Entrepreneurship is one of those things people dream about. It comes with a sexy lifestyle perception and is often associated with a mix of freedom, success, and personal realization.
Yet, not every entrepreneur gets where they want to get in the end, because they get their entrepreneurship 101 wrong.
Look, let’s be honest here! In our experience as business coaches, one of the main reasons why small businesses fail or stagnate is that the entrepreneur in charge doesn’t have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
What’s missing is simple: they don’t master the basics of Entrepreneurship – the Entrepreneurship 101 – starting with the fact that being an entrepreneur is very (very very) different from merely having a job and a boss, and that only those who realize it get their business to work for them.
So, in this article, we elaborate on the Entrepreneurship basics you simply need to master if you want to give your business a chance.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering – yes, we have also created the only Entrepreneurship 101 Course you’ll ever need to go further. For the time being, though, just read on.
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Why is mastering entrepreneurship 101 concepts important?
The key idea behind this article is this one: there are some entrepreneurship basics, and you need to master them if you want to give your business a chance. Failing which, chances that you’ll keep working hard to keep your company afloat, and that’s it really… work, work, work.
The logic behind this is simple if you think about it. In most cases, people start a business on a gut feeling. They see an opportunity to make money (or help others if they are on the social entrepreneurship side of things), an opportunity to fire their boss, an opportunity to begin a new life, and they start from there. So they get to work and get things done.
What they always end up doing, however, is focus on the urgent and time-consuming routines that slowly burn their fuel, their time, their energy, their money.
By the same token, they miss an opportunity to look ahead, build and develop their business as an organized system that generates sales and grows in a scalable way.
By the time they realize this, however, business owners are often tired and discouraged – which is the beginning of the end.
As business coaches and entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that trend way too well. We have learned to fight it in our own routines, and obviously, we challenge our entrepreneurs to build healthy habits they can rely on to grow.
These habits are simple to acquire, really, but they require a large dose of awareness. You need to master your Entrepreneurship 101 concepts if you want to give your business a chance – it’s that simple, you don’t have a choice.
What does Entrepreneurship 101 mean?
Entrepreneurship 101 is a series of concepts considered as entrepreneurship basics that helps to avoid the common mistakes entrepreneurs make when running their business.
Understanding the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make
Now – in this article, we focus on giving you those basics and primordial concepts you really need to be aware of.
In truth, these basics are mostly a question of behavior, mindset, and entrepreneurial thinking – which means you really have an opportunity to start doing much better in no time.
The best way to illustrate those Entrepreneurship 101 basics, though, is to start by helping you understand the typical and most common mistakes entrepreneurs make.
Read on and take some notes, we will then give you tips as to how to avoid those mistakes.
Mistake #1: People underestimate what it takes to be an entrepreneur
The first mistake wannabe entrepreneurs make is to underestimate what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
As we said earlier, people start a business based on a gut feeling, but they don’t realize that being a successful entrepreneur goes much further than being a business owner. Anybody can open a company and be a business owner on paper these days. The barriers to entry are low, and therefore the real complexity is to own a business that generates business. Huge difference, right?
When we define entrepreneur and entrepreneurship, we talk about people who see an opportunity to make a difference and act to make that difference happen beyond just making money!
Being an entrepreneur takes a mindset, that is – as in, realizing that entrepreneurship isn’t just a matter of having a job. And being an entrepreneur takes very specific skills that you need to master.
Those who miss the opportunity to think outside of their usual box typically miss that, and down the road, it affects their ability to develop and scale their operations, as well as their earning potential of course.
In case you’re wondering what kind of entrepreneur you are, by the way, take our test and see for yourself!
Wondering what kind of entrepreneur you are? Take our test!
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Mistake #2: People misunderstand the risks entrepreneurs take
Coming next in the list of common mistakes entrepreneurs make is the idea that people misunderstand the risks entrepreneurs take.
