How To Start Being An Entrepreneur – Being your own boss, deciding everything, rushing to achieve your goals – for most people, entrepreneurship is the ultimate career goal. As amazing as running your own business sounds, it is also very difficult. How hard is it? 90% of startups fail. Entrepreneurs are more anxious than other people and experience more stress on a daily basis. After all, if you are responsible for the bottom, all the damage falls on you. Here’s the good news: Starting a business can be one of the most rewarding, fun, and exciting opportunities you’ll ever have. If you are aware of the risks and are still firmly committed to becoming an entrepreneur, use the strategies and tips in this guide. In this post we cover: How to become an entrepreneur How to gain experience as an entrepreneur How to get startup funding How to incorporate your company Help and support for entrepreneurs How to become an entrepreneur Discover profitable startup ideas. Identify and focus on a growing sector (or sectors). Complete an incomplete request. Make something better (or cheaper) than what’s out there. Support your initial strategy with customer research. Start with the smallest possible product (MVP). Create a business plan. Repeat according to the answer. Find a partner. 1. Learn the first profitable strategy. A successful startup starts with an idea. You can’t build a business without it. Here are some creative ways to think about a product or service: Ask your friends what bugs them. What makes a product or service useful? It provides a solution to a problem or frustration that people are willing to pay to alleviate. With this in mind, start by asking your friends what their concerns are. Designers draw inspiration from their frustrations all the time. For example: Travis Kalanick and Garret Camp founded Uber after having trouble finding a taxi. Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail founded Venmo (which was acquired by PayPal) after struggling to pay each other with checks. Chris Riccobono founded UNTUCKit – a line of shirts that look good without being tucked – after he became frustrated with the wrinkles and ill-fitting of his regular button-down shirts when not tucked. As you brainstorm, ask your friends to keep track of everyday things that bother them. Then look through their articles to find problems that you can solve. Get inspired by some emerging startups. Studying what others have come up with can be a great way to speed up your own thought process. For digital inspiration, visit Product Hunt, a constantly updated offering of new apps, websites and games. Meanwhile, Kickstarter is great for physical products. There are also tons of product review sites like this one that can fuel your creativity. Try Uncrate, Werd and Wirecutter. Find out how to bring your idea to life in the future. As the world changes, people need different products. For example, the rise of Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing apps creates the need for a third-party app that tells you the cheapest prices at that moment. You want to get ahead of the curve. Read trend forecasts for your industry or market, or check out global trend forecasting publications such as Trend Hunter and Springwise. Then ask yourself, “If these predictions come true, what tools will be needed?” 2. Identify and focus on a growing sector (or sectors). Licensing and intellectual property expert Stephen Key recommends choosing a sector that is interesting but less competitive. “I avoid industries that are too complicated, like the toy industry. There are a lot of creative people in that field,” he explains. “You’ll find it easier to license your ideas if you focus on product categories that are growing and embrace open innovation.” Once you’ve chosen a category, Key says you should learn all the products in that category. What are the advantages of each product and how do they differ? What is their packaging and marketing strategy? What do the researchers say? Which can be improved? When choosing a product, consider questions like these: What can we do to make it better? Can I add a new item? How about something different? Is there any way I can fix this? Featured Resource Free Business Plan Template Fill out this form to get a free template. 3. Complete the incomplete request. You don’t need to change the tire if there are no tires. Many people start successful businesses after spotting a gap in the market. For example, you may learn that there is a shortage of quality export products. Since you have experience in sales development and account management in startup companies, you may choose to offer this service to tech startups. 4. Make something better (or cheaper) than what’s out there. You don’t always have to create something new. If you can offer an existing product at a lower price, better quality or better everything, you will have more customers. Better yet, there are obvious needs there. Make a list of everything you use during the day. Then go through the list of things you can improve. Other tips Connect with other companies: Use Meetup or Eventbrite to find events in your local startup community. Not only does networking with other entrepreneurs help you build valuable relationships, but it also gives you tons of ideas. For some quick tips on how to network effectively and meaningfully as an entrepreneur, check out our video guide here. Research patent application: Patent applications are usually published 18 months after filing. While we don’t recommend copying any products, looking at these documents can give you a good idea of where a particular area is headed. Have a brainstorm: To get your creative juices flowing, invite three to five other business-minded people to brainstorm. Ask everyone to come prepared to discuss some aspect of the product or a question such as, “What is your favorite brand X and why?” or “Do you use what to do Y? Why or why not?” The answers can lead to great ideas. 5. Validate your initial idea with customer research. Well, you’re right. But don’t quit your day job just yet. Before you go all out, you need to know that other people will need your product. (No, your friends and family don’t count.) To safely determine the effectiveness of your product in the marketplace, start by understanding your customer persona, the specific people you plan to sell to. If your product doesn’t meet the demand, they won’t be interested, no matter how innovative or cool it is. This is why buyer personas and market research are so important. Once you’ve found your ideal client, an important part of your search should be interviewing people who fit the bill. Show them a working demo of your product, ask them what they like and don’t like, how much they would pay, how often they would use it, etc. To test market interest before building anything, create a landing page that describes your product or service. Ask people to send their email addresses in a quick exchange; free subscription, membership or product; discounts, product updates or other attractive offers. Then promote the video on social media, paid search, etc. and see how many visitors convert to sign up. 6. Start with a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP is the simplest and most valuable version of your product or service. It works well enough to satisfy the first customers and get an idea of what you need to improve. Let’s say you want to build an app that will connect students with the right instructors. You can create a clean version, personally invite 150 instructors you’ve found online to join, then post a link to the app on your university’s Facebook page. If you get a good number of signatures, it’s a sign that you need to move on. If you get them, you need to rethink your strategy or start over. Starting small with an MVP keeps your costs low initially, but allows room for growth as the product continues to be validated. 7. Create a business plan. A business plan is a formal document that describes your business goals and the steps you will take to achieve them. This may include a marketing strategy, budget, and financial projections and milestones. As an entrepreneur, it is your job to define the mission, vision, and long-term and short-term goals of your company. When you do this type of strategic planning for your company, your work will result in a business plan that will help guide your startup’s growth. Download a free business plan template to make the process quick and easy. 8. Repeat according to the answer. Keep in mind that your MVP may not be enough to stay competitive in your chosen market, especially if you have big dreams for your startup. Now comes the turn: creating interest and demand (marketing).