First and foremost, I would like to mention if you are interested in becoming your own boss or being an entrepreneur a great way to start is working a side hustle! I am a self-taught Web Developer and Blogger. Neither are for everyone but if you are someone who is interested in starting a blog, you should totally do it! Why am I only mentioning blogging?! Because anyone can become a blogger! The truth is we all have knowledge and expertise in one way or another that can benefit others. Use your talents and start blogging about it. People would love to hear! The reward for it is insane! I would have never imagined blogging as my career. But here I am today, doing just that! You can too! You just have to take the big step forward and START!
There is a lot to learn when it comes to blogging. So to make it easier for you, I have created a step-by-step guide to getting started today! Trust me, through hard work and dedication you will look back and be incredibly thankful that you started!
Follow my tips below to learn how to become a successful entrepreneur!
Click here to start your blogging journey today!
How To Become a Successful Entrepreneur
Succeeding as an entrepreneur requires a lot of hard work and dedication. There is no get rich scheme overnight. There is no one paving the path for you. Your success is completely in your hands…. it is up to you what you do with it. You have to continuously strive for success and put yourself out there.
The good news is there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs. Many of which share their stories about how they reached their peak. Coming together with other like-minded people is sooo important to reaching success.
Sorry, men… I am going to talk about a group for ONLY women in the next paragraph. So feel free to skip over it onto the following paragraph.
I understand the importance of this so I created a Facebook group called Bo$$ Babes Hu$tling. This is a group where female entrepreneurs can come together, interact, and build relationships. A community of women who encourage, uplift, share resources, advice, and tips with one another.
Click here to join Bo$$ Babes Hu$tling
Okay, so let’s get started on how to become a successful entrepreneur!
Love What You Do
This is EXTREMELY important!!! You will never succeed if you are in it just for the money because it will not get you far. When you are trying to be your own boss, passion is key to success. Without passion in what you do, your business will suffer. You will eventually lose motivation and determination to accomplish tasks because your heart is not in the game.
According to CBInsights analysis, 13% businesses fail because they lost focus. 9% of businesses failed because they lacked passion. 8% failed because they became burnt out.
It is an amazing thing when passion and a career come together! Make sure you are doing something that you love!
Start Small
Start out your business as a side-hustle and work your way into turning it into a full-time business. Most businesses do not succeed when they make impulsive decisions. Do not dive all in at first. Growing a successful business takes a lot of time and hard work. Do not try and rush it. Embrace the journey and nurture your business. Success is reached through patience. Starting helps prevent your business from failing.
Learn From Others
Remain open-minded and listen to others who are wiser and have “been there before.” Many entrepreneurs share their testimony’s to help prevent others from making the same mistakes. Learn from their successes and failures. This will help you get started off on the right track. Learning from their mistakes and failures will cause lead to fewer failures in your journey.
Self-Promote and Market Your Brand
SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!! Build your brand and reputation. The best way to get yourself/brand noticed is through good marketing. You can have the best business ideas and intentions. But if you do not put yourself out there no one will ever know about you. If you are not getting business your business will ultimately fail. Make your brand known, so it gets other people talking about it and sharing. Word of mouth is a great tool.
Be Consistent
You may ask yourself why am I not getting business? Why am I not increasing clientele? Why am I not getting views? It is because you are in the beginning stages. Do not get down on yourself. This is part of the process. Consistency is extremely important. You may have shouted out that your business is starting once or twice but that is not enough. You need to keep telling people. Keep sharing. Keep posting. Keep putting yourself out there.
The more consistent you are, the more you will become recognized.
Have A Plan
Come up with a plan for your business. Plan how you are going to start, how you are going to grow, how you are going to maintain, how you are going to become successful.
Here are some tips for a good business plan
- Make sure that there is a demand for your business or the services that you are offering
- Make sure that you can realistically succeed with it
- Have a way to manage or track successes and areas that could use improvements
- Figure out who your audience/customers/clientele is going to be
- Make sure that you have all of the necessary elements to start, maintain, and flourish your business properly
- Do your research! Know the market, your competition, costs, etc.
- Have a marketing plan in place
- Make sure you have the finances in place to start and keep up with costs from the start when business is slow
Know, That It Is Never Too Late To Start!
Do not ever get discouraged and think that it is too late to start. It is NEVER too late! Where you are now, does not determine your destination. You just have to make the choice to point your life in the direction that you want to go and start going. You’ve got this!
Build Your Team/Support
You will not succeed alone. You need to build your “A” team. You need support to back you. If you believe in your business, other’s will too. Partners, supporters, advisors, and vendors will all be great resources for your business success.
Have A Professional Attitude
Attitude and demeanor is everything. No one wants to work with someone who is shady, rude, disrespectful, and selfish. It is important to have a good attitude in the workplace and with the people around you. Your attitude gives off vibes. Make sure that it is positive because the people around you will feed off of it. If you are negative people will not want to be around you or do business with you.
Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Great things never come from comfort zones. Success surely does not come from comfort zones. You have to be bold and TAKE RISKS! Have confidence in yourself! Stepping out of your comfort zone is important for your personal growth and for the growth of your business. Challenging yourself will make you accomplish much more.
You can have all of the talents in the world. But if you do not put yourself out there and put in hard work to promote your talents, they will go nowhere.
Stepping outside of your shell at first is extremely scary. Trust me, I have been there countless times. But I can honestly say that I am soo glad that I pushed myself past my fears and anxiety. Great things came from the bold moves that I made. It will for you as well.
Educate Yourself
Instead of watching tv during your free time, read a book. I am not talking about Fifty Shades of Grey type of book. No, I am not talking about a school textbook. I am talking about books such as ones that fellow entrepreneurs have written to guide you down your path to success. Read about what is going on around you. Research everything that you need to know about being an entrepreneur and what it takes to be self-employed. There is a lot to be learned. You need to be constantly learning new concepts and staying current with the latest business trends.
You try, you fail, you try, you fail. But the only true failure is when you stop trying
Never Give Up
Being self-employed and running a business is extremely hard. Although, it is rewarding the process will make you feel like quitting more times than not. Always remember that the temptation to quit will be the greatest before you are about to succeed! But if you hang in there, great success will come from your hard work. Life is full of setbacks. Never stop trying. If you want something, make it happen.
Do Not Let Self-Doubt Get The Best Of You
Majority of the time we are our own worst critics. We feel like we are not good enough, our ideas are not good enough, what if our business isn’t good enough, etc. Do not underestimate your potential. You are what you think you are. You have to speak positivity over you.
Being involved in support groups is a great way to get out of the self-doubt mindset. It is a natural human instinct to get down on ourselves when we are not where we want to be. We see soo many other people living a lifestyle that we dream of and it is so easy to become negative and jealous. But there is no reason to get down. Other’s should be your motivation to push harder and get to where they are as well.
*Females: In case you missed at the beginning of this article, I mentioned a supportive group. It is for all female entrepreneurs who are eager to build relationships, encourage, uplift, share advice, tips, and inspire one another. It is a great judgment-free zone to get that motivation and positive vibes that you need to keep your head on straight through tough times.
Click here to join Bo$$ Babes Hu$tling
Utilize Your Resources
There are tons of resources out there for you to become successful. The internet alone has endless information for you and your business. These can all be great tools to boost your business. But you need to learn about the resources available for your particular business and how to utilize them.
Network
Build relationships. It is all about who you know! The power of the internet and social media is huge nowadays. Get plugged into Facebook Groups. This is a great way to meet new people. It is extremely beneficial and you will be surprised how much it will increase your business.
But keep in mind, networking does not mean taking all that you can get from others and not contribute. It is about building each other. Share your resources, expertise, tips, and advise with other’s as well.
Click here to join Bo$$ Babes Hu$tling
Make The Money, Do Not Let It Make You
Be a master of money. Make sure when you go into business (especially being self-employed) that you have a financial plan. Make sure that you are managing every penny spent and only spending what is necessary.
According to CBInsights analysis, 29% of businesses fail because they run out of money. Do not let that be you.
Also, once business starts booming and revenue begins to increase remain a master of your money. Seeing numbers in your bank account that you have never seen before can get to your head. Do not let the money make you. Do not let it change your mindset. Be smart with your finances because you never know when business will become slow.
Understand That “NO”, Means “Not Now”
Never take no, for an answer. Take it as not now and check back later. People need time to think and process something. Especially if it means putting trust in someone or a business that does not have enough credibility to back them yet. Re-visit them later and give them another business proposal.
Be Ambitious
HUSTLE HARD! Nothing in life ever comes easy. In order for your business to succeed, you need to put in constant work. You need to prioritize and make sacrifices. There are going to be sleepless nights and lack of social life at times. But that is part of the process. Hard work will always pay off.
Set Healthy Boundaries
In order to become successful, you already know it is a lot of hard work, time, and dedication. A lot of times we can get soo caught up in it, that we forget the other important aspects of our lives. You lack family/friend time. You forget to eat. Laundry is piled up. You aren’t getting any sleep. Your work is consuming you. Healthy boundaries are a must! You need to have a shut off button and know when it is time to shut down. Nurture other areas of your life as well.
Inspire Others
Share your story with others! People love to hear about other’s that have similar stories. Be raw. Share your ups and downs. Yes, people love to see great lifestyles, material assets, and lots of money. But people do not like fake. The reality is, you did not reach success easily. You had many obstacles and downfalls along the way. Share them. You will be surprised how many people you inspire!