People easily think that entrepreneurs are extreme risk-takers and accordingly they can feel stuck with decision-making, especially when they are not risk-takers themselves.
It’s a lot more common than you think!
Many entrepreneurs are one-man or one-woman brands, and so when they need to decide they end up being stuck with a ‘me, myself and I’ kind of discussion in which no clear idea emerges.
As a result, decisions get delayed and nothing moves on. Worse, things stagnate and degrade, because very often the risk is to stay put and do nothing.
Risk management is one of the clear Entrepreneurship 101 basics, that is to say, and we’ll get back to it in a moment when we look at how to deal with the issue.
Mistake #3: People focus on money, not on the impact they should make
The next common mistake entrepreneurs make on a routine basis relates to money. Or, more specifically, to the focus people put on making money.
Now, don’t get us wrong. Making money is extremely important and should be a major focus because it fuels the business, there is no discussion here.
Still, many aspiring entrepreneurs fail to develop their business because they only see the business as a tool whose sole purpose is to make money.
But here’s the thing. Remember our way to define what an entrepreneur is? Reminder: an entrepreneur sees a problem to solve and sees business as an opportunity to solve that problem, with a viable economic model that makes the solution viable.
What that means is simple. One of the Entrepreneurship 101 basic rules is that you ought to focus on creating value for a client, not on making money. Value and impact generate money, but the other way around isn’t that obvious. Keep that in mind…
How much does an entrepreneur make?
How much does an entrepreneur make is a typical question but it’s the wrong question to ask. The real question is, how does creating value and making an impact help an entrepreneur make money?
Mistake #4: People start without realizing how entrepreneurs think
Number four! Another common mistake made by entrepreneurs is to start fast and keep their nose to the grindstone, without actually wondering (or realizing) how experienced entrepreneurs think.
For instance, when your funds are limited it’s easy to think in terms of saving money and doing things yourself to avoid paying people who cost money per hour, right?
Sure, that’s true. To some extent. But you could also look at things differently, say by wondering what money can buy instead of focusing on what using it actually costs.
Think about it. Should you keep doing everything yourself to save money? Or could investing (rather than spending) a few dollars actually allow you to leverage the superpowers of an expert in their own field? In the end, are you better off wasting your own superpowers for the sake of saving money, or is there any benefit in thinking the entrepreneurial way?
Mistake #5: People focus on “doing” but they miss the point
Five! Another common mistake entrepreneurs make is to focus on “doing” instead of building.
Look, we see that every day as business coaches. Entrepreneurs keep doing things themselves because sh** needs to be done (excuse our French) but by doing so they forget that their role in the business is to build the business, not to do technical work!
Like it or not, but one of the most important entrepreneurship 101 rules is this one: stand on the table! Take some distance. Look at how the business is evolving. Add some strategic perspective to your management.
Or, said the very direct way. Plan and build more. Do your damn job and start acting like the entrepreneur you need to be.
Mistake #6: People just ignore the Entrepreneurship 101 basics
Last but not least (definitely not the least), a massively mistake entrepreneurs make, is to ignore the Entrepreneurship 101 basics.
They move on, they keep going, they work their a** off to get things done. And by the same token they stuck their nose to the grindstone and they deliberately avoid looking at the big picture.
They don’t focus on creating value, they forget storytelling, they skip the fundamentals. And usually, well, they lose time (years, that is), money (tons of that) and money.
6 common mistakes entrepreneurs make that kills their earning potential
- Underestimating what it takes to be an entrepreneur
- Misunderstanding risk-taking mindsets
- Confusing money-making and value creation
- Ignoring how experienced entrepreneurs think
- Focusing on doing rather than building
- Ignoring the Entrepreneurship 101 basics!
Getting the entrepreneurship basics right
Still with us? Perfect! So, now that we’ve identified the common mistakes entrepreneurs make and now that you understand why they are bad for your business, let us get into the ‘best practices’ part of our entrepreneurship 101 recommendations.
