5 Little Lessons I Wish I Knew Before Becoming An Entrepreneur

146Shares

Hindsight is always better than foresight. When you look back, there is always something you wish you knew beforehand, particularly before becoming an entrepreneur.

A little more than 2 years ago, I joined a good friend and a few other guys in the beginning stages of their startup.

My friend said, “Kenneth, you can email a business. And you can call a business. But wouldn’t it just make sense to be able to text a business? That’s what we’re trying to make happen.”

I was sold.

Shortly after, I joined Text Request and began life as an entrepreneur.

People tell you to fail fast and learn quickly when you’re an entrepreneur. But for whatever reason, they always leave out any practical steps that could actually help you.

It’s a shame, too, because there’s plenty of simple guidance that could save a lot of time, effort, heartache, and money.

Things To Know Before Becoming An Entrepreneur

Since starting at Text Request, I’ve also stumbled my way into turning a few other skills and opportunities into income.

I’m neither rich nor hugely successful by any means. But I’m far enough along to realize what would have been good to know in the beginning. And I want to share some of those little lessons with you.

1. You can’t do it alone.

You can’t do it alone
  • Save

As a fast learner, I like to think that I can always figure it out, whatever “it” is. Don’t try doing that.

There’s always someone older, better, and wiser within arms reach.

Just reach out!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Everyone’s connected within 6 degrees of separation, right?

If you don’t know anyone directly that you think could help you, I guarantee one of your contacts does. And I’m sure some of those people will be more than happy to talk with you.

One of the most painful things I’ve learned (and possibly that our whole team has learned) is that you can’t afford to be prideful. Everything will be better when you ask for help.

You might also need help actually developing your product or your website. I’ve become a big fan of Toptal, but don’t be afraid to reach out to a friend or to developers in your area.

2. Read everything.

Read everything
  • Save

There is so much learning to do! And the quicker you can tackle the learning curve for your industry, the better you’ll do.

I love books. They help me relax after a stressful day, and only the best of the best can get their work published. So I know I’m getting quality material.

That said, book publishers tend to have a much longer timeline (months or years) compared to online publishers (days or weeks). So it’s good to keep up with what’s happening online, too.

MarketingProfs, SearchEngineLand, Buffer, HubSpot, and Kissmetrics all have great content that I regularly refer to.

Obviously, what you should read depends on your niche. But the bottom line is that you need to learn as much as you can and stay up to date with your industry.

And reading is a heck of a lot cheaper than continually trying and failing.

3. Learn to stretch a budget to infinity and beyond.

I used to think that with enough money, you could do anything! Apparently, that’s foolish for several reasons.

Money has to come from somewhere, and you have to be able to turn what money you spend into more money.

I’ve gotten monumentally better at stretching a budget, but it’s something I wish I’d been way better at before we started spending anything.

GraphicSprings pulled a ton of resources, and showed that you can launch a business (See below infographic) with a budget of less than $700, including legal fees and everything!

  • Save

In my experience, you can start a super simple business (like freelancing or an online store) for a couple hundred bucks. If it takes you more than $1,500, you’re doing it wrong.

After your business is up and running, it’s crucial that you track everything. Follow the data, and continually optimize your budget to get the most bang for your buck.

4. Look professional.

Look professional
  • Save

If you want people to take you seriously, you have to look the part.

That much we normally understand. It’s how to look the part that stumps us.

There are a few things that people really seem to care about. Most importantly is probably your website. It’s your virtual handshake and often your first impression.

Shopify is a great platform for e-commerce. I like Squarespace for general business or freelance work. (Squarespace also comes with a business Gmail account, which is another important aspect of looking the professional part.)

Well-designed business cards are another piece of the professional puzzle, assuming you’ll be meeting people for one reason or another.

You should also get a business phone line. You probably don’t want to use your personal cell phone, especially if there are multiple people working with you.

We use Grasshopper for one main line that forwards to the appropriate person/department as needed. We’ve been happy with it, but there are a handful of other cost-effective options, too.

