Successful entrepreneurs are inspiring. We all idolize overnight success stories, often without realizing the secrets behind such success. While there are no shortcuts, read on for some pointers that will guide you in your quest for success. 

 

Embrace the journey

Entrepreneurship is a journey. Embrace it. 

All entrepreneurs with celebrity status have had their ups and downs, times of excitement and times of despair. Your journey will be no exception. 

When you fail, get up as fast as you can, it’s part of the journey. 

The only way to be a successful entrepreneur is to keep showing up and facing their fears. 

 

Take care of yourself

As the entrepreneur, the success of the business is dependent on your wellbeing. 

It is no secret that starting a business takes a toll on an entrepreneur. 

According to a study by Michael Freeman, M.D., 72% of entrepreneurs have self-reported mental health concerns. 

Practice self care and ensure you don’t burn out. 

 

Value your own time from the start

Successful entrepreneurs realize that their time is valuable. 

Many entrepreneurs elect to work for free initially, and don’t include their time investment into costing and pricing. This severely limits the scalability of the business as the demand for more man power would substantially increase the running costs when someone needs to be employed to fulfill the functions initially executed by the founder. 

Consider the cost of your time from the start, and include this in all business models, plans and feasibility analyses. 

A common mistake is to not charge for your own time initially, which limits the scalability of your business. Improve your scalability by costing your time inputs from the start to achieve more reliable costing and pricing. 

 

Find your USP (Unique Selling Point) 

In between the labyrinth of abbreviations you have to navigate as an entrepreneur, USP has to be one of the most crucial. 

Determining a Unique Selling Point is an indication that you have identified a gap in the market, and that your product solves an existing problem. 

 

Keep crunching the numbers

Starting a business requires agility and constant adaptation. The numbers should be considered at every juncture to ensure the ideas make financial sense. 

Beware of the hidden costs of doing business, and ensure you actually make a profit. 

Take the time to do a proper analysis of all the costs, overheads and other inputs, and determine how much you need to sell in order to reach your target profit. 

 

Sell, sell, sell…

Even the best products don’t sell themselves. 

Educate yourself on the art of selling, and work on sales to achieve your targets. 

Talk about your product as if it is already successful when you are talking to potential clients.

 

Product-market fit is non-negotiable

The perfect product-market fit is out there. 

Remain agile until you find it. Be open to feedback from the market and be careful of over-investing in your product until you are certain that it fits the needs of the market. 

 

Build holistic capital

Entrepreneurs need three kinds of capital – financial, human and social. 

Find team members that have the right personality for the startup scene and bring positive energy and agility to your enterprise. 

Ensure you build sources for all types of capital. A great way of doing this is to join an accelerator program (insert link to Blossom accelerator). Through an accelerator program, you can receive access to networks of mentors, peers and industry experts; skills development; potential investors; entrepreneurial know how and customer bases.