Oh, and in case you can’t wait to start improving your own Entrepreneurship basics, our Entrepreneurship 101 Course contains over three hours of video and a workbook you can use right now to make a massive impact on your earning potential. Give it a go.
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Entrepreneurship 101 Tip #1: Make sure you know what being an entrepreneur is about
The first Entrepreneurship 101 tip we can give you is to make sure that you know what being an entrepreneur is about.
As we explained in another article, one of the 10 steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur is to know why you want to be an entrepreneur in the first place (that’s a good start, isn’t it?) and to define precisely what being a “successful entrepreneur” means to you.
Again, just making money isn’t a goal you can rely on to progress in the long run. You want to clarify your own definition of success, you want a clear idea of what you want to achieve, and you want to know what difference you can make out there.
Knowing this will help you define a value proposition – an entrepreneurship 101 basics to make money, by the way.
It will also help you define a vision and a mission statement – another Entrepreneurship 101 basics to inspire people, get them on board, do some powerful storytelling and sell without trying to sell.
And it will help you to keep going when you are on the downside of things – which will happen sooner than later.
Entrepreneurship 101 Tip #2: Understand that entrepreneurs are willing to take risks because… entrepreneurs take calculated risks
The next 101 tip on the list relates to risk management and, to some extent, to failure management.
As we said before, there is a perception out there that entrepreneurs are extreme risk-takers, and in many cases, the reality is that business owners get stuck because they fail to make decisions at the right time.
They are on their own and they delay decision-making as much as possible because that’s the easy way to limit risk. But is it?
It’s not, actually.
In many cases, the risk is to refuse to make a decision. In the end, the point is to decide to do something, or to decide not to do it, period. Yet, in reality, most people just decide not to decide, and that’s where they take risks.
The alternative is this one: entrepreneurs take calculated risks they feel comfortable taking. They are risk-takers, but only to a certain extent, but they are not extreme risk-takers. Of course, having said that, the reality is that the risk-taking propensity of entrepreneurs will differ from one to another, but you get the point.
What risks do entrepreneurs take?
- Entrepreneurs mostly take financial and strategic risks
- They also take emotional risks when they play solo and do not surround themselves appropriately
Why do entrepreneurs take risks
- Entrepreneurs are not extreme risk-takers
- Entrepreneurs are willing to take risks because they have an objective in mind and only take calculated risks they feel comfortable with
- The topic of risk management is explored in more detail in our Entrepreneurship 101 Course. Secure your access and increase your earning potential now!
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Entrepreneurship 101 Tip #3: Be a smart entrepreneur: learn how to build, don’t just do.
The third Entrepreneurship 101 tip we really want to share here is difficult to apprehend, but it is fundamental to master: successful entrepreneurs don’t focus on ‘doing’, they focus on building.
Look, it’s simple: those who define themselves as doers do, but the time they spend on getting things done is time they never spend on building systems that get things done for them. Rings a bell?
If you define yourself as an entrepreneur, then your role is to build an organization that generates sales without you. Said differently? Your role is not to come up with a mere business plan nobody cares about for your new business or startup, it is to build a business with a plan people will want to follow because it demonstrates traction, market research, and niche leadership. Can you see the difference between both?
That includes creating a brand and a DNA around your business – an Entrepreneurship 101 tip to leverage if you want to sell without having to sell (see week 4 of the Entrepreneurship 101 Course).
That includes building a sales strategy around a viable and sustainable business model – which by the way is a way to innovate and create value (see Week 6 of the Course).
That includes leveraging people’s superpowers and capital the smart way while putting scalable processes in place so that others can focus on doing (Week 2 of the Course).
That includes getting yourself the right entrepreneurial mindset – a typical 101 basics if you plan on building a business that works while you play golf or enjoy free time while others work (Week 3).
Again, we explore those topics in a lot more depth in the Impactified Entrepreneurship 101 Course – give it a look if you want to get your business to the next level.
