Seasoned entrepreneurs share their best advice for new founders!
As we wrap up 2021 National Entrepreneurship Month, we’re taking a look back at some of the advice that our network of entrepreneurs valued most, and what they would share with any aspiring founders, as well as what our own personal advice would be.
We spoke with entrepreneurs across the country and across industries to see what they would say to anyone else starting their own venture, here were the common pieces of advice that were shared by almost everyone:
Find or hire an experienced advisor to help keep you on track without getting tunnel-visioned.
You’ll often hear that you should “find a mentor” to help guide you as you start your business, but that’s often easier said than done. Finding a good mentor is actually really challenging, and sometimes it might even be more effective to hire someone to help with whatever advice you're looking for--some consultants and advisors work on an hourly basis and would be more than happy to help (ourselves included!). The tricky part about finding a mentor that fits your exact needs is that you might be entering an industry where you don’t have a strong network to begin with, so selecting that person can be tough since you don’t know a lot of people yet. Despite the challenges in finding one, having a mentor or advisor that you trust is a critical step in starting a successful business. Of all the entrepreneurs we spoke to during the last month, there wasn’t a single one that didn’t attribute some of their success to their professional network and mentors. There are always groups you can join, conferences you can attend, and social networking sites you can use to help make new connections in your industry and get you closer to finding that perfect mentor!
Learn how to delegate as quickly as possible.
One piece of advice we heard frequently from entrepreneurs who eventually scaled their businesses was to become comfortable with delegating your work and training your team sooner rather than later. You never want to be in a situation where you’re the only glue holding your company together--there should always be people in place who can quickly step up to the plate if you need assistance. This checks and balances system not only means that your team can run more efficiently, but also allows you to take, you know, a vacation, or even 5 minutes to grab a cup of coffee down the street.
Don’t be afraid to give your company a personality and some values!
It can be daunting to start a company and in a lot of ways it feels like you’re crafting an entirely new identity! What’s your company like? Is it playful? Serious? Does it thrive under pressure or does it prefer long projects? Is it social or more independent? One interesting piece of advice we heard from the entrepreneurs we interviewed was to lean into your company’s own identity! Give your company values and a personality and you’ll attract customers/users/clients that align with that same set of interests and beliefs. You don’t need to go overboard here, but it does allow people to more easily get to know your company and team.
Last but not least, one of our own pieces of advice from EnticEdge CEO, Julie Weber Ugarte, is to be cognizant of who you have in your ear throughout the entire process of building your company. Watch the video below to ‘hear it’ for yourself!
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