BUSINESS 101 FOR TEENAGERS
Beginning with this post, I will be sharing insights on how to start, manage and expand your business. My insights will be gleaned largely from my personal experience, the experiences of other people I have studied and successful startups I have read of. We will start by defining what entrepreneurship really entails and then, discuss some commonly held myths about entrepreneurship.
What is Entrepreneurship?
Most people think it’s all about making money, flying in jets, building rockets from Mars, wearing black turtlenecks, sipping coffee in exotic locations, making dramatic presentations and pretending to know how to spell “entrepreneur”.
Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunities beyond the resources you control or have direct access to.
This is however not the true picture of entrepreneurship. For a start, think about entrepreneurs who inspire you. Who are they? What do they do? This can help clarify what entrepreneurship really means. In my own experience, I have found entrepreneurship to mean the pursuit of opportunities beyond the resources you control or have direct access to. Let’s break it down.
- The pursuit – This is your actions, your focus, resiliency, discipline, balance and drive.
- Opportunity – the type of venture – a better, cheaper or more efficient offering for the customer. When market need means technological possibility, your opportunity for innovation is born.
- Beyond resources controlled – managing the risk of external constraint. You won’t have everything at the outset, but leverage what you do have. Tony Robbins said “it’s not about the resources you have, but about how resourceful you are.
We’ll learn about how this definition of entrepreneurship plays out itself as we consider some of the commonly held myths about entrepreneurship.
Myths of Entrepreneurship
You need to have all the answers
You don’t need to know everything at the outset. Don’t worry about getting all the answers on the onset, things will become clearer as you progress.
You need to find the perfect idea
You don’t. Success comes down to execution. If you can fill a need better than what currently exists, you’ve found a great idea.
Leverage on your age and inexperience. Use them to your advantage. Your age makes you corrigible and your lack of experience means you don’t have to unlearn a ton of bad work ethics or leadership habits.
You need more experience
In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell writes about how perceived disadvantages can actually be advantages. When it comes to starting a business, less experience can actually be a good thing. The best way to prove your credibility is by making real progress with your idea.
You need to be adventurous. There’s a lot of risk!
Creative (I just came up with it), Confident (It’ll work), Smart. Many of these qualities come with experience, the only requirement is an open mind and willingness to learn.
You need to go all in. You need to quit school and your job
You don’t need to quit school or your job. Most successful entrepreneurs actually continue with these other commitments until they’ve reduced the risk of the startup to be able to devote more of their time. This comes down to prioritizing and managing your time well. Try the 80/20 rule. This means that 80% of the value comes from 20% of the effort. Find those 20% of things that are going to yield 80% of the results.
Starting a business is quite possible and its unbelievably easy when you have quality guidance. All you need to do is start and the best time to start is now!
You are too young to start. Completely false
Many of the most innovative and influential startups have been built by people who were not yet out of university (some barely out of secondary school). Mentors are much more willing to take time to help a student, since they know that these people are already poised to be in a learning mode, plus they enjoy being able to give back. How can you leverage your age (or lack of experience) and use them to your advantage? Your age makes you adaptable; your lack of experience means you don’t have to unlearn a ton of bad work or leadership habits.
You need money. Maybe not.
It actually takes a lot less than you think. Most startups are funded by the founders or maybe friends and family or angel investors.
Well, these and many more are the myths of entrepreneurship which in most cases, that is all they are – myths.
Starting a business is quite possible and its unbelievably easy when you have quality guidance. All you need to do is start and the best time to start is now!
So do you still want to be an entrepreneur? I will tell you more in the next article!