Entrepreneurship 101 Tip #4: Learn to avoid traps
Our fourth Entrepreneurship 101 tip relates to avoiding typical traps everybody falls into – especially at the early entrepreneurial stages.
In our experience as business coaches again, the first two years an aspiring entrepreneur spends on their business are used to experiment and make typical mistakes which can be avoided with a good dose of awareness and a willingness to reduce the learning curve.
For instance, we mentioned that creating value is more important than purely making money, but then how do you create value, and how do you charge for it?
Often, the very idea of talking about money is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be if you bring value creation into the equation (we bust that topic during the first and second weeks of the Entrepreneurship 101 Course).
Even more importantly, the challenge is to figure out ways to create value for the customers – which involves a mix of smart positioning, smart differentiation, and smart pricing strategy.
Like it or not, but who plays by the price dies by the price, and a product for everyone is a product you’ll have difficulties selling because it’s a product for nobody at all.
Last but not least – a trap many entrepreneurs fall into relates to blindspots. Typically, the topics we are listing here one after another are Entrepreneurship 101 fundamentals, and they are often hidden in places aspiring entrepreneurs simply don’t have access to. Once they become aware, however, most decide to ignore the issues on the ground that they can be managed later – which obviously is a mistake.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to turn those traps into superpowers you could leverage easily, note that we deal with them extensively in Weeks 5 and 6 of our Entrepreneurship 101 Course.
4 typical entrepreneurship 101 traps to avoid
- Focusing on making money rather than creating value
- Creating products and services “suitable for everyone”
- Using pricing as main differentiation
- Ignoring the topic instead of turning it into a superpower to leverage easily
Entrepreneurship 101 Tip #5: Learn to make the most of your own skills
The fifth tip we always give to entrepreneurs is to (re)focus on their own skills every once in a while.
As we’ve said before, running a business is usually a rather lonely process and experience which makes the decision-making exercise difficult. Hence, being aware of your own skills and making the decision to coach yourself are two Entrepreneurship 101 basics you really want to include in your personal routine.
We elaborate on that topic within the Week 6 videos of the Course, make sure to explore!
Takeaway: Learn the Entrepreneurship 101
Time to wrap up. If you’ve read the whole article you probably already know what the takeaway is: building and scaling a business is a lot more challenging than merely owning a business, and getting there requires that – beyond developing your entrepreneurial skills – you master the entrepreneurship basics you can’t do anything without.
Entrepreneurship 101 basics you need to master:
- Know why you want to be an entrepreneur
- Know what risks you are willing to take
- Be smart: don’t run your business, build it
- Avoid the typical traps
- Know your strengths and coach yourself (we can help)
The question is…
Whether you can do it or not isn’t a question, because you clearly can. The question is, will you decide to coach yourself?
If the answer is yes, then the Impactified Entrepreneurship 101 course was designed to give you all the answers you need, and all the basics of entrepreneurship you must master.
The course draws from years of entrepreneurs’ coaching and brings insights from the most reputed business books on the market. It contains 25 videos spread over 7 weeks, as well as a 100+ pages workbook you can use at your own pace, to either start a business on the right foot, or push an existing business to it’s next level.
Boost your earning potential with the Entrepreneurship 101 Course!
The Entrepreneurship 101 Module gives you over three hours of self-coaching videos (by a business coach) and THE workbook you need to get your business to the next level, whether you are starting a business or scaling one!
- Week #1. Reality Check: What Being an Entrepreneur is (Really) Like
- Week #2. Playing the Smart Way
- Week #3. Mindset is Key (And You’re Probably Missing It So Far)
- Week #4. Vision: Are You Seriously Driving Blind?!
- Week #5. Positioning Traps to Avoid
- Week #6: Creating value Beyond Pricing!
- Week #7: Building on Your Strengths (And Wrapping Up!)
The only thing it takes is a decision to move on, what are you waiting for? Secure your Entrepreneurship 101 Module access now!
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