If needed, webinar software and a scheduling tool, like Zoom and Calendly (respectively), are also good choices.

If you need a customer relationship manager (CRM) or marketing automation tool, Highrise and Agile are good, inexpensive options.

5. It’s probably going to take more time than you want.

Take more time than you want
  • Save

This didn’t hit home for me until the 1-year mark.

Being an entrepreneur is not a get rich quick scheme. Apparently, 7 years is the common time frame before a startup makes it big or sells out. Which isn’t encouraging, since 50% of startups don’t make it past year 4.

7 years is a long time!

And if you’re starting without funding, it could take you a while longer to build up capital just to get the gears turning. This all means that patience will become your best friend, and possibly your biggest challenge.

Bringing It Together

As you can see, there’s a lot I wish I knew before becoming an entrepreneur. There’s still a lot I wish I knew!

But if I were to go back and sit myself down, these 5 little lessons are what I would teach myself. I hope they can help you, too.

What lessons are you learning on your entrepreneurial journey? Share your experiences with me in the comments below!

Like this post? Don’t forget to share it!

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!
  • Save
146Shares
Authored By
Writer | Marketer | Creative Want to connect? Email [email protected]

13 thoughts on “5 Little Lessons I Wish I Knew Before Becoming An Entrepreneur”

  1. Surya Konduru

    Very good piece of advice bro.. especially the gestation period of a startup – 7 years and the one lesson which I learned about entrepreneurship is to learn from the mistakes of other businesses of why they have collapsed.

  2. Ananya Walia

    A very informative post about mistakes to be not done before starting a new business. The bullet points given are really nicely and clearly put. Waiting for more such cool n useful stuff.

  3. SMN Zaman

    Hi Kenneth,

    There’s no limit of learning and we can only reach to a few drops of knowledge even though we work hard because knowledge is like an ocean.

    We always wish such and such but after a period of time, we need to say, “I wish I knew……”

    Our life is like this and I hope that we should all realize our shortcomings as the God has given us so much talent in us though we can easily find our limitations time to time. This is good for not boasting about our great skills and other achievements.

    And thanks for your nice writing,
    SM

  4. Vinit Patil

    Thank you KENNETHBURKE,

    Your article really helped me a lot since I am going to start a startup.

    Regards,
    Vinit Patil.

  5. T I Antor

    After leaving my jazzy job in a technology firm, I have started my own business with a different dream in the same field. But, due to the difficulties of my proper planning and decent decorating my surrounds, I have failed to paint my dream.

    Reading these rocking facts, I say to me again and again, ‘If I knew these lessons before!’

  6. SAIFUDDIN

    Thanks …great work …I love your post .
    I agree with you “You can’t do it alone”

  7. Karin

    Thanks for sharing. I agree making money from being an entrepreneur can take more time than expected. If people made quick money then everybody would become entrepreneurs.

  8. Sachin Nayi

    Again New Great Article Live on Shoutmeloud. Thank you for this article.

  9. Smith

    i am always confused thinking about the first step you mention, whenever i think of an entrepreneurship or any other successful entrepreneur i always get stuck into that how one can do such all things to start a business , there are hell of activities and things you have to face when you are starting a business. Team work can be done but individually its too hard for me at-least.

    1. Kathirvel Murugan

      Well said Smith, finding someone who could do the task as we wish to do is the most challenging task. But that’s the first step to move towards the goal we dream. All the best

  10. Shawon

    My friend said, “Kenneth, you can email a business. And you can call a business. But wouldn’t it just make sense to be able to text a business? That’s what we’re trying to make happen.

  11. Rita Sharma

    Thank you for sharing the blog,its very informative and interesting blog, well done.

  12. SRINIVAS DARIPELLI

    One thing i can tell from this post…yes it takes more time than we think..Perfect website need to be more professional.I feel,it is perfect real time experience tips.
    Thanks Kenneth for wonderfull article and thanks harsh for sharing real life examples.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top
146 Shares