know where to start, then this material is just for you. In this case, you do not need qualifications, money or a very high level of intelligence. There is no need even for an idea that will be something especially good. The rest of the details - under the cut.

All that an entrepreneur does is create something that makes a profit.
Think of a company as a mechanism that you develop, design, and create. Take, for example, McDonalds:


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Naturally, your "mechanism" consists of certain details. He sells something to someone and then reinvests it in order to increase sales in the future. All that remains in the end is the net profit for the owner. Look at google:



If you are able to develop such a mechanism, create it, own it and take care of it, you can really become very rich. This is not easy, but most of the barriers you can easily overstep. Interested?

Let's talk about you

You are young? You have no money? No profession as such? Are you a student or hate your job? Maybe you are a little rebel by nature? Perfectly! You have no bad habits, and you will work tirelessly. The world is waiting for you.
Are you older Wiser? Got accumulated money? Stable work? Maybe a mortgage and children? In your case will have to work hard. There is every chance to achieve his goal, but at first there will be a feeling that you are not moving forward, but backward, drowning in quicksand.

The most important qualities of a good entrepreneur - energy and determination. Do not be afraid to be intrusive, this can be learned. I started at 21, being a very shy nerd. I soon learned to sell when there was no other way to feed myself.
The prologue came to an end. So, make you a billionaire!

Idea

Please forget all that terrible nonsense about the value of the idea you heard. It's a delusion. Ideas are inexpensive, moreover, their relevance is rather transient. An idea in itself costs less than a half-eaten sandwich. But at least you can finish the sandwich.
Of course, one cannot do without an idea. But understand that the formation of even the most successful companies was in no way connected with bright, wild ideas. Starbucks chose a trodden path - they started selling coffee in Seattle. Facebook just improved MySpace. Google has improved the search engine Yahoo. Microsoft took Apple as the basis, which in turn imitated Xerox.

The value of a fresh idea is exaggerated. The main thing is to implement it in time. Google chose the perfect time to create an advanced search engine. Now, for example, it is unlikely to be able to do the same. Thus, you need to be extremely aware of the needs of consumers, about what products are underrepresented in the market. After all, you want to launch a product or service that will become successful. It does not matter whether it will look original or not. It is usually easier to improve an existing idea that is not 100% implemented than to create a new one.

People are afraid to start a business when there is competition, but competition can be useful. The best place to open a new restaurant is next to another popular restaurant. They have already kindly done the hard work for you - found customers. Often a business comes to success, thanks to another business. So, sometimes it's better to have several rivals than a single one. You just need to be 10% better.

Personally, I would recommend trying to sell what you and your friends would buy with great pleasure. It will be easier for you to start understanding the area that is already familiar and interesting for you, you will better understand your clients and you will be passionate about what you are doing. If you manage to interest a potential client, you will inspire yourself and the people around you. And in order to successfully cope with the next stage, one cannot do without inspiration.

Start

Many compare the emergence of the company with the birth of a child. In this case, everyone assumes that you know what you are doing, but the instruction manuals are not attached to the children, as well as to the companies. You will learn everything along the way, stumbling over and learning from your mistakes.



At the very beginning there is a huge chance that you will fail. Your goal is to build this magic machine for making money, but you may not have all the necessary parts, and the ones you need can cost more money than you currently have. Your idea is incorrect (at least - half), but you still do not know which half to replace. All this is normal.

When Steve Jobs founded Apple, he had neither money nor customers. What he did speaks of him as a great entrepreneur. He first persuaded a local computer store to order his non-existent Apple computers with payment upon receipt. He then convinced the supplier to sell him the components necessary for the production of the machines, using the order as proof that he could pay for the goods. Jobs and his small team built the first computers in their garage. In the end, they delivered them on time and made a good profit. Apple came from nothing. Creating a company, you need to convince people to believe in you.



Most start-up entrepreneurs go for this trick at an early stage. If this sounds scary, then no doubt - the way it is. Once I had to pay my credit card-laden credit card staff when one of the first orders failed. In general, until you try, you will not know.

Doing this all you have to maneuver between the process of creating the ideal company (the task for an idealist) and the payment of bills (the task for the realist). If you do not take into account both points, you will fail. That is why collaboration between realists and idealists is so common in business.

Do not run ahead of the locomotive. Do not try to create a large company at an early stage, just strive to create a company. Do not rush to spend and hire. Do not waste time writing applications and contracting. Imagine that you are now someone small, nimble and focused on work. Create and sell. Personnel department you have time to organize later.

Do not be surprised and do not be alarmed if your company changes over time. A rare business survives the first contact with its customers. However, do not abuse - do not change direction too often. In this case, profits will not increase.

So your company survived, you reinvested your meager incomes and increased them. Now you can go to the next step.

Make yourself not so important to the company.

Most small enterprises cannot overcome this stage.
Until now, there is surely one irreplaceable part in your magical business mechanism - it is you. If you are an economist, you are probably the chief accountant. If the programmer is the best coder in the company. Whatever you do at your company, most likely you feel important and somewhat overwhelmed.



Here's the hard part: you have to make yourself redundant. If you fall dead tomorrow, your business should continue to operate unchanged, as if nothing had happened. All your time should be spent working on the business, not in business. Otherwise, you just hired yourself, along with other specialists.

Many businesses fall into this trap. But I am sure you will fight. Remember that it is you who lead the company to success, and if you fail to become part of the business model, your company will not develop.

McDonald’s has built a business that will work even if wages are minimal. The production process is so streamlined that it works on its own. Every hamburger is effective, and nothing is left to chance. Their brand is so big that people line up all over the world to eat at McDonalds. Your business may be completely different, but it must be as reliable.

If you go through this, you will get a self-sustaining mechanism. Monthly earnings will be pretty high. And you now have enough time to grow your business. Now, to conquer the world, all you have to do is go up.

Scaling

The last step is a bit like the game "Who wants to be a millionaire?". Every question you answer correctly doubles your money. Or else you go home.



Do not make naive mistakes, assuming that a large company is like a small one, but more. Although ... It does not matter! It's like telling your children that drinking will not make them cool. You all feel the hard way.

As the company grows, its rules and culture will also change. You may even find that you don’t like the company you’ve created (many founders are experiencing similar contradictions). If you are one of them, you can hire help, sell the company, or go all-in and see what happens.

Remember, no business can grow endlessly. Just being a two-person plumbing company. But it is almost impossible to build a corporation of plumbers of 1000 people.

Define your boundaries in advance. If your company is related to software, then you are lucky. This industry is incredibly popular today, which explains so many young billionaires.

In conclusion

Creating a company has never been so easy. You can create a deadly product without leaving the student hostel. And without even registering any documents. So it was with Facebook.

In my understanding, business is a kind of honest gambling. Skill and perseverance determine a lot here, but luck plays the main role. As long as you fall and rise again, try different things and continue to learn, the score is in your favor. It remains only to decide.

Successes!